Legion Lost #11 Review
What Happened That You Have to Know About:
Timber Wolf got shot last issue; Oz and Tellus get him to the hospital. While he's out, he remembers an organization called Echo, in the 31st century, who collect criminals and imprison them in the past. Meanwhile, Tyroc and Yera fight the Metamerican and his sidekicks, and lose. Then Tellus and Dawnstar come across Alastor, and Alastor possesses Dawnstar. Somehow. Meanwhile, apparently Wildfire is going to permanently dissipate through the crack in his faceplate, even though he used to blow out his entire costume on a regular basis with no permanent ill effects.
Review:
Ahem.
"This isn't a reality show, people! Everybody out!"
Or, if you insist...
"Way to go, Metamerican! Love how you employ your magnetic grappling hooks as offensive weapons."
Not convinced yet? Here's Tellus.
"Fallen have... Tyroc and Yera."
Cancel it.
Next issue: Dawnstar... or Pawnstar? (Cancel it.)
Art: 90 panels/20 pages. 4.5 panels/page. 1 double-paged spread of 4 panels.
Pete Woods is not the problem.
Labels: Comic Book Reviews, Don't Say I Never Do Anything for You Guys, Legion of Super-Heroes
posted by Matthew E @ 3:27 PM
23 Comments:
You just can't put the Legion in the present day for any great length of time.It didn't work for Karate Kid in the '70s,and judging by the sales charts,it's not working now.
My interest in this title is starting to wane, which is saying something since it contains a number of my favorite Legion characters, and has actually managed to make Tyroc semi-interesting.
I just hope that if the title ends, these guys get to go back to the future, rather than being stuck as extras in the present day titles.
anonymous: I dunno; I liked the Team 20 stuff in the reboot Legion. I think the main problem with the Karate Kid series and Legion Lost is that they're not very good.
Dylan: Oh, I'm sure they'll head back to the future. The ones that live.
I'm actually enjoying this a little more than when it started. I did notice the schmaltzy lines though. And the past is the absolute worst place to send criminals.
Depends on how time travel works. In some time travel schemes, it'd be perfectly safe.
Why is Tellus speaking like Yoda now?
He must have caught a showing of Empire Strikes Back on TV at the motel they had been staying at a few issues ago.
Because Tom DeFalco, that's why.
Well, that was indeed the worst issue yet.
The good: looks like the Alastor business will get resolved.
The bad: everything else.
The awful: Wildfire having seen how Dawny looks at Timber Wolf - bleeurgh.
Yeah, cancel it.
The love triangle I actually don't have too much of a problem with. I mean, I'm sick of the Wildfire-Dawnstar relationship as a focus of the story, and would rather just let it slip into the background, and making Timber Wolf the third point of a triangle is on the trite side, but it's among the more innocuous elements of this series.
Not that it helps...
The writers of this title have had issues with certain characters since day one. Tellus and Gates have not "sounded" like themselves at all. Why does Tellus speak so slowly? Does he really need to have ellipsis after every two or three words, implying that he pauses that often while speaking (or telepathing, as the case may be)? The writer needs to read some Levitz issues to get a handle on how Tellus should be written, and some of the reboot stuff to get Gates figured out. I don't mind them trying out different things, but I don't like it when a character's dialogue is not consistent from writer to writer.
The sad thing is that DeFalco might be the second best Gates writer after Peyer/Stern/McCraw. At least he's trying to use him, and he's alluding to politics at least a little bit. That puts him ahead of DnA, Johns, Levitz, and Nicieza.
SciFiPulse has an interesting review for this issie calling it a good Legion story. I know their review of the issue is on the complete other end of the spectrum from yours. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on their review since your views of Defalco's storytelling are polar opposites.
I guess I want different things from a comic book than they do. Not that I got much of an idea, from their review, of just what they did like (other than the art, which I have no problems with).
Well with issue #12 DeFalco tied up a couple of storylines, and left all the "secrets" still dangling. At the end of the issue I was left a bit lost as to whether DeFalco was trying to draw things to a close or not. Some plot threads ended way too fast i.e. the Meta-Americans. This series may ending sooner than expected. I just hope the spotlight on Timber Wolf next issue helps advance his revelation of Echo from #11 in a significant way so that we can get what's left of a story to actually take shape. Finally, I hope DeFalco doesn't drop Timber Wolf's new sidekick after this issue. Oz has been the only meaningful 21st centu
(Sorry about that, I got interrupted)
...Oz has been the only 21st century interaction of consequence. I'd like to see him interact more with the Legion in the future...maybe even get to go home with them in the end. I think he'd make an interesting supporting character: street kid turns well I don't know...
At least Yera's shape shifting has given us some eye candy to make the rest of the story go down easier. I like Woods' drawings of her. Now if he'd just draw Tellus right!
Haven't read it yet! Watch this space!
Just wait for the boner line in #12: "-- the forgotten armored transport suddenly implodes, burting outward!"
Mmmm, I do not think that word means what DeFalco and his editor think that word means.
On one level, I like the "everybody's got a secret" idea, because it gives them something to focus character growth on for everyone. (Look at :"Mind the Gap", for example.) Paired with some "Lost" inspiration and the "focus around one team member each issue" from the first arc, there could be good stuff here.
But there isn't.
The idea that the series will get cancelled and kill off a few of the characters in the process scares me. Because the November solicits for assorted DC comics reference a "black diamond". The last time Eclipso was around, it was Infinity, Inc. that got slaughtered…
Jim, I really hope you're wrong about a number of the Legion Lost team getting slaughtered, but so far Tyroc, Gates and Wildfire have hinted at their impending deaths. I think Timber Wolf may be lost too. That would be a real shame since most Legion fans just want them to return safely home.
I hope it won't happen also. The fact that this is most of the non-human (plus Tyroc and Timber Wolf) Legionnaires means it is highly likely that Levitz would put his foot down and say "I don't think so. If you're not going to use them in the 21st century, don't kill them, give them back to the 31st century."
The higher risk is probably actually if most of the team returns to the 31st century but one or two remain in the 21st -- say as members of the Titans or the Ravagers. That character is then cut off from his/her history and becomes prime cannon fodder -- no one in the "real" (current) DCU would care if they died.
If they must do this with a character, make it Wildfire. "Killing" him is highly unlikely and the previous Legion Lost series demonstrated that he can survive disembodied potentially for millennia. (Although what happens in the overlap period of the 30th century where he already existed, who knows. Handwave!)
In a way I almost don't care what they do; I'm sort of waiting out this era of DC and the Legion and it'll all be the same in a few years anyway.
Isn't "This era of the Legion" the one everyone seemed to want -- Levitz on the 80s Legion continuity. Waiting it out for the next re-generation in the hopes that it will be better… come on, that trick never works!
Why don't you check the record and see how much I wanted it?
Post a Comment
<< Home