Sunday, March 13, 2022

Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #2 Review

What Happened That You Have to Know About:

Everyone who disappeared last issue just went to the 31st century. We get some of Gold Lantern's backstory and some interacting between the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice League. Then there's a rift.

Review:

Called it!

I'd like to propose a new Legionnaire. His name would be Rift Lad, and his power would be to seal rifts. He'd never be short of work. (Yes, his power would be adaptable enough to seal zoo cages.)

It does seem like there was an effort made this issue to really let us get to know some of these characters. I appreciate it. After all this time, too many of them are ciphers, or hidden behind Brian Michael Bendis's signature bantery dialogue voice, or a combination of the two. But it seems unbalanced to pay attention to some characters when there are so many other characters around.

The plot was advanced by exactly one step this issue: our heroes are now fighting a rift mostly from the 31st century. And I know we also got some good art and some character stuff. But, ideally, in a comic book, you'd get art and character stuff and action and plot. Is it too much to ask? Bendis is not a beginner here. We had a whole year off of this title and two months since last issue.

I don't know where the Legion would be without Bendis. Waiting for Geoff Johns to get off the dime? It's not clear to me. Certainly it seems like it's entirely Bendis's franchise now. If he left it, would DC find another writer, or just cancel it? But... when the fourboot started, it had some very promising ingredients. Years later, it's still just ingredients. I'll stick with it, but the recipe is not currently working.

Art: 101 panels/22 pages = 4.6 panels/page; 1 splash page, 1 case of 5 panels spread over 2 pages.

That's more than twice as many panels as last issue! Interesting. Godlewski's the artist again, and his style is still fitting very well into Ryan Sook's 31st century. Check out page 10, panel 1; how many artists have had the chance to take a swing at a panel like that? I liked it. Scott Godlewski is holding up his end of the bargain.

2 comments:

  1. I generally enjoyed it, but for one very minor gripe: I really hate the use of Interlac font in this series. Yes, I can translate it, but it takes a long-ass time relative to reading and it's always printed in low contrast or light on dark. And rarely, if ever, for interesting information.

    I did like Gold Lantern's origin and, I have to admit, will be kind of sad that these elders(? - the new Guardian stand-ins) are somehow bad guys. The forming principles sounded good and they seemed ... decent.

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  2. Yeah, I tend to skip over the Interlac and maybe come back to it later. I know there are some people who can sight-read it but I usually can't.

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