Review: Superman #35

Superman #35 came out last week, another DC KO crossover and another chapter in the redemption arc for Superboy Prime. It succeeds on both fronts. There is an interesting wrinkle to the Doomsday storyline as well, perhaps leading into a dramatic event in the actual KO finale as well. 

Joshua Williamson has done a good job so far making me a little sympathetic towards Prime, veering into actually liking him. Prime has learned some hard lessons and continues to do so in this arc, reminding him why Superman was his hero so long ago. This issue Williamson reminds us who Prime has been in the past, and maybe showing that he still has some darkness in him. Perhaps some down to Earth Kent wisdom will help tamp down the remaining vitriol.

The Doomsday piece does intrigue me as it is basically a new element to his origin and changes him fundamentally. I suppose that Doomsday becoming the Time Trapper was a big step already, one that makes some sense. I recall hearing that Dan Jurgens didn't like that change so I doubt Jurgens will be on board with this one either.

Eddy Barrows is again on art and continues to show why he is a favorite. The fight scenes are brutal. There are emotional scenes with heft. The pages layouts are interesting. But the high water mark for art here is the expressive work, a strong part of Barrows' art.

Will the events of this change the climax of KO? I think so.

On to the book.

Review: Superman #34

Superman #34 came out last week, a DC KO tie in and a pretty big treat for a Legion fan like me. More impressive than the LSH stuff in the issue is that somehow writer Joshua Williamson continues to make me like reading his Superboy Prime.

The KO stuff is really on the periphery of the issue. The main plot is Prime, Lois, and a Superman Robot trying to get to Doomsday to give him the information we learned from the Lara Lor-Van tapes. That trip takes a few detours as we get to contrast the brash Prime to the earnest Superman simulacrum. We are on a sort of redemption tour for Prime and his being inspired by an automaton is a nice wrinkle.

We know Josh Williamson is going to be writing a Legion of Super-Heroes book in the future. Maybe we see some glimpses of what he thinks of the Legion in this book. I hope that book sings.

Eddy Barrows is on art and I have always loved his work. He really has shined on this arc and it is great to see his take on these DC KO landscape. His splash pages are fantastic. And wait until you see his Legion.

On to the book.

Review: Superman #30

Superman #30 came out this week, pushing the Legion of Darkseid story forward with some important plot reveals, a possible Crisis homage, and a triple-agent double-cross that works well. 

But I am still trying to work out what exactly is happening regarding Darkseid. I thought that Darkseid wanted to die in the All In Special so that he was the 'hand Krona saw' in the Absolute Universe. Now it seems like he wants to come back and has sent his Legion to try and resurrect him. I thought it was cooler that he was sort of the primal energy of the whole universe rather than a being wanting to dominate. DC is approaching the DC KO mini-series which means Darkseid has to manifest to fight whoever wins the round robin. 

So in this issue, writer Joshua Williamson tells us about the origins of this Dark Legion and what their goals are. These aren't my Legion and, in particular, this sadistic Saturn Girl, killing with her mind and licking her chops over the nihilistic Superboy Prime is about as far away from my Imra as possible. And like last month, Prime is a delight here, dropping creator names and comic references throughout. 

Dan Mora brings the action and frenzy in this issue. The action is wild and crazy. We see the Legion pounding the good guys throughout the book. And his take on Saturn Girl is chilling. It has been a while since Mora hit the scene and I am still in awe of his stuff. 

On to the book.

Review: Superman #29

Superman #29 came out this week and was one of the strangest and darkest and funniest and inspiring and entertaining reads I have read in a long time. And that makes it one of the toughest one for me to review.  But writer Joshua Williamson and artist Dan Mora just bring it this issue. It is complex and wonderful and sad.

Let's start with the darkness. Everyone knows that I am a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan. It is hard for me to see DC sort of miss the boat with the IP for some time. They just don't know what to do with the team. And now we have Darkseid's Legion, a vicious, brutal, killing team. They are inspired by Darkseid and are more terrifying than people like Vermin Vunderbar and Kanto. What's worse is they kill the 'real' Legion, members from all the Legions we have seen. This isn't the Legion I want to read. But maybe it is darkest before the dawn.

Superman is still inspiring, rallying the ragtag remaining team and talking about hope. And I am here for the Superman and that works.

But the strangest and funniest part of this issue is Superboy Prime's presence. I really despise what DC did to the original kid back in Infinite Crisis. He became dreadful in multiple other events. He got a reprieve in Dark Metal. But here, he is hilarious, breaking the fourth wall, talking about the comics, and winking at us. I actually found him charming! That is saying something!

Meanwhile, Dan Mora continues to crush it. From the mournful cover to the multiple looks of Legionnaires (both Darkseid and others versions) to a very young looking Superboy Prime, Mora is crushing it. 

This was a hard read for Legionnaire fans. But a good read. 

On to details.

Review: Superman #28

Last month I talked about how Joshua Williamson seemed to be wrapping up a bunch of plots that have been running through the Superman title since its launch. No more Lex. No more Supercorp. No more Superwoman. No more Red K poisoning. 

Williamson doesn't waste any time in getting on to the next thing. Superman #28 came out last week, the first part of Legion of Darkseid, and was a fast-paced, engaging, and very entertaining opening chapter. We are heading to some Darkseid-centric event and this sets the stage. 

Now I am a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan so seeing only a dark version of them recently has been a bit of a let-down. I can only hope we are heading to a relaunch. But if you want to see how brutal and powerful the original trio of Legionnaires could be, this issue will open your eyes. This isn't your dad's Legion. 

I have already said how somehow Williamson has made both The Time Trapper and Doomsday be interesting to me. No small feat (perhaps smushing them together has been multiplicative not additive). But perhaps the most incredulous thing Williamson has done is made me intrigued about a character that appears on the last page ... a character I have wished I would never see again. That is truly an epic accomplishment.

Add to all this Dan Mora's standard impeccable art and you have a complete winner. No Supergirl here but a lot of pizzazz nonetheless.

Everyone should dive in right here. On to the book. 

Back Issue Box: Legion Of Super-Heroes #16

It is an off-week for new Superman books on the shelves so that means dipping into the back issue box for something to review. As always, I look for books that resonate with current proceedings. So between the reappearence of the Absolute Legion and the new Crisis On Infinite Earths podcast The Monitor Tapes  hitting the airwaves, I thought it would be a great time to review Legion of Super-Heroes #16, the most 'why isn't this a Crisis cross-over' issue that hit the racks in 1985. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out the first week of July 1985. This issue came out 4 weeks later in August 1985. So amazing timing by writer Paul Levitz and artist Steve Lightle to maximize the impact of Supergirl's death. 

Levitz always had the knack of juggling the many characters and many plot lines of this book. He knew that Supergirl's death would have a major impact on Brainiac 5. Legion fans love continuity. Kudos to him for giving the aftermath the pages it deserves. And given Brainy's past with mental health crises, we needed to see this, in all its beauty and ugliness.

But Levitz has more irons in the fire. We get the five new Legionnaires on a solo mission. Four of them are peppering the then relatively unknown Sensor Girl about her powers. The rest of the Legion is away at a baptism. Heck, there is even a hint at a storyline that is more than two years away. That is a lot of plot. But Levitz had that knack.

Meanwhile, legend Steve Lightle is on art. Bob Smith is on inks this issue, giving Lightle less of a polish than Larry Mahlstedt does. But the art is still great. Brainy's pain is palpable. The action is swift and potent. And the downtime scenes with the other Legionnaires show a posh side to the super-hero team.

But why??? Why is there no official Crisis Cross-Over banner on this issue! This has way more to do with the Crisis than some of those 'look, the sky is red' ones!

On to the book.

Terrificon Recap 2: Greg Larocque And More Stories

Last week I gave my first recap of 2024's Terrificon including my June Brigman commission.

Brigman was my primary target for a commission from the show. But my second was Greg Larocque.

Most people who frequent this site know that the Legion is my second favorite DC IP. In fact, I reviewed multiple runs of the Legion over on the Legion of Super-Bloggers. In fact, I think my reviews of the first 60 issues of the 5YL Legion is my high water mark as a blogger. 

Larocque was the artist on a large part of the Baxter run of LSH, so I have always been a big fan. 

But I had a particular interest in getting a sketch from him. He was the last artist to draw the pre-Crisis Supergirl in continuity. 

You see, the DCU was re-written in Crisis On Infinite Earths #12, a book which hit the stands on 12/19/1985. After that, Supergirl was a word that couldn't even be uttered in DC Comics.

But then in Legion of Super-Heroes #31 , drawn by Larocque, we saw a statue of Supergirl in Legion's hall of heroes. 

Seven months later, in the classic Legion of Super-Heroes #38 we once again saw the Supergirl statue. Once again it was Larocque on art. Legion #38 was released on 6/9/1987, a full 18 months after the Crisis ended! A year and a half after Supergirl was 'erased' from continuity.

With all that history, I thought Larocque doing a commission sketch of the Supergirl statue for my book was a pretty cool idea. And I think he nailed it. For a Supergirl fan and a Legion fan, this was a winner.

Bullet Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes

In February, the DCAU released Legion of Super-Heroes, a new movie written by Josie Campbell starring Supergirl and a handful of Legionnaires.

Supergirl and the Legion are my two favorite IP's in the DCU so this was a no brainer to buy. And sure enough, it arrived at my place within a week of release.

I watched it and loved it! Like LOVED it. It was just the sort of Supergirl I want to see, For fans of the Brainiac 5/Kara romance, it was fantastic. For Legion fans looking for deep cuts of their favorite Legionnaires, it was a smorgasbord.

I realized only last week that I had never sat down and actually reviewed it.

The movie gives us a Supergirl who feels like a stranger in a strange land on Earth. Superman sends her off to the future to train in the Legion as well as be in an environment more like the technically advanced Krypton. She takes a liking to Mon-El who doesn't hide his more fascist thoughts. She takes an instant dislike to Brainiac 5, descendent of the villain Brainiac. But over time she sees that Brainy is just as much a fish out of water as she is. Together the come together to help stop the Dark Circle (and their mysterious leader ... no spoiler alert) and save the universe. And some hugs and kisses occur.

It's really a fun ride and hopefully a sequel is in the works. 

But if you like classic Supergirl and all versions of the Legion, this movie is for you. 

On to some details.

Josie Campbell Interview

Last week, we heard from James Gunn that a Supergirl movie was in the works using Tom King's Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow as a template. You might recall that Gunn said Supergirl is 'harsher', 'more jaded', and 'more f**ked up' than Superman. I am not sure that is the right take on Supergirl for a film. 

Later that day, I saw this interview with comic writer Josie Campbell regarding her upcoming animated Legion of Superheroes movie starring Supergirl. You should definitely read the entire interview, especially if you are a fan of those properties. Here is a link:

https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2023/02/exclusive-interview-legion-of-super-heroes-screenwriter-josie-campbell/

It is clear that Josie Campbell understands the Supergirl character very well. I read her responses to these questions and they made me smile. Because at least somewhere out there, there are creators who can acknowledge Kara's trauma but then see that historically she has been able to channel it in constructive and not destructive ways.  I'll be showcasing some of those responses below. 

I really liked Campbell's recent New Champion of Shazam mini-series. It was a strong take on Mary Marvel, her growing confidence, and her love of family. It touched on current social issues and mores but in an entertaining way, neither preachy or weighty. 

I have pre-ordered my copy of the movie which will arrive sometime next week. You should expect a review here. But first the interview!

Happy Thanksgiving! A Supergirl/Legion Trailer!

 Thanksgiving is right around the corner and at this time I always hope that there will be some good comic news so that I can once again give thanks for this hobby which has meant so much to me.

As if by magic, last week the official trailer for the Legion Of Super-Heroes movie was released. Here it is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP2Aa23TzUg

Now there is no official release date, just a vague 'early 2023' tagline on different sites but this looks like a fantastic.

Obviously I am a massive Supergirl fan so the fact that she is headlining this movie is incredible. Putting her in my favorite version of her costume - red skirt, blue shirt - is just gravy on the turkey, if I can use a Thanksgiving metaphor.

But I am also a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan as well. So a Supergirl and the Legion movie is like peanut butter and nutella, 2 awesome things which are exponentially better together.

There is a lot to love in this trailer and one thing that I am not sure I like. But overall, I can anticipate owning this in some form for repeated viewing.

On to some details.

Legion Of Super-Heroes Animated Movie Starring Supergirl !!

Every so often a news item will come out of the blue which just tickles me, having me grin like a loon for the day.

Out of nowhere last week, we learned a new DC animated movie about the Legion of Super-Heroes is in the works, And even better, Supergirl is a big part of it.

Here is the official blurb!

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dcs-legion-of-super-heroes-animated-movie-1235240040/

One shot of the movie has been released. It should have Supergirl and Brainiac 5 fans (like me) smiling. That looks like a fantastic Supergirl. Love the look of determination, the hairdo, the hand on Brainy, and the costume. I stared at this thing all day.

And then the details.

DC March 2022 Solicitations

The DC solicitations for March 2022 came out last week. 

To peruse all the listings you can head here, the Newsarama coverage:
https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-comics-march-2022-solicitations/

Let's not bury the lede. There is no Supergirl to be found. It will be interesting to see if there is any return for Kara in the near future. Who knows how Tom King's mini-series will end. But that story has Kara aged and off-world and miserable. It is doubtful she will show up in Action to help Kal or in Superman to help Jon given that send-off. 

Now there is a new title on the shelves this month which looks like it will be a lot of fun so my pull list will grow slightly. And there is the Legion book. But otherwise, DC's reliance on Batman books and new Earth-3 mini-event aren't grabbing me.

Let's get to the books!

ACTION COMICS #1041
Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON and SHAWN ALDRIDGE
Art and cover by RICCARDO FEDERICI and ADRIANA MELO
Cover by DANIEL SAMPERE and ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ

REMATCH! Superman puts what he's learned on Warworld to the test as he faces Mongul's unstoppable, reanimated warrior known as the Unmade. But it may be too late for Mongul to salvage his empire before an ancient prophecy is fulfilled. One of Superman's inner circle will fall, another will be resurrected at a terrible cost, and the Authority's traitor will be revealed in the conclusion to part one of the Warworld Saga!

I have been loving this title so far. This solicit sounds great. I am going to assume that it is Apollo who is resurrected. I hope Natasha doesn't die. And who is the traitor? Enchantress might be the easy guess but I am going with Lightray.

Nice cover too. The S-shield made from chains is great.

Review: Future State Legion Of Super-Heroes #2

Future State Legion of Super-Heroes #2 came out this week and I feel like Brian Michael Bendis and Riley Rossmo hit this one out of the park. It must be hard to fully flesh out a completely new timeline in just two issues. But you get the sense that Bendis knew where these characters were heading and with dialogue and plot twists, you can sort of fill in the gaps. (As a fan of 5YL, I am used to mentally filling in time gaps with the Legion.)

As I have said with the 'regular' Legion book, Bendis is walking the tightrope of bringing back classic themes and characterization from the prior runs while making this new and fresh. So last issue, when Element Lad was revealed as the big bad, I thought this was a nod to the Abnett/Lanning run. Of course, there was one more twist and a doozy making this very original.

Rossmo's art is unique and quirky but somehow fits this odd 'possible' timeline. Dystopic, frenzied, action-packed. In particular, Rossmo gives us several splash like pages where we see the same character in multiple action shots, showing how it unfolds in the environment. Gorgeous.

Okay. Now while I liked this story, I do hope that the main title does not pick up where this left off and instead continues that timeline. We haven't learned enough about that team to jump forward.

On to the book.

Supergirl Sighting In Future State?

The cancellation of the Supergirl title.

The end of the Brian Michael Bendis run on the Superman books.

Future State and Infinite Frontier re-imagining the whole DCU.

No mention of Kara in any of the solicits.

It made me wonder if and when we would see Supergirl again.

Well, maybe just maybe we got a little glimpse. And in Future State Wonder Woman Immortal of all places!

In that series by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, and Jen Bartel, an immortal Diana has witnessed the universe basically be destroyed by something called the Undoing.

Here she muses on how the Legion tried to fight this threat which ate stars. (Hmmm, big classic Legion vibes there.) Unfortunately, they lost. We see the scattered bodies of the Legion floating in space.

But take a closer look!

Review: Future State Legion Of Super-Heroes #1

Remember when DC completely rebooted the universe in the New 52? 

It's sort of a trick question. You might recall that the Batman books and the Green Lantern books, which were selling like hotcakes at the time, didn't reboot at all and just chugged along.

Or maybe you remember the 'One Year Later' jump forward in time with Infinite Crisis where all books jumped forward a year in their timeline, keeping the foundation of the books intact but giving us some plot mysteries.

I was reminded of those a little when I read Future State Legion of Super-Heroes #1. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is guiding the main Legion book. And this Future State book takes place on that timeline somewhere. As he has said, it might be a year, a week, 5 years in the future from Legion of Super-Heroes #12 which we just read. So this is our current Legion, living in the current universe and timeline, just nudged forward. As a result, I felt this book had a bit more skin in the game than the other 'possible futures'. In my mind, this is simply the next issue in the current volume.

And, as he has been doing in the current book, Bendis sort of picks through all the Legion histories, finds the good bits, and adds it to his plot soup. Whether intentional or not, this book had some undertones of the 5YL Legion book as well as the Abnett/Lanning Legion Lost book. That completely works.

Add to that the wild and innovative art of the Riley Rossmo and this is a very solid book. Rossmo brings a style that is wild and stylized but gritty enough to fit this sort of more dystopian future. I once described Frank Robbin's art on Marvel's The Invaders as 'beautiful ugly'. I think that works here too.

On to the book!

Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes #12

Legion of Super-Heroes #12 came out this week and it is a whirlwind of a story, wrapping up quite neatly all the plot lines which have been simmering in this title over this year.

One of the things that I struggle with on this site is reading a comic as a fan and reading a comic critically. Those are two very different experiences. And this issue encapsulates that conundrum quite well. 

As a fan I loved this. I have been waiting for us to see this Legion team as a whole fighting big bads. Writer Brian Michael Bendis gives us tiny moments for almost all the teammates, showcasing them a bit. He continues to build a couple of future plot lines. Ryan Sook does all the art on the book and it is just gorgeous. And we end with a party. For someone who has craved a good Legion book on the shelves, this was a wonderful capstone to a fantastic first year.

As a critic, there are some things that lingered in my mind again. For one, this book has been simmering. This issue basically boils over. Everything wrapping up so quickly is a little jarring. I wonder how much of this accelerated pace was driven by the need for Future State to happen when it does. Second, and perhaps more a corollary of the first point, the big bads are taken care of with a quick fix, something we have seen with many big bads in the super-books lately. 

But I come to praise this book, not bury it. This was too much fun. I can only hope that Future State doesn't derail this book. I want more and I hope we get it.

Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes #11

Legion of Super-Heroes #11 came out this week and was another rapid-fire romp around a few worlds of the United Planets. Between the action and the big font planet names, it sort of felt like one of the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies. I had a  blast reading this. Brian Michael Bendis does a great job of leaping from planet to planet, squad to squad, and giving us both plot and character progression. Now that is a Legion comic.

What is interesting is that all the plots seem of equal weight. Classic Legion had the A, B, C plot algorithm. Here, thrown into this new continuity. They all seem equal and all seem weighty. It really keeps me engaged with all of them. And I can't help but feel that The Great Darkness, while a sub-sub-plot now is really going to surge and dominate the book at some point.

As an added bonus, we get Ryan Sook interiors for the second issue in a row. Sook is just fantastic. The book flows so well. The pencils are gorgeous. Give me 6 Sook issues a year and I'll be thrilled.

There is a lot to unpack here, so on to the book.

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes #10

Legion of Super-Heroes #10 came out this week and was a great walk around the team as we explore several plot lines which have begun in the book. The recovery of Earth's ocean is behind us. The 'Trial of the Legion' is behind us. We have met a lot of the Legionnaires through the last two issues page-by-page storytelling. The future is now.

And there is a lot to unpack in this issue. The romance between Superboy and Saturn Girl and their side mission to find Mordru is here. The current state of Rimbor's politics is here. The impending Great Darkness and the current state of Oa is here. And boy oh boy is New Krypton here. And each of these storylines throw in a lot of hints and clues for the future that whets my appetite for more.

I also love how my favorite Legionnaires get some screen time. Lightning Lass has always been a favorite and her scene in this issue might be my favorite.

Ryan Sook provides the art here and his work is just fantastic. There is so much fun here. The breathy ethereal landscape of the mind's eye of Imra's telepathy is beautiful. Monster Boy's minotaur is fun. Cham pretending to be Krypto and Streaky when on New Krypton is a hoot. He might have based a character in here on a British actor. It is just beautiful. 

Get ready to dive in because I have thoughts and ideas!

I am so happy that a good Legion book is on the shelves!

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes #9

Legion of Super-Heroes #9 came out this week, the second part of the Trial of the Legion of Super-Heroes and another fantastic art jam piece written by Brian Michael Bendis.

There is so much to love about this particular issue that you should know it was incredibly difficult to pick which pieces of the book I wanted to post here. For a Legion fan, every page is a delight.

Bendis uses the backdrop of the Trial to once again show us audition vids for various members of the team. This technique not only gives us background information on the team members (establishing new origins for some established characters) but also shows that the Legion has never wanted to be the lapdog for the UP. I guess 'eat it Grampa' could be invoked. And then he drops a bomb hinting at an upcoming storyline. Boom!

The art is crazy good with a veritable Who's Who of artists each showcasing a different Legionnaire. Too many names to drop here. Just go buy the issue.

I have been enjoying this book a ton! And these last two issues have been electric.

On the book.

Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes #8

Legion of Super-Heroes #8 came out last week and was a powerhouse of an issue. 

A sort of jam piece where every page focuses on one Legionnaire and is drawn by a different artist as the fight between the Legion and King Crav and the Rimbor gang comes to a head. For someone like me, a long time Legion reader, seeing these glimpses at different Legionnaires and hearing a bit of their origins, learning a bit about their powers, this was a complete treat.

As I have said before, writer Brian Michael Bendis is walking the tightrope of this book. There is enough classic Legion stuff here for an old timer like me to love. There is a feeling of a hodgepodge approach to the team here with elements of several incarnations mashed together. And there is enough new stuff here to make me intrigued. And this approach of giving each Legionnaire a page is a great way to introduce new readers to these characters.

But the real treat here is the art. This is a real heavy hitting lineup of artists each bringing jaw dropping art. It would be easy to post each page here. But I have to pick and choose carefully. Please go out and get the issue! It is amazing!

On to the book!