RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Action Comics #863 (an On the Rack Review)

This whole arc has left me with mixed emotions. At first I hated it due to the continuity mess it presented. Then I just didn't care. Who are the Legion? Do I need to know about them? No. Go away. But finally, a funny thing happened, I started to like it. To hell with continuity, uninteresting characters, and bad penciling... the story was good! Last issue's final pages, showing Earth-Man fighting a powerless Superman (IN SPACE!!), was perfect. Perfect because I knew the sun would be restored in time before Supes ended up pummeled on the Earth below. And perfect because I knew the villain would be exposed. Did it deliver? Yes. In the end I saw how (potentially) cool the Legion could be. The issue's teaser pages could help that.

I have to ask. Just how old are you?

I ask because up until DC rebooted the Legion back in 1986 and tried to divorce their flagship character from anything associating him with everyone else, including The New Gods and The Legion (both who existed either alongside him or because of him from the outset), the Legion was actually one of DC's best and most exciting team books.

The damage done to both Superman and The Legion was pretty extensive and neither books histories were ever as good apart as they were together. Especially The Legion. So if you came into DC after The Crisis, what you were getting was essentially 2 decades of a facsimile Legion with it's heart literally torn out.

Just recently with The Lightning Saga and with Death Of The New Gods, we have the old dynamic back. A confident Superman who is familiar, commanding and releaxed around these cosmic groups of characters. And if this isn't the same Legion from the early 80's, well, they at least finally feel right. And IMO Superman's familiarity and ease around them contribute a lot to that. Just from a historical standpoint that bleeds into the right "feel" in the book itself.

So even though I'm quite familiar with all versions of The Legion, this has by far been my favorite incarnation since The Levitz/Giffen days.

That's why I didn't care about the Legion. I knew Superman(boy) was somehow supposed to be a part of the team, but he wasn't. So why bother? I cared more about Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man back then. Interest in the JLA came later.

I'm just glad DC is finally remedying this. The Legion is too too grand a concept to see it wasted and reduced to what I coined The "Archie Legion" back in my DCMB posting days.

The title "Legion of Three Worlds", an obvious homage to Flash #123, "The Flash Of Two Worlds" which was the first multiverse story (Earth I & II), leads me to think that instead of tossing out the lesser Legions that followed the crisis, they're just going to embrace them all and just delegate them to their respective Universes.

One of the running mysteries back in the old days was whether Earth II had their own Legion in their 30th (now 31st) century.

I think this is for the best. As even though I thought the post Crisis Legion's were pretty much crap (save for Giffen's "5 years Later/Terra Mosaic" Adult Legion), I'm sure a lot of people grew up with them as "their Legion" and thus that should be respected as well.

It was a very enjoyable arc for this Legion fan. Highlight for me was the spotlight on the subs.

It's to bad they had to do new costumes for everyone though. The artist kind of fell into alot of similar themes. (way to many sleaveless guys)

Where do they go from here? I wouldn't mind if this ends up being the main Legion. The current one is OK but it's never seemed like the real Legion. Even with Shooter writing doesn't change that. (although he does a great job)

what the hell happened to Perez's art?

other than my obsession with batman, i really don't get anything stereotypically fanboyish about comics. perez is worshipped, and i just think those images look awful. not, like, awful awful, i mean you can tell there's a lot of detail in there and effort and the figures are human shaped unlike many liefieldian artists, but... geebus, its just not that good! i don't get it.

perez used to be really good, but man that is bad. i n oticed a decline around the time he took over Wonder Woman years ago, i dont really see many books lately but god, that is a pale shadow of his older stuff....

is that from a made up post?

As somebody who never cared for the Legion or Superman, and only bought this set because I'm a whore for Gary Frank drawn comics, this arc was amazing, fun, and suspenseful.

Yes, you knew the Legion would win in the end.

Yes, you knew Superman would get his powers back and help save the day.

But so much of this story felt right. The back history, Superman's comfort level with the Legion and not acting all Savior-like in the way he's been in past Superman stories. I just really enjoyed this story and am even considering collecting the series under this creative team.

You got that right. It was Superman acting like the premeire hero of the entire line of DC comics. It's something that came off so effortlessly when I grew up reading these books and seeing Superman interact with The Legion, With the JLA, with The New Gods, The Guardians, etc. etc. but it was somehow lost with the Byrne revival.

If this story would have been written even just 5 years ago, you'd have gotten a Superman going thru the motions of the adventure but musing some bullshit about the Legion having so much unchecked power, the 31st Century being so much a diversion from Metropolis, Smallville, and old Potters field behind the Kent farm that's gone fallow and needs to be retilled or perhaps finishing up his fucking novel or having lunch with Lois something.

What's been deliberately done these past couple of years is giving Superman his balls and authority back. And it showed her and it showed in Death Of The New Gods.

Speaking of a Superman with courage and authority, I really enjoyed All Star Superman #10.

I'll read it when the hardcover finally comes out next march

larry recommended!

I completely disagree. This book was shit. Geoff Johns should never touch a Superman book again. The worst part by far was the dialog. I have no clue how Johns keeps finding work when he apparently only writes at the fourth grade level.

Complete shit fourth grade fan wank.

Gary Frank's art even looked like shit.

If I had paid money for this it probably would have made me physically ill.

2 thumbs up?

I note that Superman-prime has Mordru in his Legion of Super Villains. Doesn't that pretty much mean "game over" for the heroes? As I recall, Mordru was so powerful (at least in pre-Crisis continuity) that the Legion actually ran away to another timeline rather than face him.

Naw, even in that story all that needed to be done was cover him with dirt. He ended up doing it to himself in that first story. In later appearences Star Boy & Element Lad have succeeded in doing the same thing.

And a toe!

Granted, Morrison is ten_X the writer Johns is, All star Superman though is inhabiting an almost completely different, almost retro Superman reality. 'All Star Superman' most times reads as if Weisenger were just starting out on Superman today. Which being a HUGE fan of early Silver Age Superman and the building of his mythology, I like immensely.

Still, I think being able to approach a Superman so removed from the shackles of current continuity while being able to ape the best of the Silver age and fuse it with the best of todays big idea comics is still so much easier than what Geoff is doing. Even if you're Grant Morrison and are more than up to the challenge of doing the in-continuity Superman.

Whih is just to restate that Action Comics has been really really good lately.

Book of the Week

The best part was Batman acknowledging not only that they've met 3 Legion's already, thus validating Final Night as well as the JLA/JSA/Legion "Crisis in the 30th Century" story from way back in the 1970's. But that THAT Legion, the original one is in fact the same guys hanging around Superman now.

Don't know what significance Starman's stick figures play, but something tells me that there's something there there.

Karate Kid and Una made it back from the Great Disaster Earth. Placed there by the Trapper in order to demoralize The Legion?

The time Trapper. FINALLY. I like the things they threw around. Like mentioning the pocket universe. His comment was spot on



Amen.

That pretty much sums up the great fiasco of the past 20 odd years. The Time Trapper as a representation of the idiot Superman editors after the crisis.

Good good stuff.

Just read it. Must resist urge to buy Legion of three worlds.

My only regret is that the Action comics artists aern't going to be doing "Legion of Three Worlds".

Seeing the Perez promos isn't inspiring me a great deal in his ability. Too cartoony. Too unfamilar in the new look of the classic team. He just draws them as a guy completely lost would draw them. Wearing the right outfits and having the right haircuts but without the 'character' emanating from them. I didn't get that vibe from JSA/JLA or the Action comics stuff. But Perez's art just drips of unfamiliarity and a complete lack of understanding.

You must be drunk, whomod. Or high. Or ignorant. Or speaking of some other "Perez" that isn't George-fucking-Perez. Because, you have no idea what you're talking about. George Perez has yet to meet a comic book, character, scene, or moment he doesn't understand. I thought you knew comic books. They don't "emanate". Pfft. George Perez. I mean, fucking really...

Actually having read the entire thread now, I have to say you must all be drunk, or high, or dumb. It's fucking George Perez! How can you not like his art?

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pro dont let Pig Iran see this thread now...

forget where you're posting at?

Learn 'em good Pro!

Gary Frank, from the last arc, really grew on me. While it'd be nice to see him do the upcoming Legion, he works for Action. It's probably how he makes Supes look like Chris Reeve. I like it.

Agreed! The little I've downloaded read of the Action stuff, I find it incredibly appealing--and somewhat comforting in a strange, vague way--to have Reeve's face be a dominant visual feature. The resemblance isn't so strong that it overpowers the scenes. It's exactly like watching more Donner Superman movies...only no Jon Cryer.



.......yet.

Reeve was one of several actors to play the role, and it's been over 20 years since his last film. I find it unhealthy that DC clings to this one "iconic" portrayal of Superman instead of trying to do new and equally noteworthy interpretations.
DC and Marvel in general seems unhealthy these days. It's like they're promoting this 80's retro, saying repeatedly that any change over the last two decades was a mistake and that death and marriages and any evolution is bad.

Reeve's is also still dead. In case anyone didn't know.

The one fact that Ray is overlooking or omitting is the fact that part of the reason Reeve worked so well is that Reeve looked like Superman. Of course artists like Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and George Perez tailored their art to look 'more' like Reeve, they didn't have to do substantially much though.

Reeve just looked like an iconic version of Superman to start with and DC only slightly added to that. DC in later years moved away from that look and started making Superman look like a grinning retard (Byrne), or some Latin American rock star (mullet). It's sort of refreshingthat they've gone back to the look most people identify as being Superman. The square jawed dark haired handsome spitcurled icon.

rex content User breaker of the insurgency
15000+ posts Thu Jun 05 2008 01:08 AM Viewing list of forums

I wasn't talking about how Reeve looked. I'm talking about the fortress, jor-el, the line "believe a man can fly", zod, bringing in a man in his 70's to write the comic because he directed a popular movie 30 years ago. the reeve version of the film is treated by fans as if it were holy. i just think they should aim to fresh interpretations, fresh adaptations instead of just copying and paying homage to one movie.

Did anyone read the latest issue? With the Toyman?

Jurgens nostalgia. Really? Already?