World Famous Comics: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Teenage Revolution
Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Teenage Revolution
By: Mark Waid Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 200 Publication Date: December 01, 2005 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: December 01, 2005 Studio: DC Comics
Amazon.com Review: This latest reboot of the Legion of Super-Heroes, by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, is an interesting and amusing one. It doesn't worry about the many decades of Legion history, freely using characters that were killed off long ago, and while the characters generally have the same powers and names (Princess Projectra is one of the notable exceptions), it offers some intriguing explanations of just how those powers work. The title of the volume refers to the Legion's status as cult heroes to a generation of young people, to the dismay of their parents, including those of the Legionnaires themselves. And it seems that internal strife is as much of a threat to the organization as are the earth-moving Elysion and Terror Firma. The 2004-2005 run (encompassing Teen Titans/Legion Special 1 and Legion of Super-Heroes 1-6) is funny and sexy, but the art isn't the most attractive that's ever graced the LSH. --David Horiuchi
Product Description: This latest reboot of the Legion of Super-Heroes, by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, is an interesting and amusing one.It doesn't worry about the many decades of Legion history, freely using characters that were killed off long ago, and while the characters generally have the same powers and names (Princess Projectra is one of the notable exceptions), it offers some intriguing explanations of just how those powers work.The title of the volume refers to the Legion's status as cult heroes to a generation of young people, to the dismay of their parents, including those of the Legionnaires themselves.And it seems that internal strife is as much of a threat to the organization as are the earth-moving Elysion and Terror Firma.The 2004-2005 run (encompassing Teen Titans/Legion Special 1 and Legion of Super-Heroes 1-6) is funny and sexy, but the art isn't the most attractive that's ever graced the LSH.--David Horiuchi
Interesting Reboot for Long-lived Series ^ The Legion of Super-Heroes is one of those concepts that eternally remains near and dear to, well, legions of comic book fans. First introduced in the pages of Adventure Comics starring Superboy, the Legion came from a hundred years in the future (the 30th century back in those days) to meet Superboy, who inspired them.
During the ensuing years, the Legion has been through a lot of changes, going from fun science fiction kinds of stories to the darker futures of the 1980s and 1990s. Mark Waid helms the revamp, but there's already new stories featuring other Legions written by Geoff Johns that reinterprets the future yet again.
In Teenage Revolution, Waid returns the Legion to their roots as teenagers, but this time he adds the twist of having them want to change the status quo of their world. It's a common teen theme, and it works well in this series. I enjoyed that ages-old struggle between youth and adult a lot. In this future, the United Planets has adopted an arms-length attitude toward developing problems. The Legion, under Cosmic Boy with Brainiac 5 serving as his aggressive second, wants to act. The Legion comes under fire from the United Planets and parents everywhere.
I've always loved Waid's ability to render character on comics pages. The combative nature of Cosmic Boy's relationship with Braniac 5 is fantastic, and I enjoy the two sides of an argument they present. I like the new edginess Braniac 5 has, and I think Waid has created a great version here to root for and find fault with.
Waid has also taken liberties, and poked a little fun at, normal Legion convention. Colossal Boy, as it turns out, is misnamed. He can't actually grow; he shrinks to a height of six feet. He claims his real name is Micro-Lad. Dream Girl's inability to separate present from future is a really understandable weakness and one I'd never considered before. Wonderful touch.
Maybe my favorite "origin" story of this version of the Legion is Triplicate Girl's. I'd always thought she had one of the weaker powers of the group, but her origin as relayed by Mark Waid is awesome, and laden with bittersweet touches. I loved the dating sequences and the eventual reveal, though I had guessed it before it all came together. I also got a kick out of Lyle Norg's (Invisible Kid) backstory and his compromise with the Science Police. That was pure art.
Barry Kitson's art is fantastic and makes the Legion's adventures a visual treat. He works well in standalone panels, group shots, and montages of action.
Waid's run on the Legion is going to stand out in the annals of the 31st century super-heroes. I can't wait to see what further adventures lie ahead, and I loved the cliffhanger Waid leaves readers with regarding the mysterious guy that can get into Braniac 5's mind without him knowing it.
Legion of good reading moments. ^ This collection includes issues 1-6 of the Legion of Superheroes, a concept that has endured at DC for several years, and has seen several incarnations. This version is a brand new take, and is an excellent collection of smart, involving stories with likeable characters and excellent dialogue. The issues here do mainly two things; they introduce the concept of the legion and give the background on some select characters, while also laying the groundwork for a story that will have a pay-off in the second collection of the title. The work by Mark Waid is some of his smartest and most involving in recent years. The characters ring true and are mostly, each distinctly recognize personalities. Whatever one wants to say about Mark Waid, he's certainly the most cerebral writer working in comics today, showing that, instead of merely introducing arbitrary concepts that have no logic, some of the changes he makes are logical extensions or tweaks of given circumstances; Saturn Girl, a telepath, is mute because her race talks exclusively through telepathy. Colossal boy i a giant who can "shrink," and "Triplicate Girl" is the last survivor of a race who can replicate herself as a evolutionary defense measure. Sometimes it's all too cute for its own good, but for the most part, Waid shows his readers respect by at least taking time to think things through, a rarity in comics.
Barry Kitson does excellent work here. Creatively, the real villain in this set of issues is the colorist, who completely misjudged the tone of these issues, and who adopts a dark, muddy, pastel palette that hurts the optimistic, hopeful tone the series is striving for. Kitson also makes some odd choices with rendering a few too many scenes in dark, heavy tones. Whatever the creative team was going for, it doesn't quite "click" and jars the reader a bit. Overall though, Kitson does some brilliant work. He radically redesigns the costumes of some characters and they work for the most part. His redesign of Lightning Lad's costume is genius, as is his design for Star Boy. There are some complete misses though, such as his design for Element Lad, which just doesn't work. Kitson also manages to keep a balance between introducing new elements and giving nods to classic ones. In the earliest versions of the Legion, I was never really able to tell the facial difference between Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf, and Colossal Lad. It started because earliest artists for the series weren't that committed to distinguishing the characters with that level of detail. In keeping with that tradition, Kitson makes the characters look alike, but gives them just enough differences facially to keep them very separate. I have no doubt this is deliberate on his part.
I highly recommend this volume, but I also recommend getting it with the second volume in the series, Death of a Dream if you can afford it. Together, they make a whole and complete story that satisfies on several levels, between the generally excellent writing and very consistent, very competent art. Teenage Revolution is funny, engaging, exciting, and full of really cool characters.
An unappealing 'reboot' of a once-popular comic ^ The Legion of Super-Heroes is a simple concept. Teen heroes in the far future, think of it as Star Trek meets Justice League Unlimited. And it has proven pretty durable, in one version or another the Legion has lasted over 50 years.
But the problem with teens is sooner or later they grow up. The problem with science fiction is as the story goes on you add more and more concepts to keep track of. Plus you have to keep current, the future as seen in the 50s is not the future of the 1970s and is not the future we see today. So the Legion has been 'rebooted' several times, with new writers starting from scratch in 1989, 1994 and now in 2004 (and yet again in 2007).
In this version the Legion of Super-Heroes are a bizarre combination of superheroes, comic book fans, SCA re-enactors and cos-players trying to bring some youthful rebellion to a stogy and peaceful future.
But the result is they come off as arrogant, obnoxious and geeky, all the worst qualities of comic book and science fiction fans. Certainly not people the readers want to spend time with. The conflict is a fairly generic plot to plunge the galaxy into war so the villain can sell more weapons. Not only is it not resolved in this volume, the mysterious villain's superpower is that he is forgettable. No one can remember him. Ironically this sums up the whole book.
The art by Barry Kitson is as good as ever, but by issue 4 we have fill-in artists.
Overall it has some interesting ideas but does not hold together as a book and it not an appealing relaunch of the team.
"He's not a super-villain." ^ Mark Waid is one of the most consistently solid writers around; his Legion gets the job done in quick strokes, with meaty characterizations, densely plotted arcs, and some wonderful dialogue to keep the story going. Nobody likes seeing their favorite characters redone, of course, and this incarnation of the Legion (the "threeboot," some fans have christened it) is pretty unpopular with the older set. But then, nobody likes running on a treadmill, either.
As far as Waid's work is concerned, this book is among the best things he's done, up there with "Tower of Babel" from JLA or his final Fantastic Four story arc.
Barry Kitson's art is pretty standard super-hero fare with a tendency toward neat-looking technical gadgets. The characters are mostly distinct from one another by hairstyle, gender, and costume, rather than facial construction, but Kitson isn't lazy and the battle scenes in the book are appropriately huge-looking.
The multi-character stories keep things moving at all times, and Waid seeds the action with some truly clever cliffhangers. Added to that, he has a grand old time coming up with unbeatable villains, some of whom have a Dickensian mean streak. It's never in doubt whether good will triumph over evil, but Waid and Kitson do a good and slightly subversive job of finding evil in places where it should never have been, and good in people who seem terminally unwilling to change.
Please, read it - it's great for teens who aren't that keen on reading, and it's pure brain candy for comics fans or sci-fi geeks.
Graphic SF Reader ^ When I heard about this I thought, 'Oh no, not Again'. Reboot number 73. Mark Waid, however is a bastich, this is actually good. Let us hope they never have to try it again (wishful thinking, I guess). Or, if it fails, then just Showcase all the old Legion stories, so we can read those ones instead, rather than having to put up with another retcon.
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