LEGION LOST #2
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Drawn by Pete Woods
Something shocking happened while I read Issue #2…I was kind of enjoying myself. After the mess of the first book – through the blanket introduction of WAY too many characters – I was glad to find that the sophomore turn of this superhero team of the future was more focused by centralizing the story from the perspective of only Wildfire. Hidden in the murk of Issue #1, Alastor, a terrorist from the future, wakes up in a hospital of today and unleashes a plague upon modern times. After plowing through a hospital, the lost Legion of Superheroes catches him, but in the attempt to bring the madman back to their own time, Alastor and two of the team die in the explosion of the time machine, stranding the remaining members of the Legion in the 21st century.
Alastor believes that mankind’s tolerance of alien-life on Earth is to blame for an attack that kills his sister, therefore he unleashes a pathogen designed to combine human DNA with that of alien species. Issue #2 introduces us to the first person exposed – the first hybrid human – a doctor who’s new form is that of pure energy. Wildfire can relate; he’s also pure energy trapped within a suit of tech-armor (think Johann from Hellboy II) and knows that without the Legion’s help, this doctor could literally dissolve into inexistence. Zeroing in on Wildfire in this chapter lent weight to the challenge of this new super-human and also helped to acclimate me to the rest of the team. It was easier to understand the dynamics within the Legion through the eyes of just one of them. I can only hope that Legion of Superheroes #2 follows suit.
VERDICT
Issue #2 is a pleasant surprise, especially after the slop of the introductory book. I was ready to write off this series, but find myself looking forward to picking up the next installment. I say, shockingly, to pick this one up!
