Legion of Superheroes #2
Written by Paul Levitz
Drawn by Francis Portela
Reviewed by Brad Jones
I made no bones about the fact that I really hated the first issues of Legion of Superheroes and it’s companion book, Legion Lost, but was surprised by the clear (and dare I say, “good”) narrative of Legion Lost #2, to the point where I was not a’feared of this Issue #2 as much as I once was. Unfortunately, Levitz doesn’t follow Fabian Nicieza’s lead of a focused narrative. In fact, what we get is more of the same…too many characters, rambling story-telling, and a sloppy book, over-all.
There threat in this issue is a planet of “Supermen” trying to break out of their “prison” of a planet. I’m sure there was some correlation between these first two issues and this threat, but Issue #2 is bogged down by too many characters for me to have decoded any of it. I wish, like Lost, Legion had picked one character through which to tell this story, making it easier to have followed the plot and decipher the different character relationships. Instead, what I’m left with is merely the excitement of only having to review this book one more time.
Books like this (Men of War, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Mister Terrific) make me question why we need 52 books…wouldn’t the New 45 or the New 30 have sounded just as good? Again, it’s possible that with some familiarity with the existing Legion of Superheroes universe would allow a more seasoned reader to pick this series up and derive some enjoyment out of it, but for me, I’d rather spend ten minutes plucking eyelashes individually from my lids then read such an untamed mess.
VERDICT
Skip it – the bulk of my disappointment from this book comes from the promise of the much more focused Legion Lost #2, and the expectation that the two books would mirror each other a bit more.
