Legion Lost #6 – Review

By: Fabian Nicieza & Tom DeFalco (writers), Pete Woods & Matt Camp (artists), Brad Anderson (colorist)

The Story: Green man from Mars, meet the time-traveling people of the future!

The Review: I’ve made these same observations before in my review of Stormwatch #6, but it really pains me to see a writer I admire depart from a title I like.  Almost always the two things are mutually inclusive; once one element disappears, the other usually follows.  True, Nicieza hasn’t exactly made this title into the barn-burner any Legionnaire fan hoped for, but at the very least he’s remained true to the Legion’s spirit and delivered a solid, if flawed, read each time.

Soon-to-be-replacement DeFalco comes aboard this issue to help Nicieza with the script.  As a result, it’s hard to tell if the writing falls flat because of his contribution or because of some decline in Nicieza’s already faltering writing.  It’s not an obvious drop in quality, but it just feels like many of the lines have gotten slightly more generic, the plot slightly more muddled, the characters slightly more one-dimensional.

The weakness is most noticeably felt in the conception of Major Nicholson, the military lady in charge of investigating extraterrestrials and metahumans that may pose a threat to the country.  She might be attempting to sound tough and informed, but she ends up sounding immature (describing Timber Wolf’s friends: “‘Faceplate’ appears to emit some kind of energy from that oh-so-stylish suit of armor—and it looks as if ‘Lenny Kravitz’ controls sonic vibrations.”) or just plain bratty (“Shut up!”).  With any luck she won’t be a long-term antagonist for this series.

Also a bit painful to read is Martian Manhunter’s dialogue.  Paul Cornell did a fantastic job on Stormwatch making J’onn out as a badass, an image Pete Tomasi kept up perfectly in his guest shot on Green Lantern Corps.  Here, when he’s not acting confused by the Legionnaires’ “evolved” minds, he’s being confusing.  For example, you’ll never understand why, when he confronted Wolf last issue, he apparently decided to take the extra step of knocking Wolf out and having him turned into the military before he begins his interrogation.

It’s also not clear what J’onn gets out of this meeting with the Legion.  If anything, his only real purpose is to assist them in rescuing Chameleon Girl.  While he vaguely mentions something about trailing them to complete some kind of “energy signature,” it’s not clear what getting that kind of information accomplishes for him or Stormwatch.  It also strikes me as a little odd that having read their minds and knowing their purpose on Earth, he’s not a little more concerned about the Hypertaxis virus threatening humanity, which would supposedly be under his purview.

Action Comics #900 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Lex Luthor is about to bring fun, love, and joy to all the people of the universe—the crazy part is I am being totally serious right now.

The Review: Say what you like about Superman: he can be overly naïve, overbearingly preachy, arguably antiquated, and a hopeless optimist.  But any character who can support a title through 900 issues is doing something right.  This unassailable milestone is evidence that Superman remains a deeply embedded icon in our culture.  To be rid of him, our society would have to drastically change—and not necessarily for the better, as this issue demonstrates.

Paul Cornell wisely downplays the Big Blue’s return to his original title to finish off his epic Lex Luthor storyline in grand fashion.  In attempting to break down Superman by forcing him to experience the depths of human emotion, Lex reveals his own under-appreciation for humanity.

Superman already knows more about being human than most of us ever will, while Lex’s quest for his own divinization constantly sets him apart from his fellow man.  He squanders his chance to bless the universe with true, eternal bliss and gain ultimate power by his need to irrevocably prove himself superior to Clark Kent, best man of Smallville, of all people.

The grandeur of this plot gets blemished by the constant distractions from the Reign of Doomsday storyline, which seems obviously forced on Cornell.  He tries to accommodate it as best he can by using it as Lex’s “bait” to get Superman to come to him, but even so it comes off a clumsy, ill-conceived, far more superficial plotline (a grim portent of the material we’ll be getting in upcoming issues) in comparison to Superman confronting a godlike Luthor in space.