Legion Worlds #5 Review

Released August 22, 2001
DC Comics, Color
39 Pages

Story 1 - You Are Here:Steeple
Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning - Writers
Steve Dillon - Pencils
Klaus Janson & John Stenisei - Inks
Tom McCraw - Colors
Comicraft - Letters
Mike McAvennie - Editor

Synopsis

We are introduced to planet Steeple, a bleak, barren planet mainly used as a Spiritual Retreat.  Val Armorr is flying through the atmosphere on a blimp-steed with his mentor, Sorcsis, who is musing on Val staying on the world to dedicate himself to the local philosophy for ten years. Val's been here for months since the Rift incident along with Andrew Nolan. 

We shift over to Ferro, who is in a fight with the criminal Nadir, recently escaped from Takron-Galtos.  It does not go well for Ferro, who's helmet is ripped off and some nasty rending sounds are shown.  

Back to Val, he is still contemplating his choice, as he has embraced a pacifist philosophy and feels as if he's losing his edge, but he feels as if he's gained a lot. Sorcsis seems to be hard selling the Steeple philosophy as we flash back to Val & Andy's arrival. Ferro is in yet another identity crisis without the Legion, but he feels comfortable enough to walk around without his helmet - which Val is OK with.  Back in the present, Val and Sorcsis fly back to their home to find dead bodies everywhere. Val finds Andy unconscious and in metal form sans helmet, apparently lying in a pool of blood.  Nadir sucker punches Val, and melee ensues, ended by Nadir grabs Val by his ponytail and tosses him against the wall. 

Val wakes to find the Halpashar memorializing their murdered brethren. We find that Nadir has fled and Val wants to go after him.  He's rebuked by Sorcsis, who reminds that their philosophy rejects revenge.  Val points out that Nadir will try to leave the planet before he is trapped and will likely leave a string of bodies. Visiting Andy, we discover he was so greatly injured that he is stuck in metallic form and kept in stasis.  Ferro is still wearing his Legion ring.  The countdown is at six hours before the last shuttle leaves the planet for ten years. Val cuts off his ponytail and puts on his Karate Kid uniform.  He and Sorcsis head after Nadir.  

We shift to the starport - the only technological refuge on the planet with two hours left to leave, and enter Nadir, who starts blasting the people on the platform indiscriminately. Despite Sorcsis' protests, Val dives right in and starts fighting Nadir. He is effective until Nadir blocks a kick and tosses Val off the platform.  Nadir threatens the remaining crowd, challenging them, and Sorcsis confronts him. Val then flies up wearing a flight ring, and kicks Nadir in the back just as he shoots at Sorcsis, making him miss. He then begins jumping around Nadir, striking him from all angles, including a strike to Nadir's power pack, shorting it out the next time he tries to fire, which disables Nadir completely. Val orders Nadir arrested, identifying himself as Karate Kid of the Legion.  

In the end, Val and Andy stay on Steeple. Val had used Andy's flight ring for the fight, but now he's resigned to the fact that he will remain there for ten years, as he couldn't get back to retrieve Andy in time.

Story 2 - Executive Action (A Tale from the Caselog of The Presidential Oversight Watch)
Dan Abnett - Writer
Jamie Tolagson - Artist
Tom McCraw - Colors
Comicraft - Letters
Mike McAvennie - Editor

Synopsis

We open on M'Onel busting criminals in space.  The Braalian Repulse and Twine (a new Overwatch member) are taking down others from that criminal group in a lander.  Repulse rips open the hull searching for the criminal Cortex, but are met by Gangster, who replicates himself into six copies and attacks.  Twine, a Rimborian who is an expert in using whips and bolos, realizes the lander is a decoy.  

The scene shifts to a replica of Pluto (here called a planet, so it's dated for sure), that is apparently a dormant Warworld.  Cortex, Pollen and Bronto are here to steal it while the Overwatch is busy chasing the diversion.  Overwatch members Brainstorm and Abyss interrupt by stealing Cortex's disk telekinetically. Brinstorm dispatches Pollen and Abyss dispatches Bronto and Cortex runs away only to run into McCauley's aide Venge. The two engage in a vaguely threatening dialogue before being interrupted by M'Onel.  Apparently there is more to Venge than meets the eye. Venge states that Cortex committed suicide, but the clear implication is that Venge murdered him. 

Commentary

This was an interesting issue in a few ways.  The art was pretty solid across the issue in both parts.  Dillon's pencils did a good job portraying the alien landscape of Steeple, and did a great job with the character design. And the action was well done, very fitting for a story starring Karate Kid. The concept of the flying jellyfish was a neat idea. I was wondering, though about Val's depiction.  I'm not sure if they got into his ancestry much in the Reboot, but he had historically been shown as half-Japanese, but here he looked pretty caucasian.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time that Steeple has been shown in any continuity, so its interesting that this travelogue entry is on a world that is brand new to the Legion universe. The story opens in a now-familiar manner for this title - an exposition of the new world to introduce the new reader to the world's environment and people. Interestingly this exposition only lasts a page or two, much shorter than most of the others in this series.  The story is very philosophical, as Val is pondering whether or not to turn his back on his martial ways and stay on Steeple for at least 10 more years.  Of course fate has other designs and he is forced into action (wouldn't be much of a Legion title if he didn't fight!).  

The pairing of Andy with Val was a curious choice, as his only real purpose in this story is to provide a flight ring.  I'm not the biggest Ferro/Ferro Lad fan in the best of times, but it seemed that he was just here to get beat up.  I was actually interested in understanding Andy's choice to go with Val a little more, as they never seemed to be buddies. 

Overall, the story was OK, but not very memorable.  The plot, outside of the jeopardy of the deadline, was fairly predictable, but the choice to strand Val and Andy on Steeple was unexpected, so I imagine that this will be revisited in the ongoing.  

The secondary story was also decent, with the main point to show the Overwatch and the menace of Mr. Venge, but again, not all that memorable. I found myself interested in Brainwave's and Abyss' powers, so I'm curious as to whether we'll see them again.  I chuckled when Pluto was mentioned as a planet.  

This was the second issue where no mention of the Legion's return, so we are just assuming that this is taking place simultaneous to the prior four stories.  The backup is explicitly stated to be happening sometime prior to LW1.

Summary - interesting read, but not sure where this is going to fit in the overall DnA Legion tapestry, as a lot of the elements here seemed like setups for future stories.