The Legion #5 Review!

Released February 27, 2002

DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

Credo

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning - Writers
Peter Snejbjerg - Guest Art
Tom McCraw - Colors
Comicraft - Letters
Mike McAvennie - Editor

Synopsis

We pick up the story in the Kwai galaxy as Saturn Girl, Spark, Invisible Kid and Wildfire are under attack by Kwai while investigating a strange phenomenon.  They spar, but in the end its all been a big misunderstanding.  The Kwai didn't realize the four were Legion and thought they were attempting to desecrate what they view as a memorial to the Progenitor's victims.  They then head over to see the boss Kwai.  Once there, they find a plethora of starships banding together after the fall of the Progenintor (whom we last saw in LL fleeing the Progeny fleet). 

Coursing through the refugees, the heroes encounter a few young Progeny.  Ayla is compassionate towards them, but Imra and the new Kwai friends have a different view.  The team (mainly Imra and Lyle) have an interesting debate about tolerance vs. seeing what people are capable of.  The Kwai Matriarch summons them, ending the debate.

Imra offers a pact - an alliance where the Kwai serve as navigators in return for protection from the Legion. The Matriarch is intrigued but wants no part of violence or war.  She invites the Legionnaires to stay for a while.  Ayla and Wildfire head off to look for any news about Garth, while Lyle and Imra try to smooth out the edges of their earlier spat. They are interrupted by the Credo, a group who wants to erase any Progeny with prejudice. Lyle throws that in Imra's face, and even quotes the Legion charter at her before being shut down by Imra via some kind of telepathy.  Herros, one of the more aggressive Kwai whom the Legion met earlier, is first to step up and tells the Credo that there are Progeny among them.

Ayla and Wildfire find the Progeny in the sewers.  Ayla is moved and sympathetic to their plight, Wildfire not so much.  They are interrupted by the Credo moving in to slaughter the helpless Progeny, guided by the information given to them by Herros.   Wildfire and Spark come to the Progeny defense, Ayla taking damage.  The mere fact of the Legionnaires defending Progeny turns all of the Credo against them. Wildfire is taken down - apparently by a freeze ray - while Spark hides.  Lyle invisibly attacks, but then is frozen, revealing his position.  A Credo lackey shoots into the ice and we see blood making Spark react from hiding.

Imra finally flies in responding to the emergency only to find dead Progeny and a scared child Progeny holding on to a toy. Spark is on the run when Imra finally arrives and mentally hacks the Credo to not attack any other sentients, and that the Progeny are under the protection of the Legion. 

Lyle is apparently fine ('Tis but a flesh wound!) and the Credo have been sent packing, albeit still barking their racism, so apparently Imra's little hack wasn't permanent.  The Kwai Herros apparently left with them. 

Epilogue - The Credo we met earlier and Herros meet Singularity, our old friend from Legion Lost who was seeing a projected world. He is apparently the mastermind behind Credo and they set out with many Progeny set up on pikes lining the road.

Commentary

I have a complicated response to this issue.  This whole issue was filler and setup for the future, but it was very well done.  In fact, I think the sole existence of this issue is to setup Singularity as a recurring enemy, as the main story could be, "Hey, let's go to the Kwai and ask if they want to help us.  Matriarch, you cool?  Yeah come with us." That's probably about 10 pages max. So therefore the sole purpose of the conflict is to introduce Credo and Singularity.  The problem is that it stops the momentum of the primary Ra's story arc. 

The story itself had some excellent elements - the friction between Imra and Lyle was very well done. What do you do with the non-combatants of your defeated enemy?  In the old school biblical and bronze age stories, they would be massacred.  Enlightened thought, and the Legion code, forbids this.  But what about people who have been directly affected by the other?  Its an emotional question for someone who's been through a situation like that, and it takes a lot to overcome those emotions.  In fact, even though Imra laid down her ultimatum to the Credo, I still don't know really how she feels.  She can't bring herself to break with the Legion code that she herself wrote, but we aren't privy to her thoughts, ironically enough.

We had a guest artist this issue.  I really liked Snejbjerg's art by the end of the issue.  He did the pencils and inks by himself, whereas Coipel needs Abnett to ink, but I think he did a great job with the alien environment and the different species all over the place.  I'm also left wondering - we're only five issues in.  Why do we need a guest artist already?

Specific comments:

You mean the Kwai didn't get the memo that the big L belts mean Legion?  The four page fight seemed to be a waste.  "Oops, my bad!"

The revelation about the Progenitor being former Legion was not shown until the end of Lost and Shikari wouldn't have said anything to them.  The whole "we hear he may be related to you" stuff felt wrong.

The heart of the story - the debate about the enemy survivors - was extremely well done.  In fact that aspect of the story is really sticking with me.

That said, I REALLYreallyreally don't like DnA's Imra.  They've taken a wonderful strong character and have turned her into someone almost unrecognizable to me, someone vengeful and who'd ACTIVELY use her powers against her own friends versus her enemy.  Not a good look.

By contrast I love pretty much everything about their Ayla.

Wildfire got taken out extremely easily.  I didn't think a freeze ray could do that to an ERG.

Having the Progeny under the protection of the Legion is a nice bookend to having Jan create them and unleashing them on the universe.

I kind of feel like the Lyle in jeopardy situation was a cheat.

Amazing, though chilling, imagery at the end with the Credo leaving town.  Intentionally reminiscent of the Romans, I think.

Overall grade - B+.  A padding setup story in the middle of a strong arc just starting to really move takes some points off, and I think it could have been a bit tighter. I also can't stand what DnA is doing with Imra. But the heart of the story is too good to dock it down further.