Legion of Super Heroes (v5!) #1 - Not your grandpa's Legion!

The Legion of Super Heroes v5 #1

Released December 29, 2004
DC Comics, Color
30 Pages

Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Artist
Mick Gray - Inks, pgs 21-30
Chris Blythe - Colors
Stephen Wacker - Editor

Synopsis

The first "threeboot" issue opens with a four page discussion about the need for heroes through the ages, showing scenes of valor from ancient Rome to the near future. The future of the 31st century, spanning star systems, is one of security, stability and order, and the kids all hate it.

We're then shown more about the world via an exposition scene with the Science Police - the Legion is a movement of over 75,000 teens, but only about 20 are the Legion we know. The Public Service monitors all minors at all times and the core Legionnaires are invisible to the service via their flight rings. 

Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Star Boy and Light Lass are taking out a rogue experimental Macrobot in a good showcase of all their powers except for Shadow Lass. The SPs intervene and the Jo tosses the head of the giant robot right at the SP officers before Light lass lightens it so the SPs can catch it. The Legionnaires take away a helmet and the robot head as a trophy, when we learn that Ayla dates everyone and Cosmic Boy is touchy. 

The team returns to Legion HQ and a crowd of supporters in the plaza. Theena updates Sun Boy on the latest news across the UP of new recruits. They move to the roof of HQ and meet the new recruit. Sun Boy and Ultra Boy razz Kid, but seem to be impressed by his powers. Ayla names him Invisible Kid. We learn Colossol Boy prefers Micro Lad, since he's a giant who can shrink and we meet Chameleon, who is non-gendered, so no Lad or Lass. In the HQ Lounge, we see a monument to 21st century nostaglia. 

Cos is in conference with UP representatives in the Mission room where Star Boy and Shadow Lass meet him to update their mission status.  Cos asks if Star Boy had Brainy run a diagnostic on the robot.  Shady needles Cos about his cozying up to the UP. 

A sensitive situation on Lallor has arisen and the Legion rushes through a portal to the planet, finding scores of dead teens all around, bearing the Legion logo on flags and clothes. They were killed by the adults for rebelling. Sun Boy starts to organize an offense before Cos orders them to stop fighting as he is conferring with the UP senators. The UP is in negotiations to bring Lallor into the union and the Legion fighting Lallorian forces will threaten that. 

The Legion fights Lallorian forces as Cosmic Boy negotiates with the senators and Sun Boy. With the thread of Intergalactic War, kids will be the de facto soldiers, and the Legion needs to be the voice. Sun Boy counters that the Legion was founded to fight their own battles, not be a tool for the UP. Cos hangs up on the UP and orders Sun Boy to "kick ass."

The next day, Sun Boy and Invisible Kid talk on the top of HQ. SB, a bit beat up, explains that the robot head was actually a bomb he had to deal with. SB explains the teens in the plaza are true believers who, six months before, made a human shield to protect the Legion from the Science Police.  The Legion fights for those kids.

Commentary

Ok, well, where to begin?  Its a new era with a new Legion in many ways. I'll start with the best thing about this new book, which is the art.  Kitson does an amazing job with his pencils.  My only single gripe is that a good many of his faces, especially of the guys when they smirk, look very similar.  But that is a very minor gripe.

The book is densely written, and even with a whopping 30 pages (for a monthly!) there is a LOT of story in there.  I almost passed out writing that synopsis! :)  Seriously though, there is a lot to introduce, and with a book like the Legion, its good to have that extra space. The plot moves pretty fast and does its job well of introducing a concept, then moving on to the next plot point using a variation of that concept as the transition, so even though it was thirty pages, it moved briskly.

Waid throws us right into an environment where the adults in charge have everything under control to such an extent where they can't understand why the kids have such a problem with their bad attitudes. One aspect that is not connecting with me in the story so far is the fact that the implication is that the SPs are almost Nazi-like from an enforcement perspective, hence the constant surveillance and peace.  But we don't really see that kind of threat until the Legion goes to Lallor to witness the massacre there - but Lallor isn't a UP world.  

I mean, I get it.  I have teenage girls.  My oldest HATED an app called Life 360 that allows us to find where they are via their phone. Like REALLY hated it.  So I get where this kind of an attitude can take root. I just am not sure that I am seeing the spark of WHY the Legion movement comes to take root.  I know it is not really explained much in the first year of this title, so I hope that it is eventually. At the end of the day, especially given the social upheavals that have happened in the last few years, having a stable and peaceful society sounds really good right about now.  So not only has this not aged well for me, it sounds downright complaining, so the natural response from an adult is, "Gee, sorry that you have everything that you need." All this to say that the world in which this movement of rebellion is needed to this degree isn't well fleshed out, in my opinion.

In a similar vein, the massacre on Lallor also hits home a bit closely given what's happening currently in Ukraine. The concept of anonymous adults murdering anonymous kids is meant to be chilling, and it is, but it seems a bit over the top, even for a Sci-Fi superhero book. We're also not shown how the situation on Lallor wraps up other than we're told the Legion won. 

As to the Legionnaires that we're introduced to, its very obvious from the outset that these are all mostly different personalities from the characters we knew prior.  Ayla, Dirk and Jo are oversexed social butterflies, with an extra dash of asshole jock thrown in for Ultra Boy. Cosmic Boy comes off as a major control freak.  Thom has the best of intentions but ends up missing details and tends to screw things up somehow.  About the only character that we're meant to connect with is the new guy - Invisible Kid, through whom we are meant to explore this new world.

It's a good story, well told, well drawn. The Legion exists to serve as a voice and arm of action for the UP's kids. The only problem, and the reason its not as good as it should be, is that we don't yet know why.

Grade A-.