Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #30 - The End is Only the Beginning!

Released May 23, 2007
DC Comics, Color
22 Pages

The End is Only the Beginning!

Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

In a great foreshadowing moment, we see a memorial statue to Mon-El. The story picks up seven days prior: The Legion and Wanderers, led by Cosmic Boy, cripple the Dominator homeworld while Brainiac 5 finds a cure for the AI plague on Earth. But the flip side is that there are millions of Dominion super soldiers that at some point will be let loose on the galaxy, sooner or later. Dream Boy lets slip about a bomb that Rokk ordered Brainy to create to devastate the planet. He also dishes on the truth about Dream Girl - she only appears in people's dreams. Meanwhile Kara and Lar finish up on the planet and head out to meet the Legion, but Mon-El is weakening by the moment. 

Cos decides the Dominator threat needs to be dealt with by any means necessary, and Brainy constructs the weapon with the obvious debates - can the Legion commit genocide? It's a suicide mission, so who should go? Mekt predictably volunteers, but is pointed out that he doesn't have the power to get to a planetary core.  Cos volunteers Mon-El.  Kara insists to go, but Cos holds her back with the last bit of Kryptonite they have left, which is the last component for Lar's lead-serum. Mon-El says his goodbyes and heads to the Dominion world while the Legion leaves via transmatter. The world disappears. 

At the ceremony, we wrap up the arc. Rokk finishes a short memorial speech as the Legion Leader vote comes in. Dirk flirts with Theena, Jan and Lu flirt, Mekt and Garth come to terms, and Cos, Dream Boy and Tinya talk about the truth - the bomb was a phantom zone projector that sent the entire planet and Mon-El into the Phantom Zone, which keeps him alive. Timber Wolf continues to recover, Metropolis is being rebuilt (again), the Wanderers are pardoned. 

In the remains of HQ, Rokk looks at a statue of the three founders when the Knights Tempus - three young heroes from the future - come to recruit Rokk. Garth and Imra arrive to tell him the news of who won the election to find no sign of him at all - only the statue.

Commentary

A well done denouement to this story arc. Of course we knew at the end of issue 28 that the Legion would win the day against the Dominion, but this story wraps it up in a bow, dealing with the issue of the Wanderers, the Dominion and Mon-El all at once. Its the last Legion story by Mark Waid, which is hugely disappointing, but he closes out well. Having Cos thread the needle between getting rid of the Dominators in a way that got Mekt and the Wanderers off his back as well as saving Mon-El (while looking like he sent Lar to his death) was extremely well done, as was the debate around who should deliver the payload. Both the return of Mon-El to the phantom zone, as well as the Knights Tempus coming from the future are great nods to the Legion's Silver Age Adventure stories. And of course, with Waid leaving, he gives us a cliffhanger as to the new Legion leader so he doesn't have to deal with it.  Again stellar artwork from Kitson & co that tells as much of the story as Waid's words do. 

A huge element of disappointment in this read is the knowledge of some of the behind-the-scenes goings on at DC at this time, which led Waid to bounce off this book.  At the same time as these issues were coming out, Geoff Johns' Lightning Saga was going on in the JSA and other mainstream books.  So what's the point of trying to establish a third variant of a superhero team when editorial is publishing the OG version behind your back? Its a microcosm of DC's missteps under Dan DiDio at the time, and one could also argue Warner Brothers' as well. The end result is a fracturing of direction and sales.  As we saw with issue 15 of the Threeboot run, why even hint at the OG versions of the characters when you are trying to make a brand new version of the team the one to establish in the universe? People will always flock to the originals who have the personalities and relationships that made fans love them, so its no wonder that people wanted more of that Legion than this one. 

One big editorial miss on this issue (which is kind of a big miss) is the massive color error on page 18 with Shady, as she's colored caucasian. 

Kind of ironic that Cos is just learning about Dream Girl now, right before he leaves, but at least the rest of the team knows now, too. 

Kind of a minus point here, but Mekt seems to be taking his subservient role a bit too easily.  Still its nice to see he criticizes Cos for not having the "iron" to wipe out the planet. 

Based on Shady's comment, has it been six months since the Terror Firma battle with Elysion?

I only like this Ultra Boy when he keeps his damn mouth shut.

Grade - A+.  Great way to end a run. Sad that it is Waid's last Legion story.