Tuesday, July 04, 2006

More issue 19 reviews

Wrapping up the reviews for the Chameleon murder mystery story in issue 19 (the first set of reviews was here):

Matthew's Legion Abstract notes, among other things, that:

This issue is a spotlight on Chameleon. We find out more about him in a way that isn't at all heavy-handed, and we need that: Chameleon is one of the Legionnaires that hasn't really coalesced as a character yet. I'm not criticizing when I say that; we've had less than two years of comics to find about this very large cast, and there's no way we could have a good handle on all of them yet. ... But after this issue, I don't really feel like I understand Chameleon any better than I did before. So did the issue fail? Or do we just need more time to get to know the guy?

Kid Dork at Sean Twist says:
Waid provides a decent 'closed room murder' story, and interweaves it with the much larger robot revolution that's been brewing in the comic of late. Not terribly excited about that one.

The Pull List has a review from the perspective of someone who started reading because of Supergirl's involvement (which was the whole idea of bringing her in the first place):
Truth be told, I bought this since Supergirl was in it and I have been surprised with the writing so far. I don’t feel alienated since I don’t know whom these characters really are and the writing has done an excellent job introducing them. This was a fine mystery issue as Chameleon pieces together a murder mystery. It works really well as a stand alone story but also has some segments to keep other stories (like where Brainiac is) moving. Very good issue.

Earth K's Super-Geek Red liked this issue:
It is no secret that we of Earth K are lovers of the Legion. I feared that Britney Zor-El’s involvement would be disastrous, but her brief time with the Legion so far has actually made me somewhat interested in her. Well done, Mark Waid, for that was a Herculean task.... I’m enjoying the hell out of Waid and Kitson’s re-re-re-re-re-imagining of the Legion. Buy the trades to get caught up and then buy this thing monthly; it’s a good ride.

Jeffrey Bridges' Mild Mannered Reviews notes something odd about the cover...
Not terrible, but not as good as the other fantastic issues Waid's been delivering. But if the worst episode of the series so far is still decent, you know you've got a good book on your hands.

The dead person on the cover has multiple limbs. The dead prisoner did not. There are three Legion members on the cover, but not one of them appears in the book. Chameleon, who is heavily featured in the book, is nowhere to be found.

Piper at the Golden Lasso, however, gave the story only a D+.
This has to be my least favorite issue of Legion since the OYL jump. It's not so much that it's bad in that it's disappointing. I like that the storyline references some of the things that have happened over the last few months, but the book seemed to read like it was WAY more than 21 pages. The dialogue was just right, but the book feels like it goes on forever. ... There was way too much inner monologue which resulted in the book feeling more like a chore than a comic book. Halfway into the story I just wanted it to end.

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