Tuesday, October 03, 2006

S/LSH issue 22 reviews

Well I missed the issue 21 reviews last month because I was on vacation, and I'm late with this because of the new cartoon last weekend. So without further ado, here are the reviews from last week's issue of Supergirl and the Legion - as always, presented in no particular order (except for how they show up on my search feeds).

  • Matthew at the Legion Abstract provides another well-written, cogent analysis, and liked the issue.
    It started and ended in one issue. I believe a new reader could have picked it up and not been lost. There was a decent amount of action and, as always, wonderful characterization. This is exactly the sort of thing I want more of.

  • Rokk at the Comic Book Revolution, on the other hand, has a different viewpoint:
    The writing continues to be average at best. The dialogue reads stiff and slightly generic at times. There is very little chemistry between the characters and that is a fatal flaw for a title like the Legion of Super Heroes. The magic of the Legion of Super Heroes has been all of the interesting characters and how they interact with each other. That incredible chemistry that Levitz was able to create between these characters has been totally lacking during Waid’s run on this title.

  • Tenzil Kem, Rokk's co-writer at the Comic Book Revolution, disagrees:
    Taken as it is, I think this comic is doing well, and someone that is a fan of characterization and soap opera in their action comics would do well to try this comic. Just be sure a few back issues are handy.

  • Thor at Geeks United notes the inconsistencies between Kara in the Legion and in her own book:
    In fact, everyone has been a little different since Supergirl joined the team. Evil clone, anyone? I've been reading both Supergirl titles, and Kara's really messed up, and with the LSH, she's just too...cute. Hope there's an actual story in the next issue.

  • The Original Losing Loser's at the seebelow LJ community isn't happy about the art, and as for the writing:
    Anyway, the book is typical Mark Waid insofar as it has some really good parts (especially the teen-soap angle, which Waid is really getting the hang of), some okay parts (the Super-Dominator fight, with a decent cliffhanger), and some bad parts (the increasingly incomprehensible youth-rebellion/Legion politics storyline).

  • Steph Barton at the ComicBloc forum starts the discussion:
    You know, I really enjoyed this series when it first came out and although the war dragged on a few issues too many I hoped that the energy and fun would come back into play and we would learn more about the Legion.

    However, I feel like this series has been treading water since the war ended and even though the first few issues with Supergirl in it came close to recapturing this fun the run has quickly switched back to neutural (or so it seems to me).

    I dunno, it just feels like Waid has no idea what he wants to do and the entire series has just been treading water for a long time now, and the its not established enough to be treading water at this point.

  • Chris Sims at the Invincible Super-Blog
    Another fine issue from Waid, Kitson, Bedard, Dekraker, and the rest, this time focusing largely on the perpetually lovelorn Karate Kid. Alas, Val, the path of a face-kicking future space teen badass is a lonely one indeed. Just be glad you're not being punched to death on your honeymoon. Yet.

  • Syphre Zero at the CBR forums has a theory about the connection between the two versions of Supergirl (her solo title and the Legion). Read more for the details.
    After thinking it through, I have figured out the connection between the two, and more importantly, the creative reasoning behind it. This can be demonstrated using things we already know about Kara and making a couple of safe predictions. Follow along. ... The sole reason for One Year Later and Supergirl's appearance with the Legion was to make a legitimate sex object of the Minor of Steel.

  • Paul Semones of the Comics Glutton explains why he's dropping the title.
    I was drawn to checking out the title by the Teen Titans crossover two years ago. Once sampled, I decided to stick with this unfamiliar future world on the strength of Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s storytelling abilities. ... But with the increasingly sporadic contributions of Kitson, the price hike and the dropping of the extra-pages-for-no-extra-charge model, my interest has waned. Supergirl’s addition to the roster? It’s actually contributed to my loss of interest.

  • Jeffrey Bridges at SupermanHomepage.com reviews the issue:
    This book just felt like a jumble. I've only been reviewing since Supergirl joined the team with Issue 16, and not once in that time do I remember seeing or hearing mention of Sun Boy. So after no less than six issues suddenly the leader of the Legion mentions they've had a deficiency without him? ... It seemed very random and tacked on, especially when there are so many concurrent storylines running that didn't get a single mention here. ... [T]his sub-story hasn't been worth a single mention in six issues and why would you wait that long between parts of a story?

2 comments:

PaulTiberius said...

I appreciate the link, friend. Sorry it had to be a negative remark on your favorite super-team.

Michael said...

Hey, no problem. My goal here is to present the range of reactions, positive or negative. I have no idea who reads this, but maybe if someone influential does read it, they might have a chance to help do something about it.