Legion of Super-Heroes #2 // Review
Legion of Super-Heroes #2 is a perfectly fine comic book. It’s entertaining, it’s solidly written, it’s beautifully drawn. It’s witty and smart in all the right ways. So why is it eminently forgettable?
This issue continues the drama in the 31st (or is it 32nd?) Century over the newly recovered Trident of Aquaman. After a battle with the bad guys (who are they again?) over the Trident, somehow, the Legion manages to flood New Earth or at least part of it. Legion envoy Rose Forrest attempts to smooth things over with the President of the United Planets regarding their messing with the time stream to induct Jon Kent as a member. Jon has a potentially disastrous idea.
The book is written by Brian Michael Bendis, and it shows, in ways both good and bad. The dialogue is crisp, full of entertaining quips. It’s also hard to differentiate between the characters’ voices, as everyone blends together into one style of dialogue, and one primary character trait--cleverness.
The art by Ryan Sook (with some inks by Wade Von Grawbadger) is simply stunning. Sook is a master at both superhero action and clear facial expressions, and his composition is simply gorgeous. It’s a shame, then, that he can’t seem to keep a schedule--this issue was delayed two weeks, and more delays have been announced. The colors by Jordie Bellaire are bright and hopeful, and the lettering by Dave Sharpe is solid as well (Sharpe must have worked overtime to render all of the floating information labels around the various Legion members).
So why, at the end of the day, does Legion of Super-Heroes #2 seem so disposable, so without stakes? Is it because it takes place in the far future, away from the DCU proper? Is it because of the two-week delay? Is it because of rumors that Jon Kent will be taking over as Superman in the mysterious 5G event in 2021? Or is it merely because it falls into the trap of Bendis’ team books at Marvel, where every character sounds the same and has a default of “mildly clever”? Whatever the reason, it’s a perfectly fine comic, as long as the reader is expecting something ephemeral like cotton candy rather than something substantial like steak and eggs.
