The New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes: A Eulogy

Hey all, it's Anj.

I have been manning Fridays for a while here on the blog, reviewing Legion books and reliving my fandom one issue at a time.

But sometimes it is a hard job.

Last week I finished my retrospective view of the New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes. And I can say, it wasn't easy. So allow me a brief post to sort of put together some overall thoughts about this volume. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts about it.

I had issues with the New 52 as a whole. I was not excited for a company wide reboot. I especially didn't like the fact that it was mostly company wide with Batman and ancillary books like the Legion basically unscathed. And I didn't like the darkening of the universe as a whole. This was not a fun or inspirational or uplifting universe at all.

As for the Legion? Well, as a New 52 book which was following its older continuity, it is neither fish nor fowl. Is it a new team? No. Is it a good jumping on point for new readers interested in sampling the New 52? Not really. Is it the Legion that old school fans wanted? I don't think so.

The whole run seemed to struggle with trying to find itself. Was it a darker Legion in a more dystopian future? Was it a new younger team with its rookie recruits leading the way? Was it a classic Legion? Was it trying to be all of those things, ultimately being none of them?

And looking at the book as a whole, did the pace of the run make sense? Were their 'fill-in' issues that seemed oddly placed? Were there arcs that made sense? It seemed to stop and start over the two years. And that sputtering hurt it as well.

On to some moments ...

For me, as I reread these issues, I was surprised how much of the earlier issues were essentially 'new to me'. I had read them. I had reviewed them on my Supergirl site. But I had completely forgotten them.

I think the reason why was because the ending run was so toxic that it spoiled the rest of the run. I had basically one strong memory of the run. That memory was the horrible treatment of Phantom Girl. She is ineffective as a reader. She cries hysterically. She loses her focuses. And ultimately she runs away to her home, abandoning her friends.

Tinya deserved better. We deserved better.

That shabby use of Phantom Girl was the rot that tainted the whole thing.

If there was any highlight of the book, it is the absolute lush art by Francis Portela.

Even when the story was letting me down, Portela's art was able to elevate things.

It is polished, gorgeous. And he uses body language and expression incredibly well.

If there is a dollar box with these issues, look for the Portela ones and buy them. The art is worth the buck.

As I said, one of the interesting things about the book was the addition of the 'new' Legionnaires. Dragon Wing, Chemical King, Glorith, Comet Queen, and Harmonia Li were new characters. You would think that five new members would inject some life into the book. (Think of how the book seemed to crackle when Sensor Girl, Quislet, Tellus, and Polar Boy joined.)

But it seemed like Levitz didn't know exactly how to use them to their maximum. Glorith was a cipher. Her name alone made me intrigued ... but she never shined. Chemical King went from brash, conceited Academy student to almost scared, nervous Legionnaire. If we had more exploration of that character change it could have been fascinating. But it was only shown and never explored.

And Dragon Wing got a whole storyline of her own early on, heading home to fight gangs led by her sister. But since I didn't know her background at all, this felt rushed. In the old days, maybe Levitz would have let this plot percolate a bit before putting her into the spotlight.

But it is the ending of the book that really is the stuff that stuck in my mind. And that stench of the New 52 was at its strongest there. There were meaningless deaths. RIP Sun Boy and Star Boy. There was gruesome violence and heroes losing limbs (a penchant of the New 52). Sorry Mon-El. And that curve ball that this was the Earth 2 Legion didn't help. It somehow cheapened everything.

Should I be surprised that no Legion book has been on the shelf since this? Here we are ... five years later.

So ... sigh ... what did you think?