Reboot: The Legion Secret Files 3003

The Legion Secret Files 3003 (January 2004)
title: "The Legion Secret Files 3003"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

pencillers: Leonard Kirk and Tony Harris
inker: Robin Riggs
lettering: Nick J. Napolitano
colorists: Sno Cone and Tom Feister

editor: Stephen Wacker

cover: Tony Harris and Tom Feister

reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Dreamer, Ferro, Gates, Gear, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Leviathan (flashback), Live Wire, M'Onel, Saturn Girl, Sensor, Shikari, Spark, Star Boy, Superboy II, Triad, Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf, Umbra, Violet, Wildfire, XS

Guests: 
Chuck Taine, Cub Nah, Dr. Gym'll, Kwai Navigators, Legion Cadets, Legion World staff, R.J. Brande, Science Police, TitaNet Adepts, Trudy Trusoe; holographic images: Batman, Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman

Opponents: 
Darkseid, Servants of Darkness (Big Barda, Firestorm, Orion)

Recap: 
The Legion has just rescued Superboy Connor Kent from a malfunctioning stargate. Live Wire has just turned up alive in the body of Element Lad. Something is brewing on Apokolips...

Synopsis: 
Trudy Trusoe hosts a very special episode of The Earth Spins in which she visits Legion World, and you can click the links for more information on individual Legionnaires to catch you up on their stories. Over the course of the broadcast, we'll discover Kid Quantum is seeing superheroic shapes fighting and feels she may become a liability as leader, Superboy training with Karate Kid, Cosmic Boy discussing his faith and the doomsday cult that opposes it, and Garth feeling isolated from his team who can't quite look at him in the guise of his killer.

Meanwhile, the Servants of Darkness arrive on Apokolips and bow down to Darkseid, who appears to be a petrified statue sitting on a throne.

Commentary: 
Shotgun
I feel like this has been issue no.86 or whatever recapping the situation of the team from the very beginning. Very little new information was provided to readers and I pretty much hated all the headshots. All of them. They look so much older, but none as much as poor Dreamer. It’s surprising how the team members can talk about personal and what seems like confidential stuff so loosely around a reporter. Clearly, times have changed over a thousand years.

Whatever visions Jazmin is having can’t be good. I wonder who they are and what it all means. Garth’s return to Legion World feels odd. How did it happen? Why didn’t we see more of it? We just find out he’s stuck in Element Lad’s appearance and bam! Now he’s on Legion World and they just throw at us that he also retained Jan’s powers and that they don't trust him. How is Imra dealing with all this? How is Spark? What has the Legion done to help him get through this other than dump him into a familiar habitat? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

On a side note, I would definitely wear Trudy’s outfit. Also, the three Darkseid’s followers all have such good looks, I kinda want to root for them! Very epic headpieces and intricate bodysuit designs. 10/10 would villain again!

Siskoid
And very distinctive looks at that! There's perhaps no way for a non-DC fan to recognize Barda, Orion and Firestorm AND THAT Darkseid's used corrupted clones of characters we know back in The Great Darkness Saga, but I'm glad it works for you. That, and not much else it seems. And I have to agree.

The problem with this particular Secret Files (and note, no and Origins) is that it's sole function seems to be to explain what's been going on in the series for people who hadn't been reading it. And any new information basically gets delivered again in The Legion #26, which this confusingly takes place before AND after depending on the bit you're looking at. I mean, the BIG reveal you won't find anywhere else is that Dr. Gym'll collects ancient comic strips. Hrm.

Sure, they try to keep it fun and interesting by making a TV show (or "spin", which is a cross between TV and Internet browsing), but the conceit isn't taken seriously. There are several times when Trudy turns off the camera, but we keep watching. They sort of use the two artists to show the difference, between film and "real world" (or at least between fact files and real), but since Trudy is obviously on camera in the reality bits, it feels like mix and match. I love what Leonard Kirk is bringing to the table, a lot of background detail, aliens and tech, and moments like Trudy losing control of her temporary flight right. Tony Harris' special effects heavy portraits (including the head shots Shotgun hates so much) are indeed ugly. I said so last time, but while he and Feister on the covers is fine, but I don't enjoy their interior art here.Ultimately, this is entirely skippable for Legion readers.

Science Police Notes:  

• Unlike other Secret Files specials, this one features a single story. All "fact files" are integrated into it through the conceit of The Earth Spins show.
• In the previous continuity, the Servants of Darkness were corrupted clones of Superman, Orion, Kalibak, Lydea Mallor, and a Guardian of the Universe. In the Reboot, the Servants are apparently corrupted clones of Orion, Big Barda, and Firestorm. More will appear in The Legion #26.
• The issue reveals that Dreamer indeed accepted the Legion's membership invitation.
• Star Boy's biographical data references the Starman legacy that was fully explored in Starman vol.2.
• Connor Kent AKA Superboy II, is made an honorary member of the Legion, harking back to pre-Crisis Superboy stories that made young Clark Kent a full member. Superboy's biographical data mentions the Superman Family, which was in fact a series in the 1970s, and though the Darkseid sequences place this issue before The Legion #26 (even though it seems to send us to #27 at the end), the mention of what uniform he wears in the 31st Century places if after.
• The introduction of the Believers of the Spirit of the Last Son (a reference to Superman, the Last Son of Krypton) seems to replace the faith that had sprung up around Valor, and represents a small retcon for the Reboot era.
• The issue reveals that Garth Ranzz has both lightning projection and transmutation ability in his new body.