Reboot: The Legion #1

The Legion #1 (December 2001)
title: "No Place Like Home"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Olivier Coipel
inker: Andy Lanning
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw
seps: Digital Chameleon

editor: Mike McAvennie

cover: Olivier Coipel and Andy Lanning
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Element Lad (statue),  Gates (statue), Kid Quantum, Live Wire (statue), M'Onel, Monstress (statue), Saturn Girl, Shikari, Triad, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Wildfire

Guests: 
Abyss, Brainstorm, Repulse, Twine; citizens of Metropolis (named: Dnya Brynden, Tam Pammeer, Urla Doyal), media (named: Trudy, Vigo), Science Police

Opponents: 
Corvan IV terrorists (named: Izzard, Kreance, Vanquo), Leland McCauley, Mr. Venge

Recap: 
A group of Legionnaires was lost in a spacial anomaly a year ago. In their absence, Leland McCauley became United Planets president and disbanded the team. Legionnaires all went their separate ways, though M'Onel was recruited into Overwatch, a team of government-sponsored Earth defenders. Now the missing Legionnaires are back...

Synopsis: 
The Legion outpost-ship hybrid crashes down on Metropolis, but is guided to a mostly empty park by M'Onel. Still, the fire endangers citizens and the returned Legionnaires are quick to render assistance, even in the middle of a media feeding frenzy (except for Saturn Girl, who is still comatose). M'Onel and his Overwatch team are called away to an emergency in India, leaving Mr. Venge in charge of bringing the Legionnaires to President McCauley at the U.P. Council building and catch them up on recent events.

At the U.P. Council building, McCauley is wondering what to do about the returned Legionnaires when he is attacked by terrorists from Corvan IV. They are soundly defeated by the Legion before they can kill McCauley and/or blow themselves up. Overwatch returns from what was apparently a wild goose chase engineered to distract them, and M'Onel aside, aren't too happy about having their thunder stolen by the younger, but more experienced, heroes.

McCauley makes a celebratory speech about their return, and they are then separated from Shikari by Mr. Venge, who claims she must be put into quarantine for a short time as she is from another galaxy. The others are sent to a Science Police Research Facility aboard a windowless shuttle. A despondent Triad just misses them. Saturn Girl wakes up suddenly, shouting about a trap. The shuttle explodes.

Commentary: 
Shotgun
These kids have been missing for a year (I guess the gestating period is different for Tinya's race than ours). They crash land in a world they thought they knew only to find it completely transformed. They are followed by journalists, have no chance whatsoever for some much needed privacy and have no real clue as to what is even going on in these new U.P. So what do they do? They gather their strength to save swarming fans from what's left of the outpost. Then, they get to the U.P. Congress building and right away, they save the day. It's like they're trying to get back to what they left. It's almost like a defense mechanism. Without time to reflect on what just happened, they revert to what they know best: They are the Legion of Super-Heroes, saving people is what they do. More than ever they believe in their mission.

This issue made me sad. I just want to push every reporter and intruding eye aside, give them all a hug and let them breathe. But no... They had to go through all of this mess, save countless lives immediately after “landing”. No one addressed what they lost except for Brainy, very briefly, and only to ask Venge to give them a break. By the way, loved him in this. Very in control and not too condescending. He was like a protector, both of the people who literally needed to be shielded, but also for his wounded friends. Then, they had their lives put at risk by an idiot like McCauley. I hope he's the one who orchestrated the transportation trap so he can be brought to justice. After all the team has done in less than a day for the people of Metropolis, whoever stands against them better be ready to get all the hate they deserve. The end of McCauley cannot come fast enough. Another thing I can't wait to learn is what happened to Gates?!

What can wait, is finding out how the rest of the Legionnaires will react upon learning what happened to the stranded ones. How they will deal with that amount of grief. I know I'm contradicting myself from prior blog posts but, at this moment, I'm too emotional to handle seeing characters I love being hurt. It's all about being in the right mindset I guess...

Siskoid
I find it touching when you find a comic book touching, SG. Anyway, what's not being said here and is nevertheless true is that McCauley's regime is attracting terrorism. The Legionnaires don't question it, but I feel like DnA have chosen the agitators' planet carefully. Corvan IV has never appeared in the Reboot, I don't think, and its role was minor in the Bronze Age, but it was an agrarian world. A planet of farmers, not warriors. (Is it me or does their flag have flowers on it?) So what has the McCauley government done to attract such attention? We're presented with an impressive rebuilt Earth, but was it built off the backs of other planets? Does Earth thrive while others wallow in economic blight? (Pun intended.)

But yeah, while I long for a reconstituted Legion, the story feels organic in making us wait a little longer for it. The Legion Lost is back and already springs into action, so I have no complaints. Shotgun is right, Brainy does very well in this issue. DnA are, as usual, very good about making powers interesting and the Coluan has several force field tricks at his disposal. I hope it's enough to save the team from the cliffhanger! The writers are good at making promises too. It's not just the final explosion., but the confrontation that MUST be coming with Overwatch, McCauley, and hey, what kind of vile experiments is EarthGov gonna put Shikari through!

Science Police Notes:  

• The cast from Legion Lost is present, as are the Legionnaires who stayed on Earth, M'Onel and Triad. As per Legion Worlds, everyone else hears of the news while they are off-world, and are consequently absent.
• In the previous continuity, the Fatal Five used the simple, agricultural world of Corvan IV in one of their schemes (Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #246-247).
• McCauley makes a comment about the Legion of Super-Heroes, "accept no substitutes", a sly reference to Legion of Substitute Heroes.

Milestone: 
First issue of The Legion.