Legion of Super-Heroes #1
Written by Paul Levitz
Art by Yildiray Cinar
I spent about three hours having flashbacks as I prepared to go into this issue; flashbacks to JSA in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, the Gentleman Ghost storyline that Paul Levitz did with George Perez. That horrible horrible six issues that sent a great book off with a whimper and not a bang, and that was my last impression of Paul Levitz as a writer, I mean, I can’t find anything else from him between Legion in the 80’s and Legion now. So I was scared, I mean, Jim Shooter wrote the Legion threeboot before it ended and that was pretty horrid as well. Claremont’s X-Men, John Byrne on anything, All Star Batman and Robin, etc. Veteran writers returning to what made them big names isn’t always the best course of action, as sometimes the industry passes their styles up and the fans can’t get behind them like they once did.
I am pleased to tell you that this is not the case with Paul Levitz and the Legion. I am pleased to inform you all that the book feels modern and new and yet familiar at the same time. That the book doesn’t feel dated, and yet grants a sense of familiarity with a title that truly hasn’t run in around twenty years….at least not with his hand writing it. He picks up plots developed by Geoff Johns in both Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes as well as in Legion of Three Worlds, and yeah, it feels right. The characters show personality, his Saturn Girl gets more depth in one issue then I remember seeing thrown her way in years. And then…there is Brainy. Good old reliable Brainy with a nice little mad scientist vibe about his character, Levitz establishes him as someone who is always thinking, like the gears never stop turning. I have no complaints.
Now as for a first issue, this is definitely Levitz firing off a warning shot. He doesn’t do a slow build into anything, no, he comes out of the gate shooting. From the Legion having to deal with the implications of a potential new member, to Sodam Yat still on Oa and deciding the future of the Green Lantern’s, to some scientists doing something stupid to doom a world to death, this issue has it all. Oh, and it’s double sized.
And as for the art? I can’t even pronounce Yildiray Cinar’s name, but that doesn’t change that he was born to draw this book. Instant awesome. There’s a great attention to detail, in even characters hugging the backgrounds get their outfits detailed, dialogue or not. He succeeds in showing us chaos without cluttering it, which is pretty rare. This book is incredibly easy on the eyes in all the right ways.
Overall?
9/10
Long Live the Legion
