CHARACTER. OVERLOAD. MIND. SHUT DOWN.
The Good: Some of the action sequences are pretty cool. Anything Phantom Girl does is usually pretty neat, and the battle between Mon-El and the stupidly named Renegade, short as it is, is an epic bare knuckle brawl with the best panel layouts of the issue.
There's a good sense of teamwork, and kind of a whole sense of why they are a 'Legion.' Each team member has something unique they bring to the table, so its kind of interesting to see them work like a giant convoluted Rube-Goldberg.
The Bad: GOD this cover is DULL. One of the worst of the New 52. It's pretty much exactly the kind of cover I hate the most. It's a standard action scene with bad perspective, no good balance, and a generally awkward layout. It just looks stupidly cluttered.
While I have to admire the smooth teamwork of the Legion, some of the characters come across as kind of one-note, with just one specific ability that's only useful in specific situations.
The Dominators never feel like much of a threat. Nobody really panic too much, and they get dealt with with relative ease. And they themselves said that the Legion had 'none of the truly dangerous members present.' So the Dominators got their asses handed to them but the B-Listers of a B-List team?
So, remind me what the plot is? Because I've got no freaking idea any more. This planet was renegade for some unexplained reason, then there was a renegade Daxamite there doing... something, and suddenly Dominators are there which is surprising because of some space political mumbo jumbo I couldn't follow but may or may not have been alluded to earlier? There's just too much going on and it meshes together like a button and a zipper, which is to say it doesn't.
And what is UP with Daxam anyways. They like the Legion, and hate having to heal the injured because they don't like seeing them injured, but they were oppressed but not really? I can never figure out what the deal is with that damn planet.
The Renegade got built up as this huge threat with some fantastic pacing last issue, but suddenly he gets his ass handed to him on a gold platter. He went from 'Could destroy the universe!' threat, to 'thug who gets beaten by a handful of Legion members' in 1 issue.
Yes, I know, it's a 'Legion' of Super-Heroes... But there's just TOO. GOD. DAMN. MANY. People kept on showing up as the issue progressed. The entire issue was basically spent showing you what each character is doing in this convoluted shenanigan. Few of them got much development or character at all, and it just overloaded my brain. Not to mention I was barely given any reason to care about any of them.
Ok, can ANYONE explain to me what happened in the last 3 pages? I read them over 4 times and I just have no idea. I kind of get the gist of it, but the panels seem like they were placed in the wrong order and I have to sort them out like a puzzle. But even that didn't make sense of them.
In Conclusion: 1/5
I guess if you like the Legion, sure, this is probably good. But I have no idea. Maybe a Legion fan will review this issue, because at the moment I'm the first review. If you don't like the Legion, just stay away. This series doesn't like you unless you're already its friend. Maybe over years people have come to care for each and every memeber of the exhaustingly extensive roster, but I f***ing don't. I just don't give a shit about ANY of them. Each member barely gets any screen time because they have to force enough room for all of them. No wait, I take it back. I care about the Legion LOST. Each issue is taking time to fully develop each character individually, making me deeply invested in them. THAT'S good writing. This is.... flat. I'm only buying this because I'm dedicated to this New 52 Review thing, and because I get a discount if I buy the New 52 in bulk. So is it worth it to just not get Legion? No, because it costs me more. Is it worth it to get Legion if you're thinking about it? If you like the Legion, maybe, read a fellow fan's review, if you think you might like the Legion or don't already, just stay the hell away. This series isn't interested in you.
