Legion of Super-Heroes #3 // Review
It’s clear from the sheer level of talent involved in the creation of the Legion of Super-Heroes title (and from the fact that Brian Michael Bendis is writing it and driving it creatively) that it’s massively important to the DC Comics metastory. Rumors that Jon Kent, the star of the title, will soon graduate to Superman as part of DC’s mysterious 5G support that assumption. It’s a shame, then, that it’s really unclear what exactly is happening in Legion of Super-Heroes #3.
In this issue, quite a lot happens. Jon brings Damien Wayne to the 30th Century in hopes of having him join the Legion. A subset of the Legion travels to Planet Gotham to interrogate the captive Mordru. Another subset of the Legion goes to Rimbor to confront Ultra Boy’s father about Aquaman’s trident. Chaos ensues.
Bendis clearly has a strong grasp of exactly what story (or stories) he’s telling with the Legion, and the sense of chaos is obviously deliberate. And it leads to some entertaining beats and the fun quippy dialogue that Bendis is known for. But at the end of the day, the overlapping stories and mad rush of exposition just lead the reader to exhaustion.
The art is all solid. The regular art team of penciler Ryan Sook and inker Wade Von Grawbadger handles about a third of the issue. While the rest is penciled and inked by Travis Moore. Moore’s style matches the notoriously slow Sook’s quite well, so the issue flows from one artist to the other without much of a hitch. The colors by Jordie Bellaire are terrific, creating the feeling of hope that is the hallmark of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The lettering by ALW’s Troy Peteri manages Bendis’ wordy dialogue well.
Legion of Super-Heroes could be one of DC’s flagship titles, along with the Justice League family of books, and it’s clear that that’s where DC and Bendis want this title to go. Before it can get there, though, Bendis needs to slow down a little and let the story breathe, at least more than he does with issue #3.
