Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Legion of Superheroes # 41

By Koppy McFad
May 10, 2008 - 03:01

Princess Projectra wanders the streets, roughing up people while the Legion spies on the United Planets in this issue which focuses on the bureaucratic conflicts between the Legion and the central interplanetary government.

The angle of the Legion-vs-the United Planets is intriguing as it gives us a look at how a superhero team operates in a world where they are barely tolerated-- but are not yet outlawed. The way the Legion tries to navigate these turbulent waters, using secret meetings and good public relations, has a fascinating quality of its own. However the creative team also spends so much time with politics and red tape, the reader almost forgets about the very real threat of alien beings that are invading the United Planets. It is almost as if the alien invasion is just a subplot to a bigger story about 'the Legion taking on THE MAN.' Come on, these are the Legion of Superheroes-- they should do something superheroic! Apparently, there is so little action in this issue, they had to work up a deceptive 'gimmick' cover to get us interested. At this point, comic book covers with people pointing big guns at the reader are becoming boring.

The art gives the Legion members a great deal of individuality but it also makes things confusing and hard to follow. The need to fill every space with bright background and intricate detail may have looked good in the movie, BLADE RUNNER -- evoking a sense of the complexity of the future but in a comic book, it can just look.... messy. The old Legion hands like Cockrum, Grell, Jim Sherman, even Giffen, could give us a world that was futuristic but still easily grasped by the newest readers.

Despite its problems, this issue gets a respectable two and a half stars.

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12