My issue with Legion of Super-Heroes—to some degree, with all the incarnations in the last five or so years—is it’s just a refresh of the Paul Levitz, pre-Crisis Legion. Notice I didn’t say rehash. I said refresh. Even here—with Levitz relaunching the title for the big DC line-wide relaunch—it plays on the good memories of his previous work.
DC can’t get it in their head (and never has been able to)… certain comics don’t need to be relaunched.
Levitz does a fine job scripting and I’m reasonably engaged. But he’s playing off readers’ existing affections.
If I have any problems with this comic book, it’s with artist Francis Portela. He has a real problem with cause and effect. He can’t tie visuals together (whether landing craft launching or guys punching).
But the comic’s good. It’s just… It’s not “new.”
And probably shouldn’t be.
How could you reinvent the Legion? I mean, you could throw their fanbase under the bus, by going with a radical approach, or just pretty much lay it out there as you have before. DC goes for the safe route. Under the auspices of the relaunch, we probably could have tried and failed, and it would be all swept under the rug in a matter of months. I think this title could have benefitted from the “reboot” approach the most. Guess I’ll have to wait and see until next month, when they pass out the “flight rings” with the next mini….