Broken Frontier

The Legion of Superheroes meets Supergirl. Is it as simple as that? Not hardly.

For more than a year, writer Mark Waid has been quietly staging a revolution with the Legion of Superheroes, blending some of the best aspects of the series’ Silver Age roots with new ideas and modern concepts. One of those Silver Age elements, though, was the Legion’s connection to Superboy and Supergirl. Various changes to DC continuity over the years (which are too numerous to get into here) erased all of that history but now Waid seeks to restore some of that in his own style.

With the Legion now officially an arm of the United Planets, Earthgov, the membership is growing by leaps and bounds, and they still have a headquarters to rebuild. The members are discovering, though, that just because you’re inside the establishment doesn’t mean that everybody likes you. They are also still struggling with their own issues of direction and leadership.  All of their problems get put on hold, though, when the UP calls on them for the first time for some big time superhero action. A seemingly unstoppable object is headed right for Earth at an impossible rate of speed and the Legion is Earth’s only line of defense! Clues to what the object might be raise more than a few eyebrows but the reality the Legion faces is far different than what they assumed.

Mark Waid’s Legion work has consistently been pure, comic book enjoyment.  He has managed to consistently mix comedy, action, and a certain amount of social commentary, with a deft touch. The dialogue snaps and is full of both wisecracks and wonder. One of the wonderful things about this title is that the reader never feels like he or she is reading about a group of miniature adults. Waid’s Legion is at core a group of teenagers and as much as these kids do have some good ideas, and as much as their revolution has a legitimate basis, they are still a group of adolescents who struggle to make decisions that are tough even for experienced adults. Additionally, making the idea that the Legion’s impetus are the stories of the heroes of old makes the addition of Supergirl natural. To these characters Supergirl is a legend and an ideal and the story potential that will spin out of this is nearly limitless. Of course, with Mark Waid, things are rarely as they appear and the twist he gives at the end of this issue is worth the price of admission.

Barry Kitson has collaborated with Waid in the past on a number of titles and continues with his penciling duties here. Kitson’s work, is not only as perfect as usual, it is perfectly suited to this title. His style has the unique ability to be sophisticated, strong, and detailed, and yet also capture some of the unidentifiable ‘something’ that puts one in mind of the work of some of the past greats like Carmine Infantino and Gil Kane.

I also applaud the coloring work of Nathan Eyring here. Eyring uses a palette of bright colors that mirrors this supposedly ‘perfect’ future. When one of the characters complains about the Legion members wearing colorful clothes Eyring makes sure that the reader gets the point.

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes is proving to be one of those titles that looks, feels, and reads like a fun and timeless ‘comic book story’. The future is now and its face...is Legion.