Customer Reviews

Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2: Death of a Dream

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Unlike the first volume that had single issue stories that served as intros for different legionairres this book is one continous arch. The Legion faces their first major super villains and the rift between Cosmic Boy and Brainiac 5 causes some in-team fighting. "Death of a Dream" is an excellent title because the Legion sees first hand it isn't all retro code names and fancy flight rings. There is a lot of violence, destruction, and angst in these issues and it ends with significant losses.

While there is still some character development, especially for Brainiac 5, there aren't as many humorous situations as the first volume (for obvious reason). Still, it is a solid volume with lots of battles so I recommend it.

The volume collects issues 7-13 of the reinvented Legion of Superheroes which began in 2005. The collection is one of the strongest Legion collections yet and a perfect complement to "Teenage Revolution" which preceded it. In fact, I highly recommend getting both of these volumes together. The characters are interesting and likeable, the scope of the story is epic, the issues are deftly and tightly plotted, and the story is satisfyingly concluded in the last chapter of the collection.

Waid does some of his best writing in recent years, laying the foundation in previous stories that have excellent payoffs here. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and extremely funny in places. Things also follow a logical consequence. If characters act in an obnoxious manner, it has an effect on the team. Cosmic Boy's tendency to control proves to be his weakness and undermines his position as leader. Brainiac's penchant for subterfuge also isn't without a cost. In addition to strong characterization, one of Waid's other strengths in this volume is a skill in resolving plots organically, and quickly. Things come up, have consequences for characters, but then get resolved in good time so that one never gets bored and so that new tensions can be introduced and dealt with. The confrontation between this new Legion and the major villains, ratchets up with each chapter, and there are moments of real heroism and tragedy. In one issue, a small team of legionnaires are outnumbered by the thousands, but knowing the costs involved in escape, insist on staying in their predicament to try to save the lives of others and stop a war. Other characters give the ultimate sacrifice, and the events are surprising and unexpected, even though Waid is smart enough to leave us quite obvious clues (in hindsight) from prior chapters. In fact, in thinking back, I'm amazed at how many plots/issues Waid is able to introduce in these seven chapters here, if for no other reason than most other writers (many of them employed at Marvel) would need about two years worth of issues to tell. In these seven chapters, Waid organically reveals key character information about Brainiac, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Invisible Kid, Sun Boy and a host of others, all the while setting up an epic confrontation between a vastly powerful antagonist, against a backdrop of generational intrigue and interplanetary politics. Not every choice he makes succeeds. Sun Boy's justifications for his decision at the end of the volume ring hollow, but overall, most of them work. The whole volume represents Waid, a veteran of many years in comics, applying all of the skills he's acquired in his long career, to their best effect.

The art in the volume is by Barry Kitson and one or two other fill in artists. Kitson's work is wonderful, consistent, and even spectacular in some places. He renders each character with love and demonstrates his skill at design on every page. The colorists here lets the team down with a muddy, muted palette that is misjudged, given the optimistic tone of the series generally, what with a group of teenaged superheroes and legions (literally) of young people galaxy wide rallying to their cause.

I devoured this volume in a couple of hours at midnight one day, because I had finished reading the first volume just before and HAD to know how the story continued. I didn't regret missing the sleep, and I believe that if you like a good solid superhero story, like the Legion concept generally, and just enjoy superhero sagas that have clear beginnings, middles and endings, you'll enjoy this volume too.

Waid continues to make us interested, showcasing the tensions in the Legion between selling out to the man, the power struggle between Cos and Brainy, a dead member, and a nasty alien invasion, spearheaded by superhumans, that the older generation fails to believe in.

Mark Waid has this uncanny ability to take characters I've barely heard of and make me care about them. The Legion Of Super-Heroes have had a tumultuous past with many different incarnations but its hard for me to believe this one could be topped. While its not perfect, it is a good example of juggling multiple storylines and characters. At times there are too many but other than many of the dark haired guys looking too similar I could tell who everyone was. Barry Kitson's art, other than that slight flaw, was really good. I don't know how this was received but I can't imagine this wouldn't be liked if it got a proper chance. Overall, a really good book!

anybody notice in issue 8, on the splash page, the tv show angel appears on star boy and phantom girl's screen?

"Death of a Dream" contains issues 7-13 of the "threebooted" Legion of Super-Heroes from the midpoint of the first decade of the 21st century. This version of the Legion contains idealistic young people trying to inspire a new generation with passion and adventure while the older ones prize conformity and security. Mark Waid, with Barry Kitson on pencils, creates an interesting but dark tale. Waid shows the growing pains of his group in a realistic setting and is able to show real growth and development for most of the characters while still keeping an epic plot together. There are some fascinating characters here and some stunning moments. Be warned. This is not the traditional Legion that was first seen in 1958 or the rebooted one in 1994--and there are some differences that can throw you. As solid as these issues are, you really need to read the first volume to better grasp the characters and the plot.