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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the World of Tomorrow, February 10, 2006
This review is from: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Teenage Revolution (Paperback)
Call me crazy, but in a world of entertainment full of "Chosen Ones", "anti-heroes", and enough teen angst to make you keel over and cry uncle, it feels wonderfully refreshing to read a graphic novel that concentrates on interesting characters, an interesting world, and leads into...a fantastic story.
First of all, I'm no veteran of the series. This is the first time I've ever read any of the Legion Comics. I don't know anything about the previous installations and "reboots" of the series, so I won't even try to guess what they were like. What I will do is tell you this: if you love great comic books you owe it to yourself to check this series out.
You don't have to know anything about the Legion to start reading this story. It's totally self-contained and explains the characters from the ground up. To some this could seem a daunting task given the sheer number of members of the Legion. So, the writer Mark Waid did sometime you might not have expected. He focuses on the feelings of one or two characters at a time, letting their actions and words define them even more than their fights or homeworld.
The first issue defines the Legion. The second defines Dream Girl. The third defines (haha) Triplicate Girl. The fourth defines Invisible Kid and Phantom Girl. From there...the real story begins. The wonderful thing about the way the story is told is that we continually gets surprises and insights into the characters (and see that the same powers that give them strength can also be their weaknesses). And once the characters have been clearly defined, (something that a lot of comics seem to toss out the window) we feel much more strongly about them when they are in danger. This made all the better by every character being a a unique individual with good and bad points (Brainiac 5 argues with Cosmic Boy, Cosmic Boy is spying on the other Legion members, Ultra Boy is out of control, and Invisible Kid really needs to assert himself more).
If this series trade has one low point it's definitely the art. Not that it's exactly bad. It's just that with the incredible story and dialog, the Sunday Funnies looking artwork seems rather lackluster (kind of like how Benes' excellent pencils were ruined in the Birds of Prey Trades by a lackluster inkist and colorist). If anything, this trade is proof that you don't have to have good artwork to have a great graphic novel (although that seems rather contradictory when I stop to think...).
The story that begins in the fifth installment gets a nice plot twist in the final issue of this trade, but you'll have to keep reading right up through issue 13 to get the full story arc. And that's something that you're either going to love or hate. Personally, after reading a single issue of this comic I was totally hooked on the story and fantastic writing. I bought every back issue up to issue 1 and followed each new installment with breathless anticipation. In the end all I can say is if you like this book you'd better keep reading, because from here things only get more dramatic, more intense, more epic, and more entertaining (and starting in issue number 9 the artwork seems to get a bit of an upgrade). In fact, I'd say issues 9, 10 and 11 are three of the best comic books I've ever read. Read this book. You enjoy a good story, you won't be disappointed. It only gets better from here. Long live the Legion!
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Call me Legion Lover Lad, December 7, 2005
This review is from: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Teenage Revolution (Paperback)
I was always rather intimidated by the Legion of Superheroes. I always felt like I had not anchor, no point at which to start out with them. I also have to admit, the names always seemed irredeemably hokey to me.
Well, that was then, this is now.
Mark Waid has made a convert out of me.
I cannot wait for Matter Eater Lad.
Someday I will need to look up the Legion stories that came before, but I was content to start out with Teenage Revolution. I was not dissapointed with the read. The book lays out the foundation for an all new Legion legend, requiring no prior knowledge to enjoy the book, but it still seems to lovingly respect what came before it. All the elemets of the old Legion seem there, just revitalized, but what is most appealing about the book is that is just a great teen superhero book.
The Legion taps into the energy of youth and idealism we so often lose as we grow older. This energy is perfectly presented here, it makes the legionaires idealistic, uncompromising and at times brash and a bit foolish. The characters are complex but fun. No mindwipes or crippling self doubt. These are old school superheroes. :)
The book comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait until Waid brings back Matter Eater Lad.
And...
um...
"Eat it, grandpa!"
Hee. I said it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Legion of good reading moments., June 30, 2009
This review is from: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Teenage Revolution (Paperback)
This collection includes issues 1-6 of the Legion of Superheroes, a concept that has endured at DC for several years, and has seen several incarnations. This version is a brand new take, and is an excellent collection of smart, involving stories with likeable characters and excellent dialogue. The issues here do mainly two things; they introduce the concept of the legion and give the background on some select characters, while also laying the groundwork for a story that will have a pay-off in the second collection of the title. The work by Mark Waid is some of his smartest and most involving in recent years. The characters ring true and are mostly, each distinctly recognize personalities. Whatever one wants to say about Mark Waid, he's certainly the most cerebral writer working in comics today, showing that, instead of merely introducing arbitrary concepts that have no logic, some of the changes he makes are logical extensions or tweaks of given circumstances; Saturn Girl, a telepath, is mute because her race talks exclusively through telepathy. Colossal boy i a giant who can "shrink," and "Triplicate Girl" is the last survivor of a race who can replicate herself as a evolutionary defense measure. Sometimes it's all too cute for its own good, but for the most part, Waid shows his readers respect by at least taking time to think things through, a rarity in comics.
Barry Kitson does excellent work here. Creatively, the real villain in this set of issues is the colorist, who completely misjudged the tone of these issues, and who adopts a dark, muddy, pastel palette that hurts the optimistic, hopeful tone the series is striving for. Kitson also makes some odd choices with rendering a few too many scenes in dark, heavy tones. Whatever the creative team was going for, it doesn't quite "click" and jars the reader a bit. Overall though, Kitson does some brilliant work. He radically redesigns the costumes of some characters and they work for the most part. His redesign of Lightning Lad's costume is genius, as is his design for Star Boy. There are some complete misses though, such as his design for Element Lad, which just doesn't work. Kitson also manages to keep a balance between introducing new elements and giving nods to classic ones. In the earliest versions of the Legion, I was never really able to tell the facial difference between Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf, and Colossal Lad. It started because earliest artists for the series weren't that committed to distinguishing the characters with that level of detail. In keeping with that tradition, Kitson makes the characters look alike, but gives them just enough differences facially to keep them very separate. I have no doubt this is deliberate on his part.
I highly recommend this volume, but I also recommend getting it with the second volume in the series, Death of a Dream if you can afford it. Together, they make a whole and complete story that satisfies on several levels, between the generally excellent writing and very consistent, very competent art. Teenage Revolution is funny, engaging, exciting, and full of really cool characters.
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