Customer Reviews

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3: Strange Visitor from Another Century

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After the events of the first year-plus of the rebooted Legion of Super Heroes I have to admit that this volume is a bit disappointing, but it is tough to top an intergalactic war.

The arrival of Supergirl detours the narrative from more Legionnaire-focused episodes to more Supergirl-centric ones while the series lays the ground work for a pair of story arcs involving the Dominators and the Legion of Super Villians.

The narrative lull was necessary after the war against Praetor Lemnos and Terror Firma but I came away feeling that Supergirl's inclusion was more gimmick than story-driven.

Those complaints aside, I enjoy the pencil-and-ink stylings and the look and feel of this vision of the Legion. This volume is worth getting if you are a Legion fan.

Supergirl meets the Legion of Super-Heroes and the results are...mixed. First off, as with almost every Legion story, there are just too many characters. Its easy to lose track of who is where or even who is who when the cast is so huge. Second, adding Kara was fun but not enough was done here with her. The how's and whys continue, which is fine but not enough is done towards that. I think that goes to the fact that there are about 45 plotlines going on at the same time. I might be exaggerating but not by much. I enjoyed the ending chapter with Chameleon and some of the subplots but overall the writing is all over the place. The art is as consistent as ever by Barry Kitson, a true professional. This series might not be for me but I would still read the next trade.

After completely screwing up the Superman/Batman and Supergirl titles, and hence any possible use of Supergirl there, and again, with the Legion not setting the world on fire, they thought they wuld try something else.

Originally this spot was occupied by Superboy, but given that he is gone now, or dead, or a crazy monster, depending on which one you want to talk about, they thought throwing a miniskirt in there might be a good idea.

It is working so far. The problem the Legion have is that Supergirl thinks her existence in their time is just a dream. It is not so great having perhaps the most powerful person on the planet be extremely loopy, which causes more arguments and fights in the Legion.

Since the 50s the Legion of Super-Heroes has been around in one form or another. The core concept is a super powered teens protecting the distant future. In 2004 writer Mark Waid and artist Barry Kitson 'rebooted' the Legion (it's since been rebooted one or two more times) this time envisioning them as teen rebels shaking up a repressed 31st Century.

In this book the Legion deals with the death of one of their members and the sudden arrival of the 21st century hero Supergirl.

There's certainly potential here but Waid writes the Legion, Supergirl and just about everyone else as completely unlikeable. The Legionnaires are self-righteous bullies causing trouble just for the heck of it. They're followed hoards of idolizing fans who constantly sing the praises of the Legion but get little or nothing in return. The government of the 31st century is an absurdly over the top repressive state that genetically reprograms young people to behave. Supergirl upon arriving decides that this cannot be real and must be a dream. In short we have obnoxious heroes, an evil government and a delusional guest star.

And I had no one to sympathize with.

The only bright spots were Barry Kitson's art which is always a pleasure and the illustrated 'letter columns' in the back. In them the Legionnaires answer reader questions in character with humor and wit. They're far more likeable there than they are in the actual stories.

I picked up several second-hand volumes of the Waid Kitson run recently but I have to say if I'd paid full price for this I would not have come back for more.

The "threebooted" version of the Legion of Super-Heroes remains somewhat controversial with the series having both its critics and fans. This collection of comics brings the current incarnation of Supergirl to the 31st century to help the Legion. There are some problems with this--there was little logic to the event besides trying to sell comics. The threebooted Legion was starting to build some chemistry. While there is an attempt here to show how the Legion deals with the loss of a member, when Supergirl comes on the scene, she dominates the narrative and some of the strong characters in the Legion are quickly eclipsed. This is unfortunate to say the least. There is a funny collection of Legion members answering reader mail which should not be missed. While not bad, this collection is a step back for the threeboooted Legion.

Excellent read, but I already owned the one you sent me, remember, there are many of these types of books but they have sub-names, like Adult education, etc...............