Fans, myself included, have gushed over Johns and Eaglesham's dazzling new Justice Society of America. And now they're giving us yet another reason to make soppy slobbering fools of ourselves. Not only is "The Lightening Saga" treating old folks like me to the return of the classic Legion, it's doing so in rare style. What can be said about Eaglesham's art that hasn't already been said? The image of the Legoinnares flying at night and silhouetted against the swamp is so delicate, you don't doubt its reality for an instant. Johns's dialogue is equally graceful. Superman's heavy-lidded response to Geo-Force and Batman on page 3 is poingnant. It is also a brilliant bit of metaplay because the Superman who can be nostalgic for his childhood (in the future!) occupies the same position as the dyed in the wool Legion fan of a certain age in 2007 who is nostalgic for his or her own childhood--a childhood in which this Legion figured prominently. And after all, what Legion fan isn't already nostalgic for the future? THIS is what the return of the multiverse is for. Just...wow.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
"We Were Legion": JSA #6 Preview
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6 comments:
I don't know...I'd like to feel the way you do about all this, but it just somehow leaves me feeling pandered to. It's like a hooker dressed like my childhood crush is telling me how handsome and sexy I am: I may want to believe that's true and that she sincerely means it, but of course she doesn't. The difference here is that Johns and the writers of Countdown and whoever else is responsible for this storyline aren't only pandering to the readers, but also pandering to themselves at the same time. That doesn't make it any more real.
Don't just give me "the old Legion" because you think that's what I want. What I want is good stories, whatever characters they're about, not my childhood memories turned out to work the streets.
I've been waiting for this a long time.
Rick
But rab, I am handsome and sexy! Wait...uh... Uh-oh.
I kind of agree with rab. I think this is kind of a cynical thing DC's up to here. (I'm sure I'm going to have to repeat everything I say here on my own blog, when I get to it...) Because this Legion resembles the original Legion, but is obviously different from the original Legion. So if DC wants to do something different, why is it the same, and if they want to do something the same, why is it different?
Obviously, because they think the original Legion will sell. So they're selling the idea of the original Legion while they're really up to something else. Whatever it is.
So I don't know. I'm enjoying it, but I'm also very dubious about whether it's a good idea or not. Oh well; what with this crossover and next week's Action Comics and the upcoming Brave and Bold thing and Countdown, we should get some answers pretty soon; I'll decide then.
Dawnstar is back, with her wings restored, in active continuity, not as some sort of special effect, and shown beautifully by artists in both of these books.
Especially, in this JSA 6, in silhouette and in the closing panel. And alongside her friends, all portrayed (in JSA 5 as well) in the Cockrum-and-Grell outfit wizardry that's never been equaled, let alone improved upon.
That, to me, is all that matters. It's what has made me joyous, as I've written and discussed at considerable length elsewhere.
And even though it's clearly making a response, at long last, to an overlooked fan contingent and its market — one has to be far too cynical, methinks, to call it "pandering" — I really don't give a damn.
They may get little time or visibility after this. At least they're back, though, and Dawnstar has six limbs again after being in limbo, and I'm thrilled, pure and simple. Anything after this is esthetic gravy.
Seventeen years to wait to see this for my Legion favorite (and favorite Legion), since the last genuine team stood on the shards of the Sorcerers' World, is long enough.
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