Larry Mahlstedt
Autor de Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga: The Deluxe Edition
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Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga por Paul Levitz
One of, if not the definitive Legion of Super-Heroes stories.
This is, to date, the best Legion story ever written. Having read it during its initial run, I can say that the slow build-up, the hints dropped as to the identity of the villain, and the sheer cosmic level of the story (every single Legion extra was included; Dev-em, the deliquent from Krypton; the Wanderers, the Heroes of Lallor; everyone) against a villain who could credibly give the heroes, and the entire galaxy, a fight... It was brilliant then, and still yet to be surpassed.
Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.
For some reason, I ordered The Curse before I'd even read The Great Darkness Saga, so it's a good thing I turned out to like The Great Darkness Saga so much. Even better, I liked The Curse even more than I liked the previous volume. I don't know if this is because Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen really hit their stride, or maybe I finally hit my stride, absorbing enough Legion backstory for everything to hang together at last. Though The Curse contains no standout epics like The Great Darkness Saga does, it is more consistently successful, offering up a series of excellent character-based twists and turns as the Legion chugs ever dutifully into the future.
Unfortunately, The Curse opens with a rare misfire, when Cosmic Boy learns that his family was attacked in a firebombing at the end of the previous volume. This in itself is fine, but after this one story, it never seems to have a substantial effect on Cos's characterization (inasmuch as he seems to have any). On the other hand, Giffen's artwork really shines here, with a number of great panels showcasing Cos's grief and anger and powers.
From there, things unfold pretty interestingly. As some of the Legion fights revenge-seeking Khunds, Element Lad and Shvaughn Erin investigate the strange behavior of one of the Legion's own, and Invisible Kid is stranded in a strange dimension where he encounters both his predecessor (driven mad!) and Wildfire. Wildfire was, of course, transformed into a being of antimatter energy by a strange accident, but in this dimension, he has physical form again. There are some great moments as Invisible Kid forces Wildfire to come back with him. And also Chamelon Boy goes on a quest to his homeworld to regain his shapeshifting powers, finally reconciling with his estranged father. Phew! Life in the Legion is never boring, especially as Levitz and Giffen masterfully run all these plots alongside one another, making sure to always be starting and ending them at the same time, to continuously pull you through the book. Other highlights include the story where Weber's World (the United Planets' bureaucratic headquarters) is taken over, and Brainiac must work with his old crush Supergirl to stop it from colliding with another planet.
Indications of my emotional attachment to these characters began to appear with the subplot about Wildfire's relationship with Dawnstar. Without a physical form, Wildfire can never touch the woman he loves-- and her people must go into space when they turn eighteen to discover their husbands. There's a great bit where he's so upset over this, he purposefully explodes his containment suit. Ouch! Another great subplot is the discovery that one of the Legion was replaced by an impostor... especially when it's clear that the replacement happened before the impostor entered into a relationship with another Legionnaire. Ouch again!
One of my complaints about the previous volume was the group of characters I never figured out who they were, but that was alleviated in part by a recurring subplot about Star Boy, lover of Legion leader Dream Girl. That Star Boy is not front-and-center turns out to be an integral part of this characterization; he feels neglected by Dream Girl, but is too quiet to say anything about it. There's a great issue where, during a Legion election, he and Wildfire sit on the roof of Legion HQ under the stars watching the results come in, and Star Boy recounts his exceedingly unlucky past. It's nicely done, giving some depth, but also some awesomeness, to a Legionnaire who needs it.
I didn't much care for the four-part story about the Omen and the Prophet or whatever it was-- it never really made a lot of sense, and Giffen's art was unusually confusing when he got too creative with his layouts-- but even this had some nice subplots, such as when Colossal Boy takes his new wife home to meet his mother in a very cute story.
Finally, there's a tense multipart story about a traitor within the Science Police itself, giving some focus to these perennial side characters, and showing that events don't have to be enormously cosmic to be dangerous to our heroes. The fact that I love Shvaughn Erin probably helps keep me interested! The book wraps up with a short coda about a new birth in the Legion and an attempt to resurrect the sorcerer Mordru. This was okay, but the final two pages-- where we learn what the curse Darkseid placed on the Legion at the end of The Great Darkness Saga actually was-- made it all worth it.
On the whole, this was an excellent book of comics, and great value. I'd happily pick up more of these Legion of Super-Heroes deluxe editions if they were released. Are you listening, DC?… (más)
For some reason, I ordered The Curse before I'd even read The Great Darkness Saga, so it's a good thing I turned out to like The Great Darkness Saga so much. Even better, I liked The Curse even more than I liked the previous volume. I don't know if this is because Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen really hit their stride, or maybe I finally hit my stride, absorbing enough Legion backstory for everything to hang together at last. Though The Curse contains no standout epics like The Great Darkness Saga does, it is more consistently successful, offering up a series of excellent character-based twists and turns as the Legion chugs ever dutifully into the future.
Unfortunately, The Curse opens with a rare misfire, when Cosmic Boy learns that his family was attacked in a firebombing at the end of the previous volume. This in itself is fine, but after this one story, it never seems to have a substantial effect on Cos's characterization (inasmuch as he seems to have any). On the other hand, Giffen's artwork really shines here, with a number of great panels showcasing Cos's grief and anger and powers.
From there, things unfold pretty interestingly. As some of the Legion fights revenge-seeking Khunds, Element Lad and Shvaughn Erin investigate the strange behavior of one of the Legion's own, and Invisible Kid is stranded in a strange dimension where he encounters both his predecessor (driven mad!) and Wildfire. Wildfire was, of course, transformed into a being of antimatter energy by a strange accident, but in this dimension, he has physical form again. There are some great moments as Invisible Kid forces Wildfire to come back with him. And also Chamelon Boy goes on a quest to his homeworld to regain his shapeshifting powers, finally reconciling with his estranged father. Phew! Life in the Legion is never boring, especially as Levitz and Giffen masterfully run all these plots alongside one another, making sure to always be starting and ending them at the same time, to continuously pull you through the book. Other highlights include the story where Weber's World (the United Planets' bureaucratic headquarters) is taken over, and Brainiac must work with his old crush Supergirl to stop it from colliding with another planet.
Indications of my emotional attachment to these characters began to appear with the subplot about Wildfire's relationship with Dawnstar. Without a physical form, Wildfire can never touch the woman he loves-- and her people must go into space when they turn eighteen to discover their husbands. There's a great bit where he's so upset over this, he purposefully explodes his containment suit. Ouch! Another great subplot is the discovery that one of the Legion was replaced by an impostor... especially when it's clear that the replacement happened before the impostor entered into a relationship with another Legionnaire. Ouch again!
One of my complaints about the previous volume was the group of characters I never figured out who they were, but that was alleviated in part by a recurring subplot about Star Boy, lover of Legion leader Dream Girl. That Star Boy is not front-and-center turns out to be an integral part of this characterization; he feels neglected by Dream Girl, but is too quiet to say anything about it. There's a great issue where, during a Legion election, he and Wildfire sit on the roof of Legion HQ under the stars watching the results come in, and Star Boy recounts his exceedingly unlucky past. It's nicely done, giving some depth, but also some awesomeness, to a Legionnaire who needs it.
I didn't much care for the four-part story about the Omen and the Prophet or whatever it was-- it never really made a lot of sense, and Giffen's art was unusually confusing when he got too creative with his layouts-- but even this had some nice subplots, such as when Colossal Boy takes his new wife home to meet his mother in a very cute story.
Finally, there's a tense multipart story about a traitor within the Science Police itself, giving some focus to these perennial side characters, and showing that events don't have to be enormously cosmic to be dangerous to our heroes. The fact that I love Shvaughn Erin probably helps keep me interested! The book wraps up with a short coda about a new birth in the Legion and an attempt to resurrect the sorcerer Mordru. This was okay, but the final two pages-- where we learn what the curse Darkseid placed on the Legion at the end of The Great Darkness Saga actually was-- made it all worth it.
On the whole, this was an excellent book of comics, and great value. I'd happily pick up more of these Legion of Super-Heroes deluxe editions if they were released. Are you listening, DC?… (más)
Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.
I don't remember where I first heard about The Great Darkness Saga. It may have been Scott Tipton's Comics 101, the blog that is in a major way responsible for getting me into comic books to begin with, but I can't find the post now if so. In any case, I was drawn to the book because it was described as being the ultimate Darkseid story. Now, Darkseid is the best supervillain who's not Lex Luthor, so of course I was intrigued. That fact sat in the back of my head for many years, until DC decided to release a "deluxe edition" of the saga, containing fourteen issues. And I sprang for it.
Whoever told me that, they were right. When Jack Kirby created Darkseid, he created a great villain, but it can be argued that he never used Darkseid to his full potential. The Great Darkness Saga clearly does. In a way, it's a shame that I knew this was the ultimate Darkseid story, because as originally presented, it's a surprise. There's a mysterious figure who appears in a number of issues, and it's not until you're relatively close to the end that it's revealed this figure is Darkseid. But perhaps knowing makes it better: there are these small glimpses of a malevolent force that is going to intersect the Legionnaires' lives, and every time it gave me this little thrill. Darkseid was coming.
And when he appeared for real: oh, how amazing. I think I like Darkseid because he so completely devotes himself to what he is (evil), but never acts inconsistently or stupidly or insanely, and because his sheer power means he can do some amazing stuff. The Darkseid of The Great Darkness Saga is depleted by a battle in the distant past, but he's still a force to be reckoned with.
"As you wish, Darkseid, so shall it be done."
"Of course. There is no other possibility."
What he does to the planet is Daxam is utterly amazing and so perfect. (Don't get spoiled on this one; it's much better discovered for yourself.) Of course, Darkseid loses, but the showdown is excellent, and he goes out the only way you can imagine Darkseid justifiably going out. Bam!
All that said, The Great Darkness Saga itself occupies only six issues of this fourteen-issue collection. Is what else is here worthwhile?
It is one of my greatest regrets that I did not come to comics until late. Though I started reading Star Wars and Star Trek comics in high school, it wasn't until college that I finally read a superhero comic book. Legion of Super-Heroes is one of those things that makes me most regret this part of my life. For though I like the title now, I know I would have loved it when I was a kid. Legion mixes personal drama (there's a cast of over twenty!) and epic scale in the same way as my favorite television shows of my teen years, Babylon 5 and Beast Wars/Beast Machines. The stories here are the kind I would make up when babysitting to entertain my charges: lots of twists and turns, detailed continuity, subplots that rumble in the background for ages.
Sure, the characterization is never exactly subtle, and there are so many characters that it took me the entire book to figure out who Ultra Boy even was, but as time went on, I started to figure out who these people were and the whole thing began to click. The beginning is rough, because I think Levitz assumes you know who these people are and what's been happening with them. It also helps that he seems to find his groove, with each issue usually containing one story complete unto itself, but fragments of others that unfold as it goes.
It started to come together when, Chameleon Boy, upset at his father's continual attempts to get back into his life, takes the Legion Espionage Team on a desparate mission into Khund space. I didn't quite get this-- the jump from "I hate you dad!" to "I'm gonna get my friends killed!" is not clearly made-- but its aftereffects are great. Timber Wolf is among those on the espionage mission, and his distraught girlfriend, Light Lass, begs Saturn Girl to lobby for a rescue mission. (Saturn Girl is married to Legion leader Lightning Lad. Yes, it's complicated.) Saturn Girl is telepathic, and when she looks into Light Lass's mind, she experiences a complete and devoted love that she herself does not feel for her own husband. So when Lightning Lad won't authorize a rescue mission, Saturn Girl charges off on a rescue mission herself-- which is itself shot down. Then there's a couple good issues with the group of Legionnaires stranded on an icy asteroid, and Saturn Girl finds herself drawn to Timber Wolf... because of feelings that are literally not her own. A neat sci-fi idea and relationship drama. Huzzah!
The best single issue in the collection, however, was the oversized "Monster in a Little Girl's Mind!" This story sees Science Police (love that term) liason Shvaughn Erin (so cute!) reporting for duty at Legion headquarters on the same day that Brainiac Five tries to cure the mind of a little girl by connecting it to computer, which unleashes his mad creation, the computer program "Computo." Despite its ridiculous name, Computo is a dangerous opponent, turning the Legion's HQ against the Legion in a tense tale that rotates between the various Legionnaires in and outside of the building. Every member gets their moment, and there's even a set of blueprints of Legion HQ-- which are not only informative, but part of the story! The best part is the short text message at the top of each page, notes transmitted from Shvaughn to the chief of the Science Police detailing the deteriorating situation. It's the sort of thing that could only be done in comics, and it fills in gaps in the story at the same time it communicates the gravity of their plight. All in all, it's good comics.
Also: Blok. Blok is great. Of course I love Blok; he's a well-intentioned rock who does what's right but thinks humans are kinda weird.
The writing that I've been praising is the work of Paul Levitz, but I should also praise Keith Giffen, who draws most of the stories. In addition to drawing some absolutely killer layouts, the scripts included in the back of this edition make it clear how big of an influence he had on Legion. Levitz starts out by writing a page-by-page breakdown of the first issue of the Saga, describing each page in a paragraph; the whole thing runs about six pages. For the final, bonus-sized issue, Levitz just writes two pages of what needs to happen, leaving it to Giffen to do it however he likes. And do it he does; these issues look amazing. Good fights and good storytelling.… (más)
I don't remember where I first heard about The Great Darkness Saga. It may have been Scott Tipton's Comics 101, the blog that is in a major way responsible for getting me into comic books to begin with, but I can't find the post now if so. In any case, I was drawn to the book because it was described as being the ultimate Darkseid story. Now, Darkseid is the best supervillain who's not Lex Luthor, so of course I was intrigued. That fact sat in the back of my head for many years, until DC decided to release a "deluxe edition" of the saga, containing fourteen issues. And I sprang for it.
Whoever told me that, they were right. When Jack Kirby created Darkseid, he created a great villain, but it can be argued that he never used Darkseid to his full potential. The Great Darkness Saga clearly does. In a way, it's a shame that I knew this was the ultimate Darkseid story, because as originally presented, it's a surprise. There's a mysterious figure who appears in a number of issues, and it's not until you're relatively close to the end that it's revealed this figure is Darkseid. But perhaps knowing makes it better: there are these small glimpses of a malevolent force that is going to intersect the Legionnaires' lives, and every time it gave me this little thrill. Darkseid was coming.
And when he appeared for real: oh, how amazing. I think I like Darkseid because he so completely devotes himself to what he is (evil), but never acts inconsistently or stupidly or insanely, and because his sheer power means he can do some amazing stuff. The Darkseid of The Great Darkness Saga is depleted by a battle in the distant past, but he's still a force to be reckoned with.
"As you wish, Darkseid, so shall it be done."
"Of course. There is no other possibility."
What he does to the planet is Daxam is utterly amazing and so perfect. (Don't get spoiled on this one; it's much better discovered for yourself.) Of course, Darkseid loses, but the showdown is excellent, and he goes out the only way you can imagine Darkseid justifiably going out. Bam!
All that said, The Great Darkness Saga itself occupies only six issues of this fourteen-issue collection. Is what else is here worthwhile?
It is one of my greatest regrets that I did not come to comics until late. Though I started reading Star Wars and Star Trek comics in high school, it wasn't until college that I finally read a superhero comic book. Legion of Super-Heroes is one of those things that makes me most regret this part of my life. For though I like the title now, I know I would have loved it when I was a kid. Legion mixes personal drama (there's a cast of over twenty!) and epic scale in the same way as my favorite television shows of my teen years, Babylon 5 and Beast Wars/Beast Machines. The stories here are the kind I would make up when babysitting to entertain my charges: lots of twists and turns, detailed continuity, subplots that rumble in the background for ages.
Sure, the characterization is never exactly subtle, and there are so many characters that it took me the entire book to figure out who Ultra Boy even was, but as time went on, I started to figure out who these people were and the whole thing began to click. The beginning is rough, because I think Levitz assumes you know who these people are and what's been happening with them. It also helps that he seems to find his groove, with each issue usually containing one story complete unto itself, but fragments of others that unfold as it goes.
It started to come together when, Chameleon Boy, upset at his father's continual attempts to get back into his life, takes the Legion Espionage Team on a desparate mission into Khund space. I didn't quite get this-- the jump from "I hate you dad!" to "I'm gonna get my friends killed!" is not clearly made-- but its aftereffects are great. Timber Wolf is among those on the espionage mission, and his distraught girlfriend, Light Lass, begs Saturn Girl to lobby for a rescue mission. (Saturn Girl is married to Legion leader Lightning Lad. Yes, it's complicated.) Saturn Girl is telepathic, and when she looks into Light Lass's mind, she experiences a complete and devoted love that she herself does not feel for her own husband. So when Lightning Lad won't authorize a rescue mission, Saturn Girl charges off on a rescue mission herself-- which is itself shot down. Then there's a couple good issues with the group of Legionnaires stranded on an icy asteroid, and Saturn Girl finds herself drawn to Timber Wolf... because of feelings that are literally not her own. A neat sci-fi idea and relationship drama. Huzzah!
The best single issue in the collection, however, was the oversized "Monster in a Little Girl's Mind!" This story sees Science Police (love that term) liason Shvaughn Erin (so cute!) reporting for duty at Legion headquarters on the same day that Brainiac Five tries to cure the mind of a little girl by connecting it to computer, which unleashes his mad creation, the computer program "Computo." Despite its ridiculous name, Computo is a dangerous opponent, turning the Legion's HQ against the Legion in a tense tale that rotates between the various Legionnaires in and outside of the building. Every member gets their moment, and there's even a set of blueprints of Legion HQ-- which are not only informative, but part of the story! The best part is the short text message at the top of each page, notes transmitted from Shvaughn to the chief of the Science Police detailing the deteriorating situation. It's the sort of thing that could only be done in comics, and it fills in gaps in the story at the same time it communicates the gravity of their plight. All in all, it's good comics.
Also: Blok. Blok is great. Of course I love Blok; he's a well-intentioned rock who does what's right but thinks humans are kinda weird.
The writing that I've been praising is the work of Paul Levitz, but I should also praise Keith Giffen, who draws most of the stories. In addition to drawing some absolutely killer layouts, the scripts included in the back of this edition make it clear how big of an influence he had on Legion. Levitz starts out by writing a page-by-page breakdown of the first issue of the Saga, describing each page in a paragraph; the whole thing runs about six pages. For the final, bonus-sized issue, Levitz just writes two pages of what needs to happen, leaving it to Giffen to do it however he likes. And do it he does; these issues look amazing. Good fights and good storytelling.… (más)
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