New 52 Review – “Legion Lost #1”

Some familiar faces from the Legion of Super-Heroes can be found in this title, while the rest will appear next week. It’s very difficult to discuss without spoilers, so I’ll try to keep them as vague as possible.

General Information

Title: Legion Lost #1

Author: Fabian Nicieza

Illustrator(s): Pete Woods (art) and Brad Anderson (colours)

Cover Date: November 2011

Cover Price: $2.99

Buy the digital edition.

Premise

Seven members of the Legion of Super-Heroes travel through the Flashpoint Breakwall to prevent a fugitive from releasing a pathogen that would wipe out the Earth. Unfortunately, the trip through said breakwall (or some other unidentified effect) has had adverse effects on their technology, delaying their arrival and interfering with their mission.

High Point

Punches are not pulled. There are seven legionnaires at the beginning of the issue, but not at the end.

Low Point

It’s great to have this much action and this many characters, but the side effect of packing all of that into a first issue where not everybody survives is that new readers to the title (such as myself) don’t have time to get attached and feel the emotional resonance we should when they don’t all make it through.

The Scores

This seems like an original take on the characters, as far as my limited knowledge of the franchise goes. It’s also a different tone and premise than the rest of DC’s line thus far. I give it 5 out of 6.

The artwork is nice and clear, with vibrant colours. We have no problems telling the characters apart or reading their emotions. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story is off to a rapid start. There’s a lot of plot packed into 20 pages, and we can follow it. There’s definitely a history to the characters that I’m entirely unfamiliar with, but there’s enough information on these pages that I don’t have a problem following along. I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization isn’t as well developed as it could be. With this much plot, there’s not a lot of room for character development, which has some negative implications in the next category. I give it 3 out of 6.

The emotional response was hampered by the lack of familiarity with characters. This type of roster change should feel more significant than it does. I can imagine long time fans would have audibly reacted to the change, but a Legion newbie like myself was unaffected. I give it 3 out of 6.

The flow is rapid. These characters are scrambling when they arrive, and they never get the chance to regroup. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this was well structured, and certainly not bad, but didn’t grip this newbie as it could have. In my experience, writer Fabian Nicieza will do a great job with this type of book, but it feels more like a “next chapter” than a “new chapter” and didn’t grab me as a first issue. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Legion Lost receives 30 out of 42.

The New 52

Here are handy links for the reviews of all 52 new #1 issues:

  1. Action Comics
  2. All-Star Western
  3. Animal Man
  4. Aquaman
  5. Batgirl
  6. Batman
  7. Batman and Robin
  8. Batman: The Dark Knight
  9. Batwing
  10. Batwoman
  11. Birds of Prey
  12. Blackhawks
  13. Blue Beetle
  14. Captain Atom
  15. Catwoman
  16. DC Universe Presents
  17. Deathstroke
  18. Demon Knights
  19. Detective Comics
  20. The Flash
  21. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
  22. The Fury of Firestorm
  23. Green Arrow
  24. Green Lantern
  25. Green Lantern Corps
  26. Green Lantern: New Guardians
  27. Grifter
  28. Hawk and Dove
  29. I, Vampire
  30. Justice League
  31. Justice League Dark
  32. Justice League International
  33. Legion Lost
  34. Legion of Super-Heroes
  35. Men of War
  36. Mister Terrific
  37. Nightwing
  38. O.M.A.C.
  39. Red Hood and the Outlaws
  40. Red Lanterns
  41. Resurrection Man
  42. The Savage Hawkman
  43. Static Shock
  44. Stormwatch
  45. Suicide Squad
  46. Superboy
  47. Supergirl
  48. Superman
  49. Swamp Thing
  50. Teen Titans
  51. Voodoo
  52. Wonder Woman