Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol 1 #3

Sep 19, 2022 14:52

Here's another read and review of the current Legion of Super-Heroes comics, this time out the third part of the the Great Darkness storyline involving the Legion and the Justice League. Enjoy! :)



Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol 1 #3
July, 2022
"The Gold Lantern Saga: Part Three"
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Scott Godlewski
Inker: Scott Godlewski
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Colourist: Ryan Cody
Cover: Scott Godlewski (pencils) and Ryan Cody (inks) (signed)
Variant Cover: Travis Moore (pencils) and Ryan Cody (inks)
Editor: Michael McCalister
Group Editor: Paul Kaminski

Mission Monitor Board:
Computo, Saturn Girl, Gold Lantern, White Witch, Brainiac 5, Mon-El, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Shadow Lass, Triplicate Girl, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Wildfire, Bouncing Boy

JLA Roll Call:
Black Adam, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Naomi, Aquaman, Hawkgirl

Guest Stars:
Superman (Jon Kent); Kamandi; Batman Beyond

Supporting Cast:
Epoch (in flashback); Science Police (cameo)

Cameos:
Chronos, Per Degaton, Rip Hunter, Time Commander, Reverse Flash, Booster Gold (all holographic file images)

Opposition:
The Great Darkness; Jokerz; various dinosaurs; Epoch (flashback).

Synopsis:
The story begins in the 31st Century, as Computo makes a live broadcast to the people of New Metropolis, the headquarters of the Legion of Super-Heroes. She tells everyone not to panic, and updates the public on the current situation. There is a black rip in the space-time continuum right outside the Metropolis sphere that protects them from the rigours of space. She requests that the people stay calm and let the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Science Police deal with the situation, and also informs them that due to an accident during the temporal emergency, the legendary Justice League from the 21st Century (including Batman and Wonder Woman) are also in the present.

Outside, the assembled members of the Legion and the Justice League discuss matters. Black Adam comments that the Darkness seems to have an organic quality, but Saturn Girl tells Superman (Jon Kent) and Black Adam that she can't pick up any thoughts from it; it has no mind...it's just... Darkness. Mon-El tells Brainiac 5 that he volunteers to go into and through the Darkness Anomaly, but Brainiac 5 tells him not to as that might evaporate the time stream. Brainiac 5 speaks to Gold Lantern in the 21st Century through the Darkness portal, and asks for his perspective. Timber Wolf suggests they send a team to go through the Darkness Anomaly and rescue Gold Lantern, but Brainiac 5 vociferously vetoes that idea, and he tells Black Adam not to shoot any more lightning bolts into it. Batman and Wonder Woman ask the Legion, specifically Brainiac 5, what they can do, but Brainiac 5 says he's not sure once more, telling Black Adam that nothing like this has ever been recorded in history, and they may be looking at the end of everything.

Brainiac 5 suggests that they focus on finding a way to contain, or perhaps to close, the Darkness Anomaly. Batman has an idea, and asks Computo to show them a list of the known criminal entitieswho have been using or abusing time travel during the Legion era, and then asks her to cross-reference this with a list of time travel criminals from the 21st Century. The monitor shows Time Commander, Per Degaton, Chronos, Reverse-Flash and several others including Booster Gold, and one called Epoch. The Justice League encountered Epoch in a swamp, and Naomi remembers that Epoch warned the Leaguers about a Gold Lantern. At that moment, Brainiac 5 receives a message from Gold Lantern, saying that he'd like to try and use his ring to close the Darkness Anomaly. Batman is shocked to learn that one of the Legionnaires is a Gold Lantern, and in a flashback memory he remembers what Epoch told them: He was looking for the ring, the Gold Lantern, and said that if the Justice Leaguers were to find it, they should destroy it.

Before Batman can talk with the other Leaguers or the Legionnaires, Gold Lantern attempts to close the Darkness Anomaly, but there is an explosion of Darkness, and the next thing one sees is that everyone has vanished from Legion Headquarters except for Batman, Chameleon Boy and Computo. Computo informs Chameleon Boy and Batman that the temporal incident has subsided, and that they have missing Justice Leaguers and Legionnaires. In addition, the United Planets' Science Police, who specialise in crimes against science, are about to raid the Legion HQ. The Science Police enter Legion HQ, and order Batman to surrender his body armour. Batman is surprised when Chameleon Boy asks Computo to contact his mother, the President of the United Planets.

Meanwhile, somewhere in time, Brainiac 5, Naomi (McDuffie) and Mon-El find themselves without a means of communicating with or returning to their proper time. Mon-El tells the two of them that he didn't see any other Legionnaires or Leaguers, but that he did see some indigenous bird people getting quite drunk. While they contemplate their situation, they are surprised when Kamandi comes upon them. While Kamandi wonders who and what they are, Brainiac 5 asks him to take them to where there is any science. Kamandi leads them to the Leviathan headquarters (which Naomi recognises), which Kamandi tells them hums from time to time. Brainiac 5 asks Kamandi if he's ever been inside the structure.

Elsewhen, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad find themselves in a mean, dark future. Reading the thoughts of those around them, Saturn Girl comes to realise that they have somehow time travelled into the, a future. They are distracted by a criminal who looks like a Joker attacking someone with a gun, but Cosmic Boy disarms the criminal with his magnetic powers and Lightning Lad blasts the vehicle the Joker type is driving. Seeking a way out of the situation, Saturn Girl is relieved when they encounter the Batman of the Batman Beyond time frame, Terry McGinnis. Telepathically, Saturn Girl tells him what he needs to know, and then asks the impressed Batman Beyond if he can help them.

Elsewhen, in the time period of the dinosaurs, Aquaman and Ultra Boy find themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation. Ultra Boy tells Aquaman that they've time travelled to the distant past, but that he's got no powers to get them out of this situation. However, he tells the dejected Aquaman that they don't have to worry, as Brainiac 5 will save them, as he always does. The two are attacked by dinosaurs once more, and Ultra Boy tells Aquaman that he hopes they don't miss the part where they find out who's behind this. Aquaman says it may not be a who, it may just be happening, but Ultra Boy tells him that his gut tells him *someone* is behind this.

Meanwhile, Gold Lantern has also been tossed through time, and discovers that not only can he not communicate with the Legion or the Justice League, but that he can't communicate with the elders of Oa either. He wonders when and where he is, as he looks at the Daily Planet building and a dirigible in the sky...

The story continues in the next issue.

Commentary:
And so here we are at the half-way point of the six-issue mini-series, and to be honest, I'm not sure what's going on. The plot so far, which seems to tie in to the Dark Crisis story (I think), has a space-time continuum anomaly that is a spreading Darkness seemingly occurring in both the 21st and 31st Centuries, and has brought the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes together. This Darkness Anomaly has the ability to throw the various heroes through time, but the intriguing part of this has been the fact that Black Adam called it organic and possibly alive. While Saturn Girl got no thoughts from the Anomaly, this leads me to wonder if there is a villainous intelligence behind it all. So perhaps that's not part of the Dark Crisis per se, but like I said I'm confused about stuff. The part of the story that's really confusing me to this point is the "vs." in the title of the series. I suspect the Legion and the Justice League will be coming into conflict towards the end of the mini-series and I think that Gold Lantern is going to be a dupe for whoever/whatever the bad guy(s) is(are).

Brian Michael Bendis wrote a story here that didn't really move the plot along all that much, though there was some humour and a few solid character moments. if I have any real complaint about the story, it's the lack of characterisation. The Justice League members all seem cynical and morose, a look that doesn't really fit them all that well other than Batman, while the Legionnaires all seem to be "Golly gee wow!" impressed youngsters. In some ways, it reminds me of the Gardner Fox Silver Age days when anyone could be saying the words in the balloons on any page. If you don't believe me, just imagine popping anyone else into the Batman or Aquaman bits and having them say their lines. The exception to this is Mon-El, who is portrayed as the insufferable jock type of character (notably during the trip back into the past with his dialogue with Naomi). Speaking of Mon-El, I thought that Mon-El and Ultra Boy could break the time barrier; they used to be able to, but I guess not in this version of the LSH... I will say that I liked the fact that Bendus did his take on the classic Justice League of America team-ups where he split the two hero groups into small teams.

The early part of this issue rehashed the stuff that happened last issue, with the only creative part being Batman's inquiry into individuals who've used time travel in both the past and present of the story (Booster Gold is a villain according to Computo? Interesting...). This brings to light the appearance of the villain Epoch (see the Final Notes on this appearance) and the warning about the Gold Lantern, and could obviously lead to some conflict between the two hero groups over Gold Lantern and his ring. Maybe that's where the "vs." in the title of the comic is coming from. The story itself didn't start moving until the second half of the issue, with the various Leaguers and Legionnaires thrown helter-skelter into the time stream seemingly. I can't say any of the three time period sequences shown - the Great Disaster era, the Batman Beyond era and the Age of Dinosaurs era - did much for me, though there was some interesting character interactions in all three sequences.

The artwork this issue is quite good, thanks to artist Scott Godlewski and colourist Ryan Cody. The various characters look pretty decent this issue, and there's no mistaking who's who despite the still somewhat generic dialogue from Brian Michael Bendis. Batman looks very unhappy for most of the issue, not surprising given the revelations made about Gold Lantern here, and Black Adam's expressions at times are very much emotive of the character's current mood, but most of the Legionnaires comes across a bit stiff and unemotional. The various settings here, from the 31st and 21st Centuries to the various time periods the heroes are thrown into, look distinctive and specific, and are a testament to Godlewski's work this issue. The two-page spread on pages 2 and 3 of the two times of the Great Darkness Anomaly is stunning, and very effective, and the double-page spread on pages 8 and 9 of the Legionnaires and Leaguers caught in the Darkness and transported who knows when is also stunning and very evocative. Godlewski and Cody do a remarkable job this issue, with lots of energy in their chaacter work, and there's a neat momentum to the way panels are stacked this issue. And I really like Cody's colours this issue, the Kamandi sequence being very nicely staged and "lit" per se. Bendis comics are very dialogue heavy, and letterer Dave Sharpe does a terrific job this issue, not just because of his well-chosen fonts, but for his word balloon positioning here; the text never gets in the way of the artwork this issue, once more, and it's quite lovely. If I have any complaint about the issue it's the cover, which spotlights Batman. While I know the Dark Knight is popular these days, the focus on one Leaguer, rather than having a Leaguer and Legionnaire or three on the cover would have made the cover more attractive (at least to me).

When it comes down to it, we're three issues into the mini-series and to be honest not a lot has been happening and the writers has just been rehashing the same business for these three issues. Sure, the comic has been a pretty breezy read, each issue beginning with a recap of events, but I'm just not sure what's going on and where it's leading in terms of the story and how much this tale involves the Dark Crisis and all. I do have to wonder about two things, though. First off, is Bendis going somewhere with the Legion members' concerning worried reliance on Brainiac 5 to solve everything. But second, I have to wonder how readers who aren't overly familiar with the Legion are feeling about the Interlac scattered throughout the second and third issues to this point. Or perhaps they just don't care.

Final Notes:
This is the third issue of "The Gold Lantern Saga" six-issue mini-series, and continues from the previous issue and will continue with issue #4...

The Interlac at the top left of page 1 reads,
"Emergency announcement from Legion Headquarters"...

The Interlac at the bottom left of page 1 reads,
"Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Green Arrow
Black Canary
Hawkgirl
Black Adam
Naomi"...

The Interlac at the bottom of the last page reads,
"To be continued."...

Batman remembers Epoch attacking the Justice League in Justice League Vol 4 Annual #1...

Kamandi takes Brainiac 5, Mon-El and Naomi to the Leviathan headquarters that readers last saw in Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 way back when...

Next Issue: Justice League vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol 1 #4

lsh, lll, comics hut, long live the legion!, legion read, legion of super-heroes, review

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