DC comics book review: Adventure

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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Adventure Comics #527 Review

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Paul Levitz’ tales of the Legion Academy continue in Adventure Comics 527, with a story focusing on Comet Queen, one of the long time students.

Adventure Comics #527

She tells her story to Glorith, in-between various training sessions and the like. Basically, Comet Queen grew up a big Legion fan, developed a stalker-like crush on Bouncing Boy of all people, and then tried to recreate some of the Legionnaires’ origins. The brush with a comet gave her powers, and she ended up in the Academy, after being forcefully dragged off Bouncing Boy by his wife, Duplicate Girl anyway.

Comet Queen, to her dismay, was sent to the Legion of Substitute Heroes. She tried to make the best of it, and responded to the disaster seen in the first arc of the new Legion book when Titan was destroyed. Like several other heroes, she ran into Saturn Queen in the ruins, and SQ mind-wiped much of Comet Queen’s life. She can’t recall most of her Legion Training, her first kiss, and much of the rest of her life. But she remains upbeat, somehow, and is looking forward to graduating. Again. I’d hope it turns out better for her this time, but with the pending major reboot of the DCU into DC nU, I’m not sure how much it will matter.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

Levitz did a good job here. What could have been a tragic tale was kept from that by the force of Comet Queen’s relentlessly sunny personality. She just won’t give in to bad news, tragedy, or anything else. And she’s believable, not over done- she cried when she heard about the destruction of Titan, she’s not almost heartlessly cheery like some folks end up coming across.

I don’t like when seemingly needless bad things happen to characters, and I don’t know why they decided to do this to Comet Queen, who has always been a fun, if not the most effective, ditz. And maybe I’m just overly sensitive to things right now, but they essentially just re-booted the character here, which there’s been more than enough of, with apparently much more to come.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsa great character study of an obscure characterrandom reboot via un-needed tragedy Rating75% Tags: Adventure Comics Comet Queen Legion of Super Heroes Legion Training Academy Paul Levitz

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Adventure Comics #526 Review

Tagged with: Adventure Comics Paul Levitz

Adventure Comics #526

“First Hints” is the name of the concluding chapter of the Legion Training Academy’s turn in Adventure Comics. Having defeated the thugs last issue, Chemical Kid and company must now wipe out the gene-mods they were given in order to keep Kid’s powers unique and his father out of trouble (and possibly prison). They decide to raid the grave of deceased Legionnaire Chemical King, whose powers Kid’s are based on. Oddly, his “original mutation gene” appears to be a glowing green rock that looks like a palm-sized piece of kryptonite to me. Glorith uses magic to erase the gene-mods, despite Dragonwing remarking it would be easier to kill them. There’s also a rather amusing scene of thus-far shy and retiring Glorith lecturing the brash Dragonwing on magic and shortcuts not working.

Back on Earth, Night Girl, Duplicate Girl, and Bouncing Boy muse on the Legion’s future, at least in regards to their students, and on their pasts. The kids return, their rule breaking forgiven, and Glorith worries that the power boost she received last issue will cost Black Witch dearly. She dozes off on the floor, and one of the Duplicate Girls finds her and tucks her in. Next is “A Comet’s Tale” which with the Legion is probably Comet Queen, also of the Training Academy, but could be Comet the Super Horse. Who knows?

The back up story features the Legion’s resident speedster XS, not really seen since the Legion of Three Worlds series. Night Girl goes to XS to offer a spot at the Academy on the teaching staff, at least for a few classes, and complain a bit about her and Cosmic Boy breaking up (another long time Legion romance Levitz decided to end off screen). XS refuses because she’s apparently too busy putting together a mosaic, tile by tile, about her past and present. XS zooms off to find more stones for her work, and I do believe ends up where the Blue Flame Entity that is currently dogging the Legion so badly came bursting from the ground. She picks up a stone and gets visions of her past, as well as a glowing blue baby? When she snaps out of it, she thinks that reminded her of the Speed Force, the Time Barrier, and the “ugliest soul I could ever imagine.” Being a responsible and trained hero, she immediately warns her team about this, right? No, of course not, she goes back to her arts and crafts project “..and let the Legion worry about whatever came out of that crack that felt like it led straight down to hell.”

For the main story, I haven’t liked this arc at all. It feels too much like any other “kids with special powers sneaking around to do what’s right despite what the grown ups think” ala Harry Potter, New Mutants, etc. It just never grabbed me, and I don’t like the characters (more below).

As for the back up… what happened there? XS, a hero by family tradition, quit the Legion to go play with tile, and then dismissed a powerful warning without even sharing it with her team? This was just beyond ridiculous. I like XS, she’s been a good character in the past, and this wasn’t her.

Getting back to the Academy Kids, my take on them, for what it’s worth.

Chemical Kid- the instigator/leader of this bunch. He showed last issue he has some heroic potential, but he’s also insufferably smug. At present, I want to see him get knocked down a few pegs. Not badly hurt or fail, causing harm to others, but maybe hit hard enough to knock those stupid green shades off. He got his powers as part of his dad’s science project? Odd origin…

Dragonwing- I think about everything I need to say I mentioned above. She advocated killing defeated foes. And she’s studying at the Academy for the Legion of Super HEROES? I think she’s studying for the wrong team. She’s annoying, impatient, and seems to respect no one.

Gravity Kid- A.K.A. “Goes Along With It Boy,” he seems to raise token objections to things he knows are bad ideas, then gives in. He really needs more of a spine if he’s going to make it as a hero. Polar Boy has more self-confidence than this guy.

Glorith- fills the “shy and foreign” slot in the group. So far, she lets herself get talked into going along with the others and spends a lot of time being homesick or commenting how different everything is from home. I will give her points for standing up to Dragonwing about her beliefs and knowledge of magic. Of course, in most versions of Legion history, Glorith is a vastly powerful and deadly foe of the group. I wonder what will spin out here?

Overall, I didn’t really care for the Academy story, and found the back up hugely out of character. I’d much rather have seen more of Power Boy and the other, older students, who are all missing from this issue.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsnice to see more of Night Girl and the teachersDragonwing’s homicidal urges, the genes being glowing green rocks? Rating60% You might also like...

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This post was added on 5 May 2011, 12:19 by Wayland who has contributed 296 posts to this blog.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Adventure Comics #525 Review

Tagged with: Black Witch Legion of Super Heroes Legion Training Academy Paul Levitz

Adventure Comics #525The Legion Training Academy students continue to have a rough time of things in Adventure Comics 525, “First Tests.” Most of the kids are at Chemical Kid’s home on Phlon. Apparently his father, the scientist who designed the process to give him powers, has a gambling problem, and bought his way out by giving the powers to a thug. The story of the kids fighting the thugs, and eventually winning of course, is intercut with scenes from Academy seniors Power Boy and Lamprey taking down some smugglers while observed by Academy teacher Night Girl, Legion founder Cosmic Boy, and a lieutenant in the Science Police.

The kids are basically saved when Glorith (yet another version of a long time, much re-booted Legion character) gets a sudden power-up which is explained in the back up. Chemical Kid actually shows some character besides smug and irritating, refusing to kill the bad guys who threatened and beat his father. The Lamprey/Power Boy scenes were well done. They’ve been saying Power Boy’s powers were “density control” for years, and we’ve only ever seen him use strength. This time, he goes desolid to let attacks pass through him as well as walk through objects. There are also some marginally snarky comments between Night Girl and Cosmic Boy, yet another long term Legion romance Levitz broke up off-screen. In the end, Cos isn’t going to take them, but the SP’s will, it sounds like.

The back up is “The Darkness Within,” set back on Sorcerer’s World. Glorith’s friend, Harlak, who we saw when she was sent off to the Academy, who misses her. Most of the rest of it is about Mysa, the Black Witch. She summons powers from Orando, Earth, and Ventura to aid her in containing Mordru, who seems to be breaking loose from his tomb. Mordru was partially awakened by whatever the mysterious blue flame is that figured so prominently in the Legion of Super Villains Special. When the part of the summoning she expected from Glorith doesn’t happen, she uses a scry spell, sees Glorith in trouble, and sends the power she has collected to her. She has a brief fight with Mordru and apparently wins. The last scene of her going back to her lover, Blok, makes her look rather odd, and I suspect she’s either possessed by Mordru or by the Blue Flame.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

Power Boy and Lamprey have been second string back up characters, perpetual Academy students, for a long time. It was good to see them getting towards graduating and getting somewhere. Chemical Kid refusing to kill was nice to see, a hint of the possibility of an actual hero under all the smug. The hints about whatever big thing is coming, as the blue flame was referenced so many times in Mysa’s story, show some promise.

I don’t like that Levitz seems to keep going after the Legion romances. He broke up Shady and Mon-El, off screen, and has done the same with Night Girl and Cosmic Boy. The story with the younger kids I just don’t really care for, it’s not doing much for me. I’m hoping they do better next month with the Legion’s speedster, XS.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsCons”creditthe anti-romance trend, the kids being uninspiring characters Rating65% You might also like...

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This post was added on 13 Apr 2011, 20:48 by Wayland who has contributed 285 posts to this blog.

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Adventure Comics #521 Review

Tagged with: Adventure Comics Green Lantern Legion of Super Heroes Paul Levitz

Adventure Comics is not a title I often review, but 521 this week carries over from Legion of Super Heroes, which is one the ones I cover. In this issue, we finally see who is the Legionnaire Green Lantern, and most of the guesses on the boards and among comic fans I know were wrong. The Dyogene, some sort of creature acting as herald for the formation of a new Green Lantern Corps, is hovering just outside Legion HQ, being confronted by Earth-Man and Shadow Lass, my new least favorite couple in the LSH. As they race after it when it enters the building, we cut to:

Africa, where a recent major earthquake has caused a lot of damage and Sun Boy, Invisible Kid II, Tellus, and Element Lad try to save the victims and repair some of the damage. Element Lad pulls of some very impressive transformations in terms of sheer scale, which leave him sweating but still helping out- surrounding a burning building with xenon to snuff the flames, switching it back to oxygen before anyone inside can die, and reinforcing an old stone building with interon are among his tricks here.

While Cosmic Boy deals with Dyogene directing that all Legionnaires present be assembled in one room, Dawnstar and Wildfire investigate the source of the quake, and track it into space after finding victims who apparently died of fright. Dyogene scans the room of heroes, and selects Mon-El, who becomes the second dual Green Lantern/Daxamite. Talk about a lot of power in one place. Dyogene has been warning of some danger coming, and says this will help defeat it.

In space, Dawny and Wildfire get blasted by whatever they are following, and it is powerful enough to knock them both out of the chase from over a light-minute away (186,000 x 60 miles). His suit automatically summons help for them. Back on Earth, Mon-el parts ways with Shady, who we finally learn broke up with him because he “never came back to being a couple after that last stay in the Phantom Zone,” whatever that means. Mon and Dyogene fly off to confront whatever danger it is talking about, likely whatever blasted Dawny and Wildfire.

The other story is the midst of an Atom tale, about him fighting a secret organization that his uncle was once part of. Ray and his uncle talk about their family and their past as Ray improvises repairs to his belt to get them out of the shrunken world they’re in at the moment. They make it back to full size and go back to fighting the evil scientists of “the Colony” who want Ray’s dwarf star matter to duplicate his size belt for themselves. They don’t manage to escape, partially because Uncle Dave doesn’t want to leave behind his work. When they are caught, Ray is told to give up the dwarf star or they will kill his comatose father. This will be continued in a special in March.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

For the Legion story, it was nice to see some of the members who have been largely absent from the new book, like Tellus and Element Lad. I’ve also been a long time fan of Wildfire and Dawnstar, so it’s nice to see them still together. And we finally have a resolution as to who is going to be the LSH GL, so it’s nice to see that dealt with.

For the Atom, I like the stories that showcase Ray’s smarts, it’s what sets him apart from many other heroes. His uncle commenting on Ray being as brilliant as he is but still caring about people is nice as well.

What I didn’t like was Mon getting the ring, it just seems like too much power, plus duplicating the earlier Sodom Yat story. I also still really don’t like the Mon-El/Shady break up, or the Shady/Earth-Man pairing.

In the Atom story, I’m mostly confused by what seem to be several retcons that seem to be creeping into Ray’s story. For the longest time, he was the only one who could use his belt without causing an explosion after a few minutes. It was even referenced in a JLA story a few years ago. Since then, more and more people are using his gear without issue, including the Atom that was with the Suicide Squad, Jean Loring, and the most recent Atom Ryan Choi. Further, in this story, Ray complains that his uncle gave away his secret ID to the Colony. Ray himself wrote an autobiography revealing his secret ID years ago during his “Sword of the Atom” phase. I wish they’d tell us when they are retconning things, it really is unclear as to whether this is a retcon or a writer error.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsmore Legionnaires shown, Ray’s intellect and compassionMon-Lantern, Shady/Earth-Man, the Ray-cons Rating70% You might also like...

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This post was added on 2 Dec 2010, 23:13 by Wayland who has contributed 193 posts to this blog.

InformationPosted in DC Comics, DC Comics BlogThis post has no comments yet. Write your own comment.86 views on this postSubscription

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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Adventure Comics #527 Review

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Adventure Comics #526 Review

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Adventure Comics #525 Review

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Adventure Comics #521 Review