26 Aug, 2008
Comic Review: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 of 5
By: PCSbot
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1 (of 5)
Geoff Johns, story
George Perez, pencils
Scott Koblish, inks
Hi-Fi, colors
DC Comics
review by David Uzumeri of Funnybook Babylon
The first thing that struck me upon finishing this comic was how long it took me to read it.
I don’t mean that it was overly confusing or hard to follow; on the contrary, the basic story is quite the opposite, and the gist of the book and nuances of the characters could be picked up by a new reader. What I mean is the density. Geoff Johns and George Perez manage to pack story into a single issue in a way we don’t usually see these days. Sure, the extra eight-ten pages are a huge help, but it’s not just that - it’s the economy.
Every page, panel and word of this comic counts. On the rare occasions these two go for a double-page spread, it’s not to provide impact to what could be a single panel, it’s because there’s so much damn stuff to show that a single panel doesn’t cut it - for instance, the credit spread is a widescreen look at the Superman museum, and every inch of it is swathed with detail that, while all researched and accurate, in-story acts as a barrage of homage that overwhelmes both the reader and Superboy-Prime.
Regarding the art, this book is everything Brave and the Bold was criticized for not being - expansive, detailed, clear and futuristic. I expect a lot of it is Hi-Fi replacing Perez’s usual colorist Tom Smith; they bring a vibrancy and modernism to Perez’s art that Smith never did. Perez himself is at the top of his game; despite a humongous cast of characters that are, at this point, largely unknown to most readers, Johns and Perez present all of them as startlingly unique, from their dialogue to their mannerisms to their reactions. I’ve never been a Legion fan beyond following the Waid “threeboot,” but this comic makes me want to remedy that.
While many people think Johns can be guilty of using a character’s name and concept and then extending that to their every action - see Mirror Master’s cocaine addiction especially, as well as the rest of the Rogues and Black Hand’s sudden obsession with humping dead people - sometimes with large casts such as this it’s a blessing with establishing characterization. If he gets the ongoing later, let him work on them; a lot of the characters of the JSA are pretty interesting behind the plotcentric Kingdom Come wankfest. For this kind of five-issue miniseries - especially with such a huge number of characters unfamiliar to many audiences - it works.
The story itself is almost an afterthought; not for Johns, but for the reader - the character moments and character interactions steal the show, and the stuff about the Legion maybe being disbanded and etc etc etc is, while not boring, just a backdrop to see these characters Johns has such a clear vision of interact. It’s not lifechanging, it’s not philosophical, but it’s well-done and it’s fun.
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