The holiday rolls on, so here's another short review.The DC Universe Legacies series has been recounting the history of DC, as seen through the eyes of a retired police officer.
As much as I've enjoyed the series, I have to admit that the closer the timeline moves to the present, the less interesting I find it.
This issue focuses on the return of Superman after his death (and I must admit I still don't quite understand how he returned from the dead, even after reading this issue and the originals), Batman's return from a horrible injury and Green Lantern's turn to evil.
The comic is expertly done, with Len Wein writing and Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway providing excellent art - but I didn't care for these stories when they first appeared, and I'm still not crazy about them.
It was a time in comics when tearing down the hero was the thing to do. I especially hated what they did to Hal Jordan - one of my all-time favorite heroes - and I actually stopped reading Green Lantern until he returned to the role.
The back-up feature here is very interesting. It's a retelling of the first appearance of the New Gods, written by Wein and drawn by Frank Quitely, who does outstanding work as always.
This issue doesn't work as well for me, but your mileage may vary. Still, it's well worth picking up - history can't always be to our liking, I suppose.
Grade: B
6 comments:
I had dropped Batman and Green Lantern by the time of these events
in their "lives" and I was soon to
drop Superman; traumatic events in
MY collecting life...
Reading this issue of DCU Legacies
brought me up to speed and it is
indeed well done, but the DC Universe I grew up with was destroyed by a crisis of bad editorial choices, painful writing,
and heroes that were not heroes anymore.
This issue reflects that, and makes
me re-live the sadness.
Sam Kujava
Chuck,
The Death of Superman was given to me b my father and is the sole reason I began collecting comics. I have always enjoyed that story arc. I got into comics during this time and enjoyed all of the stories (I think it's a generational thing of not liking favorite characters altered). With that said, I am glad to see that Geoff Johns has made the GL franchise so successful, but I am a fan of Kyle Rayner. I have always felt GL is a character that should change for every generation. I also view Hal as a villain and always will (although I know he was a good guy before he was possessed by Parallax).
Nate, I didn't really dislike the Death of Superman story - but for some reason I can never remember how he came back to life (except that it was a "one time only" thing). Now the GL story - that I hated, because Hal Jordan was such a favorite of mine, and they did turn him into a murderer (though he's been redeemed since). I don't have any hard feelings toward Kyle Rayner - I was angry at the DC editors who made the decision to trash one of my favorite characters. I couldn't make them change their story, so I did the only thing I could: I stopped buying the comic.
Sam, the real beauty of this series is that you're getting years worth of stories compacted into one comic. What a deal!
I'm agreeing with some of the sentiments here. If a hero is not the original character, I won't read it. Happened with Batman, Superman, GL, GA, Flash, Atom, Aquaman, Blue Beetle, etc. Maybe it's because I think it's gimmicky, or maybe I have some strange allegiance to the originals. I also think it's weak that a publisher can't come up with a new original character without using the name of an existing one.
Dwayne, I agree, although some would point out that "our" versions of those characters are very different from the originals. But it's true with every reader that we have our own version of which character is "the right one." Many prefer Wally West as the Flash, because that's who they've grown up reading. For me, it's Barry Allen. Different strokes and all that.
But I agree, if they want a "new" character, create one - don't destroy the one that predates it and swipe the name.
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