DC Comics reviews 3/25/20 – Detective Comics #1021, Suicide Squad #4

Legion of Super Heroes #5

Of the various books Brian Michael Bendis writes Legion of Super Heroes is the most promising because he’s largely working with a blank slate.

This allows Bendis to write the characters in his own vision without dismissing established continuity. With issue 5, Bendis finally peels back the origin of this version of the Legion.

It’s not too far off from the standard take, but Bendis makes Jon Kent a key reason for their formation as part of his preparation to become the 5G Superman. It feels a little weird that Bendis went through so much to age Jon up to a teenager only to immediately start teasing his apparently quick jump to adulthood.

Bendis seems to like writing large casts, but five issues in, really hasn’t spent any time developing this cast. It doesn’t help that too many of the characters sound alike and speak in the same talking in circles speech patterns.

Still, there’s some reason to stay engaged with Legion as Bendis seems to have a clearer sense of where he’s taking the title.

Ryan Sook, Scott Godlewski and Wade von Grawbadger collaborate on the art. There’s not a lot of flashy pages, but it gets the job done in telling the story smoothly. It’s nice to see the artists getting to work in more Legion members this issue.

Legion of Super Heroes has some promise, but it needs stronger character development to really stand out as a must-read team book.

Rating: 7 out of 10