I have not enjoyed Adventure Comics as much as its sister title, Legion of Super Heroes. The flashback stories to the early days of the Legion simply have not been that compelling. Luckily, with Adventure Comics #522, Levitz will now be syncing the story on Adventure Comics with his excellent story over on Legion of Super Heroes. Therefore, I expect Adventure Comics #522 to be a good read. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artist: Gerlado Borges
Inks: Marlo Alquiza
Colors: Hi-Fi
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: A villain named Sun Killer attacks a Science Police cruiser carrying Saturn Queen to the prison planet called Takron-Galtos. The equipment keeping Saturn Queen’s telepathic powers subdued has an Inertron shield. Sun Killer cannot blast through the Inertron shield. The SP say that the equipment to release the Inertron shield is on Takron-Galtos.
Sun Killer goes into a rage and starts blasting the SP officers. Green Lantern Mon-El along with Dyogene arrive on the scene. Sun Killer uses his powers to blast Mon-El with red solar energy which strips him of his Daxamite powers. Dyogene tells Mon-El to start learning how to wield the immense power of his power ring.
Dyogene helps Mon-El power up. Mon-El then uses his Green Lantern abilities to defeat Sun Killer.
During the battle, we see a blue cosmic baby called the “Newborn” fly by the battle. Dyogene states that what the Guardians have said is true. That there is a war among the Immortals again.
With the battle with Sun Killer over, Dyogene tells Mon-El to come with him. That the world of humans has caused more than its shares of troubles that they must undo. The two then fly off from the SP cruiser.
The Legionnaires then arrive at the SP cruiser and stay to escort Saturn Queen’s delivery to Takron-Galtos.
Comments:
The Good: Adventure Comics #522 was another solid issue. I am much happier with this title now that we are no longer getting flashback stories of the early days of the Legion. It is much more entertaining now that Levitz has synced up the story on Adventure Comics with the story over on Legion of Super Heroes.
This issue was a well plotted and paced issue. That is no surprise given that Levitz excels in those areas. The story moves at a pleasant pace. The story is not too rushed, but it certainly moves with a purpose. Levitz treats the reader to a properly balanced read with plenty of action scenes as well as some dialogue heavy scenes.
The plotting continues to be well done. The reader can see how Levitz is building toward something huge with all of the various seemingly disparate plotlines. When writing the Legion it is imperative that the story feel cosmic in scope and immense in feel. Levitz has certainly achieved that with the various plotlines he has put into motion. The reader gets a clear sense that something huge is looming around the corner.
I was glad that Levitz spent some time in this issue focusing in on the plotline involving Dyogene and his mysterious mission from The Guardians. This plotline had stalled out a bit prior to this issue. Levitz was wise to finally hit the gas on this plotline.
The introduction of the Newborn certainly cranked up my interest in this Green Lantern plotline. The Newborn is an odd character that was a plot wrinkle that took me by surprise. I am curious to learn more about the Newborn in the upcoming issues.
I am also interested to see what Levitz has in mind with the rebirth of the Green Lantern Corps. Hopefully, whatever Levitz is planning to do it will remain independent from what is going on over on the Green Lantern titles and the upcoming big event. I also hope that Levitz does not simply re-hash what we have already seen over on Green Lantern. I would be highly surprised if Levitz went that route. I think that Levitz probably has something original and entertaining in store for us.
Adventure Comics #522 also kicks off this new story arc involving the Legion of Super Villains return. I love the LSV and am certainly looking forward to whatever nasty plans that Saturn Queen has in mind for our heroes.
Sun Killer was a great villain. He is also a new character. I appreciate Levitz taking the time and effort to create a new and interesting villain rather than simply recycling an older villain from the Legion’s long history.
Levitz was also able to actually perform some character work on Sun Killer in the action heavy scenes that he appeared in. It is impressive how Levitz could flesh out a new character like Sun Killer so much in just one issue. Sun Killer is an interesting character and I hope that Levitz utilizes him some more in the upcoming LSV story arc.
In an era where it feels like so many writers are merely recycling older characters and older plotlines, it is nice to see Levitz introducing new characters like Sun Killer. It would be so easy for Levitz to simply look backward and revel in the Legion’s mythology and do nothing but recycle older plotlines and older villains. Fortunately, Levitz is looking firmly ahead to the future and is determined to write brand new chapters in the Legion’s history just like he did in his first tour of duty on this title.
Gerlado Borges and Marlo Alquiza team up to deliver a nice and clean looking issue. Their artwork is a classic super hero style of art that fits well with the tone of Adventure Comics. I loved the character design for Sun Killer. He was fantastic looking. His great look alone was enough to get me interested in his character.
The Bad: Adventure Comics #522 was a bit light in terms of content than I am normally used to getting from a Levitz penned issue. I was also surprised how few Legionnaires that we saw in this issue. Levitz is normally a master at juggling numerous characters and making sure that a large number of Legionnaires get at least some panel time in each issue.
However, in Adventure Comics #522, the only Legionnaires that we see in this issue are Mon-El and Tellus. With such a large roster of characters and two titles to tell their story, it is imperative that more than two Legionnaires are seen in a single issue.
Levitz also spent a bit too much time on Sun Killer’s attack on the SP vessel. The reader quickly understood Sun Killer’s motivation to free Saturn Queen. I felt that Levitz belabored the point unnecessarily. Trimming up the scene with Sun Killer attacking the SP cruiser would have made this issue a bit more streamlined and would have allowed for more plot progression outside of the Green Lantern plotline.
Lastly, the scene with Professor Li felt largely unnecessary. It was a boring scene that burned up two pages and did nothing at all to advance any storylines or make the issue more interesting. It felt more like Levitz simply showing the reader Professor Li just to show us that he had not forgotten about her or her plotline.
Overall: Adventure Comics #522 was another solid read. This was the best issue by Levitz since he took over Adventure Comics. The story on this title has lagged behind the excellent work that Levitz has been delivering on Legion of Super Heroes. Now that the two titles are synced together in terms of the story I believe that Adventure Comics will rapidly become an entertaining read each and every month. I would recommend giving Adventure Comics a chance. Levitz’s Legion of Super Heroes is still the best super hero team title on the market.