Comic Book Review: Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #28

The Revolution found the last issue of Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes to be a case of too little too late. Waid suddenly kicks up the pacing to a frenetic speed after moving at a mind numbingly slow pace during his entire run on this title. Waid seem to sense that he has wasted too much time and now has to cram as much as possible into his final issues on this title in order to end with a sufficient bang.

I am highly suspicious of Waid being able to deliver an enjoyable end to his run on this title. Let’s go ahead and do this review for Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes # 28.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciler: Barry Kitson
Inkers: Mick Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Dream Boy being visited by Dream Girl in one of his dreams. Dream Girl tells Dream Boy that she has something important to tell him that could change the universe.

We then cut to the burning ruins of New Metropolis. Mon-El’s lead antidote is beginning to wear off and he is weakening. Saturn Girl tells Brainiac 5 that he needs to make more of the lead antidote. Brainy says that is impossible now that the Dominators have nullified every type of technology on Earth.

Saturn Girl then says that she can’t mind link with any of the other Legionnaires or Wanderers. That everyone spread out to far and fast during the fight.

We cut to Shadow Lass punching Polar Boy in the face. Shadow Lass says Polar Boy is a liar. That this mess is all Mekt’s fault, not Cosmic Boy’s fault. Princess Projectra tells both of them to knock it off. That Timber Wolf is badly hurt and needs quiet in order to concentrate on speeding up his healing process. Shadow Lass comments that it must be the end of the world if she is sticking up for Cosmic Boy.

Princess Projectra says that what drives the Wanderers is fear what drives the Legion is hope. Projectra says that wherever Cosmic Boy is that he will not let them down.

Suddenly, Shadow Lass, Projectra, Polar Boy and the other Wanderer are attacked by one of the Dominator controlled robots. Out of nowhere a green and red blue blasts a huge hole through the robot and takes it out. That blue was Ultra Boy who is now injured. Ultra Boy comments that not having a flight ring meant he had to try and switch from super speed to invulnerability right before impact. That he didn’t switch fast enough and needs to work on his timing.

We cut to the ruins of the Legion Headquarters. Phantom Girl is there with two members of the Wanderers. The Wanderers want to know why a more powerful Legionnaire wasn’t sent on this mission. Phantom Girl responds that there is too much Kryptonite and lead around this area so that rules out Supergirl and Mon-El. And that Ultra Boy’s flash vision might have accidentally melted “it.” The Wanderers still don’t know what “it” is. Phantom Girl then excitedly exclaims that she found “it.”

We shift to a Dominator detention center in Paris. A couple of Wanderers are in a detention cell along with Triplicate Girl. One of the Wanderers comments that the Dominators dedicate extensive training to torture and that it is only a matter of time before Cosmic Boy cracks.

We then see The Dominators brutally torturing Cosmic Boy. They keep asking where is the location of the rendezvous point for all the Legionnaires and Wanderers. Cosmic Boy, being the stud he is, refuses to give the Dominators any information maintaining that there is no rendezvous point.

The Dominators then grab Triplicate Girl and bring her over next to Cosmic Boy. One of the Dominators puts on some gauntlets specially designed for a Carggite like Triplicate Girl. The Dominator then begins pulling apart the other two bodies from Triplicate Girl’s main body. Triplicate Girl cries in agony.

The process also makes her bones weaker and the Dominator begins snapping her arms. The pain from three sets of nerve endings is all being sent to one mind. The pain is unbearable. Triplicate Girl then cries out that the rendezvous point is under the Metrosouth Powersphere.

Cosmic Boy is pissed and yells at Triplicate Girl for giving the Dominators the location. That Cosmic Boy endured all that torture like a total champ for nothing. Triplicate Girl begs for Cosmic Boy’s forgiveness. The two Wanderers yell at Triplicate Girl that she has killed them all by giving up the secret rendezvous point.

The Dominators relay the exact coordinates to the Homeworld in order to teleport a massive army to that location to slaughter all of the Legionnaires and Wanderers.

We cut to all the Legionnaires and Wanderers gathered at the Powersphere. A teleportation portal opens up next to them and the Dominator shock troopers come pouring out. The Legionnaires cry out that it is a trap.

Back at the Detention Center we see Triplicate Girl then smiles and says it is certainly a trap all right. That Triplicate Girl fed the Dominators the exact information that Cosmic Boy wanted her to all along. That the Dominators took the bait and opened up a portal to their home planet.

We see Mon-El, Ultra Boy and Supergirl streaking through the portal at super speed. Supergirl then comes over the main communications screen in the Detention Center and tells Cosmic Boy that she, Mon-El and Ultra Boy are in the Dominator’s Homeworld and that they pulled the shock troops back through the portal with them and have nullified the shock troops. That they have secured the teleportation machine on their end and are sending a second portal to the Detention Center.

Suddenly, a portal opens up in the room where the Legionnaires and Wanderers are located. One of the Wanderers says they should unshackle Cosmic Boy from the torture table and get out of here. We then see Cosmic Boy ripping free of the shackles himself and wrapping up all the Dominators in metal sheets. Cosmic Boy says don’t worry about him.

Triplicate Girl then comments that something feels off. That she can’t triplicate. Cosmic Boy responds that it is probably just part of her healing process from the torture. Triplicate Girl says that Cosmic Boy is in no shape to go fight. Cosmic Boy responds that the shape he is in is nothing compared to what they are doing to do to the Dominators in return. Cosmic Boy says that Triplicate Girl always said he needed to be uncorked and that she can now consider that done.

Triplicate Girl then wishes Cosmic Boy good luck and tells him he had a good plan. Cosmic Boy retorts that he deserves no praise. That they lost Earth and that this was the only option left. Cosmic Boy then steps through the teleportation portal.

We cut to all the Legionnaires and Wanderers exiting the portal leading to the Dominators’ Homeworld. All the Legionnaires and Wanderers assemble before Cosmic Boy. Cosmic Boy tells them that the strategy is simple. That they take the fight to the enemy and that they don’t let up until the Dominators’ Homeworld is theirs.

Comments
The Good: Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #28 was a solid read. Waid turns out a nicely paced issue that moves along briskly. And that has been a rarity on this title.

Waid has done a nice job plotting this story arc and has several surprises in store for the reader. Waid teases the reader at the beginning of this issue with Dream Girl making contact with Dream Boy. Evidently, Dream Girl has something to important to tell Dream Boy that could change the universe. This scene certainly piqued my curiosity. I’m glad to see Waid continuing to explore Dream Girl’s new state of being in this story arc.

Waid then teases the reader with this mysterious item that Phantom Girl was searching the ruins of the Legion Headquarters for. Just what in the world is this “it” that she found? I have no idea. But, I’m sure that it is going to be something interesting.

These intriguing sub-plots that Waid is weaving into this story arc shows that he has properly plotted this story arc and is going to pull everything together in a satisfactory fashion. That is no real surprise. Waid is a talented writer who is capable of plotting interesting and complex storylines and weaving them all together in a pleasing fashion. What is more of a surprise is that it took Waid up to this final story arc to finally display this talent on this title.

Even though Waid delivers some action in Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #28, this issue was really just set up for the final two issues of Waid’s run on this title. And what a wild final two issues we are in store for. I think that Waid has done a great job creating plenty of mystery and tension in this story arc. The final two issues should be gripping reads. Plus, hopefully, we will finally learn the connection between the Dominators and 52 in the next two issues.

I loved the twist that Waid sprung on the reader by having it revealed that it was all part of Cosmic Boy’s master plan to have Triplicate Girl give the rendezvous point to the Dominators. Using the three big guns in Mon-El, Ultra Boy and Supergirl to blitz through the portal and take control of the teleportation station on the Dominators’ Homeworld was pretty cool and ingenious.

Of course, the biggest reason that I enjoyed this issue so much is that Waid did an excellent job making Cosmic Boy look like a total stud. Cosmic Boy purposely endures unbelievable pain while being tortured by the Dominators just to spring his big plan. At any point, Cosmic Boy could have freed himself and taken down the Dominators as evidenced by what he did after the plan was sprung.

Cosmic Boy willingly sacrificing himself to such torture in order to pull off his plan to take the fight to the Dominators shows that Cosmic Boy has balls of steel. Cosmic Boy would do anything for the Legion.

To me, this issue perfectly demonstrates how Cosmic Boy is the central character in the Legion of Super Heroes. That Cosmic Boy is the backbone of the Legion. That Cosmic Boy embraces the ideals that the Legion stands for more than anyone. Cosmic Boy is the heart and soul of the Legion. It may sound cheesy and it is a pun, but Cosmic Boy is the rock that serves as the foundation that the Legion is built upon.

And while some of the other Legionnaires may not like Cosmic Boy, they all respect him. And that is evidenced by Shadow Lass punching out Polar Boy for blaming Cosmic Boy for this entire mess. Projectra’s blind and undying faith that Cosmic Boy no matter where he is will simply not let the Legion down also shows the unflinching confidence he inspires in his fellow Legionnaires.

And the final scene with Cosmic Boy ripping himself free from the torture table and taking down the Dominators was awesome. Even though his body was bruised and beaten you could see in Cosmic Boy’s eyes that his fight and fire inside his soul still burned white hot. Cosmic Boy displays tons of grit and determination as he leads the Legionnaires and Wanderers into battle promising to pay back the Dominators for all the pain that they have caused the Legion.

That was a great ending and definitely got me excited for the next issue. We should be in store for one hell of a fight.

Barry Kitson provided better than average art. For some reason, I didn’t find Kitson’s art in this issue to be quite as good as it usually is. Maybe he was rushed or just had an off issue.

The Bad: I have no complaints about this issue. It was a solid read and certainly better than anything we have gotten over the past 27 issues of Waid’s run on this title. It is a real shame that it took this long for Waid to finally start cranking out interesting reads that moved faster than a snail’s pace.

I’m still completely mystified how Waid’s run on this title turned out to be such a massive disappointment. Waid is very talented and I usually enjoy his storied. Plus, Waid has an impressive knowledge of the history of the DC Universe. It is too bad that Waid could never seem to get on track on this title. I think that Waid could have really cranked out a run that would have been pretty special.

It is really quite alarming when I get far more excited over the Legion of Super Hero plotlines that Geoff Johns is giving us over on Justice Society of America than I ma about the plotlines on the Legion’s own title.

Overall: Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #28 was a solid read. Waid appears to be ready to deliver an exciting finish to his run on this title. Hopefully, Waid will exit on a high note and we will get a satisfying conclusion to this story arc. I still wouldn’t recommend picking up this title at this point. The perfect point for new readers to jump on this title will be when Tony Bedard takes over the writing duties with issue #31 and hopefully the title is changed back to “Legion of Super Heroes.”