Supergirl and The Legion of Super-Heroes #16: 1001 Years Later Review

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 in another of DC’s “One Year Later” issues, well, in this case, it is 1001 years later. The Revolution has been waiting for this issue. Make no mistake, that the Legion of Super-Heroes has been the Revolution’s favorite title ever since we were little revolutionaries back in grade school. Even though DC and continually raped and ruined this title over the past 15 years, the Legion is still dear to our hearts.

Generally, the Revolution likes to spread change through love and humor, but we don’t live in Che Guevara’s Bunker for nothing. Sometimes a little violence is necessary to bring change. The Revolution has some Orange Goblin cranking on the Bunker’s sound system and is ready to bring the pain.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Barry Kitson
Inker: Mick Gray

Rating: 2 Night Girls out of 5.

Synopsis: This issue starts with some conservative adult complaining about the Legionnaires outside of their building. He goes outside and berates the Legionnaires for being flashy outspoken young ‘ens. The conservative adult then rallies all of the neighbors in the apartment building and they come outside like an angry mob. They denounce the Legionnaires as being delinquents and rebels. The Legionnaires respond with a bunch of lame “old geezer” cracks.

We then cut to an unidentified celestial object (UCO) heading toward earth. All they know is that it is humanoid size and shape and is wearing the Superman symbol. groan

We then cut to Cosmic Boy and Colossal Boy building the new Legion HQ. Cos mentions that it is time for an election for a new Legion leader. Cos then gets the distress call about the UCO and….We cut to space where a team of Legionnaires is waiting to intercept the UCO. The team consists of 9 Legionnaires.

The object heading toward earth turns out not to be a humanoid but a giant weapon of some type. Star Boy and Light lass try to tear it up into smaller pieces. Element Lad tries to transmute as much of it as he can. Lighting Lad tries to blast off chunks of the object. It is up to Colossal Boy to catch the remaining large chunk of the weapon.

Unfortunately, it is too big for Colossal Boy and it blasts through him and heads on to earth. It damages Colossal Boys flight ring so now he can’t breathe in space and none of the Legionnaires can help him. Suddenly, Colossal Boy is whisked off to earth and saved. The same blur then in one punch takes out the rest of the giant object about to pound the city. It is Supergirl.

The issue ends with Supergirl telling Cosmic Boy that she is, in fact, Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl and that she is real. But, she tells Cosmic Boy that the Legion of Super-Heroes does not exist. That she is dreaming them. groan

Comments
The Good: Barry Kitson. That is about it. I love Barry Kitson’s artwork. He is a fantastic artist who always does a great job. If Kitson is drawing a comic, then I’ll probably collect it. Kitson’s art is perfect for the Legion’s futuristic Sci-Fi world. If it weren’t for Kitson’s art, this title would have gotten a 0 Night Girls out of 5.

The Bad: Where the hell does the Revolution start? First, the Revolution is usually a big fan of Waid’s writing. However, his stint on the Legion of Super-Heroes has been less than spectacular. The entire teenagers v. crusty adults storyline is just getting old and boring. The entire scene between the apartment building tenants the Legionnaires was just stupid.

My other complaint is Waid’s version of Ultra Boy. I know he was never a rocket scientist, but c’mon, Waid makes him dumber than a brain dead wrestler.

Now comes the biggest complaint. Supergirl. This issue proves exactly my biggest complaint with having the “little red S” on this title. She makes the rest of the Legion irrelevant. The team of Legionnaires sent to stop the giant missile was comprised of Colossal Boy, Ultra Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Chameleon, Star Boy, Element Lad, Light Lass, and Karate Kid. Not only is it 9 Legionnaires, but these are some pretty damn powerful characters. However, NONE of them can stop the giant missile. NONE of them can save Colossal Boy. However, Supergirl can swoop in and save Colossal Boy AND take out the giant missile with one punch. All without breaking a sweat.

What the hell? Why bother even having the Legion in the first place. Just trot out Supergirl and let her take care of everything. The Revolution’s biggest problem with the “little red S” back when it was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes is the same one now with Supergirl. The Legion just becomes a mere afterthought. It is all about Superboy/girl. Even power Legionnaires just come off as useless once you have a Superboy/girl on the team. And it only took the FIRST issue to prove the Revolution right.

And this entire dream storyline sounds lame. That Supergirl is dreaming them. Ugggh. The Revolution wishes WE were dreaming of this horrific issue and that the Legion of Super-Heroes did not have their title hijacked by Superbimbo.

The Revolution sees absolutely nothing positive coming from this new direction. DC has demoted the Legion back to its status of when it was a backup story for Superboy. This is a huge disappointment.

Once again, DC shows that it has no damn clue how to handle the Legion. The stories are not anywhere near as complex or as compelling as they were back in the ’80s or ’90s. This issue read like the old ’60s Adventure stories without the campy humor and kitsch value or Curt Swan’s classic artwork.