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Mild Mannered Reviews - Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century

Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #17

Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #17

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 13, 2008

Cover date: October 2008

"Thanagarians at the Gate"

Writer: J. Torres
Penciller: Sanford Greene
Inker: Nathan Massengill & Jeff Albrecht
Cover: Alex Serra

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel

Click to enlarge


Dream Girl tries in vain to give Brainiac 5 a warning.

'If you don't lose the rings, you'll lose Legionnaires'

Brainiac refuses to believe in precognition and approaches Superman and Lightning Lad. An emergency on a Legion Transport needs their attention, only their rings aren't able to contact the distressed...

When they arrive they find the transport deserted. No Shrinking Violet, no Bouncing Boy, no Timber Wolf. The puzzle of their disappearance is interrupted by an army of Thanagarian Space Pirates.

These deadly pirates, obviously descendants of Shayera & John Stewart's own son Warhawk, make short work of the trio of Legionnaires and take them to the leader - legendary Warhawk - Talon Redbeard!

Talon reveals his desire for the native Thanagarian metal NTH and had hunted for it through the United Planets. Nth metal is able to disrupt energy and defy gravity. He demands they turn over their Valorium flight rings as they are blended with Nth, in return they will be rewarded with their friends.

The words of Dream Girl ring sourly in Brainy's ears and he orders his team mates to turn over their rings which they begrudgingly do so. Later, the captives discuss what they'd want the rings for and deduce it's to create weapons from their rare blended rings.

Brainiac calculates a plan, force against force and it's quickly put into action - each Legionnaire attacks the pirate army and disables them. Brainiac is the last to fight with only a ring bearing Talon left to fight, but just as Lightning Lad and Superman arrive to help Brainy, something decidedly scary happens.

He reveals the reason why he doubted Dream Girl's warning - he can control the Flight Rings! Using a remote device he forces Talon to submit to capture against his will. Despite the successful rescue and capture mission, the team are uneasy that they wear rings that would enable Brainiac to control them whenever he decided.

Somehow Brainiac 5 seems like not such a good guy, can they trust him?

3Story - 3: Great to see Warhawks in action, even if they are the bad guys, the revelation that Brainiac might not be the hero the team believes reminds me of his genetic stock (especially as I just read Action Comics #868!) but aside from this the story is pretty thin so I knock it down a point as motivation for the Warhawks is not really elaborated on, nor is Dream Girl's premonition, a shame as the twist makes this technically worthy of a 5.

4Art - 4: Beautiful artwork this month, with one exception... the noses - they really get up my... er, nose. Sanford Greene is far more suited to the Legion, I will be honest that his JLU work didn't really win me over but it's coming along in leaps and bounds, except for the snouts...

4Cover Art - 4: Alex does it again with a cover that shows the real power behind the Legion - its membership. Niggly I know but where the heck is Clark??

Mild Mannered Reviews

2008

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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