Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2

Brian Michael Bendis Writer

Nicola Scott, Jim Cheung, Jeff Dekal and Ryan Cook Artists

Tomeu Morey and Jordie Bellaire Colorists

Dave Sharpe Letterer

Ryan Sook Cover

Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair Variant Cover Artists

Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor

Brian Cunningham Editor

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover shows Superboy being welcomed into the Legion of Super-Heroes with his very own Legion Ring. It's beautiful. It's joyful. It's exciting. And also heart-breaking. I will forever mourn Jon Kent's lost childhood (he basically went from 10 to 17 overnight, while Damian Wayne has been able to stay 13 for a solid decade). But, this is not a Superboy blog, nor a Legion blog, so those complaints are neither here nor there. This is an Impulse blog, and since Bart Allen didn't appear on the variant cover, we're going to skip it.

And since this is an Impulse blog, we only care about the background images of one page of this comic. And those images appear as holograms in a museum in the future. We see the current group of Young Justice remembered in the Hall of Heroes a thousand years later, as well as the Teen Titans lineup of Bart, Conner, Cassie and Tim working under Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. The latter is most surprising, but it seems that continuity has been restored somehow.

Bendis defecting to DC from Marvel was probably the company's most high-profile creator acquisition since Jim Lee. As such, he was essentially given the keys to the kingdom. He got Superman, Young Justice, the Legion and more. And he likes to periodically weave his titles together, creating the burning need (in geeks like me) for some answers as to how the pieces fit exactly. Naturally, the longer we wait for a resolution, the more worried I become that we won't get one, or, equally bad, the answers provided will be rushed, contradictory and unsatisfying (see Scott Lobdell in the New 52). Time will tell. In the meantime, let's look at the new ads:

Two pages dedicated to the new Legion of Super-Heroes series launching out of this title, which Bendis calls the biggest thing he's ever done in comics.

Joe Hill presents Hill House comics. A new line of comics dedicated to bone-chilling horror featuring new and well-known creative voices.

A DC Nation interview with Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity artists Mico Suayan and Mike Mayhew.

Next time, we return to Young Justice #9.

Legion Lost #9

The Culling Part 3: Unbeatable

Tom DeFalco Writer
Pete Woods Art
Brad Anderson Colors
Travis Lanham Letters
Woods & Anderson Cover
Darren Shan Assistant Editor
Brian Cunningham Editor
Special thanks to Ron Frenz

Our cover shows Harvest looming over two members of the Teen Titans (Superboy and Wonder Girl), two members of the Legion (Dawnstar and Timber Wolf) and one of his former Ravagers (Ridge). Our heroes are strewn up on big sticks (or bones) almost as if they've been crucified, which is not something that happens in this issue. It's a perfectly serviceable cover, but it doesn't quite capture the magnitude of this big, three-title crossover.

Our story picks up right where we left off, with Harvest using his energy scythe to blast our heroes. He's sent his Ravagers away, and repeats his claim that he had anticipated this moment. As he continues his attack, our heroes begin arguing about the best way to strike back.

They begin testing the limits of Harvest's force-shield, and Dawnstar manages to follow the Ravagers' path out of the Crucible. So she leads all the random teens to safety with the help of Gates, Bunker, Beast Boy, Terra, Thunder and Lightning. At one point in the fight, Kid Flash boldly charges Harvest, but is unable to get near him. Harvest mocks Kid Flash by hinting that he knows where he came from. But, as is the rule whenever anybody discusses Kid Flash's past, there is no elaboration.

And speaking of a lack of elaboration, Harvest tells everyone that he's from the future and everything he's been doing here in the 21st century has been part of a grand plan to save quintillions of lives. Naturally, though, he refuses to go into any more detail, and opts to continue battling our heroes. And the issue ends with Harvest still gloating over our heroes, completely untouched by their best efforts — even Wildfire blasting him with the full extent of his energy.




Yawn! Is this story over yet? Lots and lots of senseless fighting, with broken promises of revealing secrets. No, we still don't know who Harvest is, or how he pulled off this overly elaborate and nonsensical scheme, or why he's completely invincible. The good news is we only have one more issue of this story. I don't expect to have many questions answered, but I don't think I really care that much.

Next time, Teen Titans #9.

Adventure Comics #526

Mosaic

Paul Levitz Writer
Jeffrey May Penciller
Philip May Inker
John J. Hill Letterer
Hi-Fi Colorist
Darren Shan Assistant Editor
Brian Cunningham Editor

Our cover by Phil Jimenez features a handful of characters I'm not familiar with. I do recognize Duplicate Girl on the bottom, but the three on top are new for me. But that doesn't matter, though, because they're all involved in the main story we're going to be skipping. All in all, I think this is a rather odd cover. It's very ... red. And not very exciting.

Our backup story features Jenni Ognats, Bart's cousin, slowly and painstakingly putting together a beautiful mosaic of thousands of tiny, colorful rocks. She's only about halfway done, so it's tough to tell what exactly the mosaic is depicting. What we can see now is a center of a couple of trees surrounded by geometric shapes and lots of lightning bolts. Although Jenni has super-speed, she is choosing to create this work of art in real time, sitting in a hut by the edge of Lake Tana, Ethiopia.

Night Girl pays Jenni a visit, commenting on how odd it is to see her moving so slowly. Jenni merely says she's pacing herself these days. Night Girl asks XS if she'd like to come to the Legion Academy, which initially insults Jenni, who is literally hopping mad, reminding Night Girl that she already was a Legionnaire. Night Girl clarifies, saying she wants Jenni to help train the new recruits. Jenni says that's a better offer, but it's still not appealing, as she abruptly rushes out the door.

As Jenni races across the lake, she kicks herself for being so hasty, and admits it might actually have been fun at the academy. But she tells herself the "family business" she's conducting is more important. Jenni runs to the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, considering it the birthplace of both sides of her family. She plans to make this gorge the center of her mosaic, and then build outward to the spots the Allen and Ognats ancestors came from. She finds a small turquoise rock, but when she picks it up, she's suddenly assaulted with confusing images of her past and future.

After the images subside, Jenni notes that energy felt like the Speed Force, the Time Barrier, and the ugliest soul she could ever imagine. But, instead of investigating further, Jenni tells herself she got what she came for, and heads back to finish her mosaic slowly, leaving the Legion to deal with whatever threats are out there.




Well, that was ... something? I'm really not sure what to make of this, and based on the handful of reviews I read that came out on the time, nobody else could figure this one out, either. The best guesses some people had back in 2011, was that Jenni's visions had something to do with Flashpoint. But beyond that, I don't understand Jenni's motivations behind building this mosaic. When we last saw Jenni, Bart was trying to convince her to come back to the 21st century with him. But she refused, saying she wanted to stay in the future and look for any relatives she might have here. Apparently that search has turned into a half-hearted archeology dig? I don't get it. We never got a clear answer as to what happened to Jenni's dad or Bart's mom, and this issue only muddies things more. Yeah, we got a bunch of caption boxes revealing Jenni's thoughts, but all her words were oblique clichés that failed to explain her actions or goals. I think this story may have been a victim of Levitz trying too hard to set up some grand mystery, but not giving the reader enough information to make it interesting, let alone actually having enough time to get around to solving said mystery. Like I keep saying, Flashpoint is breathing down our necks, which means that long-form stories like this are going to be harshly cut off halfway through.

Next time, we'll head back to Teen Titans #95.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5

Book Five

Geoff Johns – Writer
George Pérez – Pencils
Scott Koblish – Inker
Hi-Fi – Colorist
Nick Napolitano – Letters
Adam Schlagman – Assoc. Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor
Cover: George Pérez & Nei Ruffino
Sliver Cover: George Pérez & Ruffino

Our main cover features Dawnstar, which I find to be an unusual choice for the finale of this miniseries. Not to discount Dawnstar, but I don't consider her to be as essential to the Legion as Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5. Regardless, it is a very pretty cover.

Confession time: This whole series I thought this was called the "Silver Cover," which never made any sense. Today I finally realized it's the "Sliver Cover," which makes a whole lot more sense. I could go back and fix my mistake on the past reviews, but I'll leave them up as a monument to my stupidity. Anyway, this sliver cover puts the spotlight on Superboy, recently revived from the dead. I'm glad Kon's getting some love, but this image is a bit underwhelming. I'd like something brighter, something happier.

Our story begins at the end of time, where the Time Trapper is still attacking Superman, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. Meanwhile, in the 31st Century, Time Trapper's younger self, Superboy-Prime, is trying to kill Conner with a big chunk of ice. Conner makes fun of Prime for his weak attempt at a "death blow," which makes Prime start stuttering about how he was going to do something way cooler. Conner says he doesn't know how or why he's here, but he does remember dying in Wonder Girl's arms. So Conner now wants revenge against the one who forced Cassie to watch her boyfriend die.

Conner worries that Prime had hurt Cassie, but Prime cowardly confesses he didn't. He quickly catches himself, though, and tries to threaten that he will fly back in time to punch Cassie in the face, lamely adding that a punch to her ugly face would be an improvement. As Prime takes way too long to explain his stupid joke, Sodam Yat hits him from behind with the full force of the Green Lantern Corps. Bart and Jenni are right behind him, and Bart can't help but ask Conner how sweet this reunion is. Conner asks if Bart wants to say their old battle cry, and Bart admits he's been dying to. And as they hit Prime again, Bart shouts, "Titans together!"

Prime angrily starts to fly away, complaining that Conner isn't Superboy, but Super Annoying. Demanding to know who found the clone, Prime eventually spots Dawnstar and blames her for using her tracking powers to bring everyone here (he's not entirely wrong). Dawnstar's boyfriend, Wildfire, flies in front of Prime, absorbing the full blow of his attack, creating a large explosion. As Dawnstar and Wildfire's counterpart from another world repair his containment suit, Conner quickly begins punching Prime again. This time, Prime promises to actually go back in time and break Cassie, just like he broke Conner.

Conner says he wants to rip that smirk off Prime's face, but he realizes Prime isn't worth hating, and he even admits he feels sorry for Prime. But Conner does insist that Prime stop wearing the "S" and he uses his heat vision to blast a line across Prime's "S" scar. Prime cries that his logo has been ruined, but this has far more important repercussions in the future. At the end of time, Time Trapper's scar suddenly gains the Conner-inflicted mark. Saturn Girl manages to contact the Adult Brainiac 5, asking him what this means. Adult Brainy hypothesizes that Time Trapper may have seen one potential future where the Legion lost today, but he must have seen a dozen others where the Legion won, and he can't possibly differentiate between them all. In fact, Adult Brainy, theorizes, the Time Trapper has probably always merely been a sentient alternate timeline rebelling against theirs, as his own history and even his identity changes as the true timeline marches on. Adult Brainiac 5 then formulates a plan and asks Saturn Girl to weaken Time Trapper as much as they can.

So Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy combine their powers to send out one massive distress call to the end of time. If there were any Legionnaires who were absent in this story so far, they're here now, as dozens of heroes answer the call. Everybody who has ever been a Legionnaire, honorary or otherwise, is here now. Even Supergirl and the Super Pets. Meanwhile, the White Witch finally defeats Mordru by absorbing all his magic powers, but this causes her to become the Black Witch. Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel make an appearance, but now she can make an unlimited number of copies of herself, and is calling herself Duplicate Damsel.

Finally, the Time Trapper is knocked unconscious, so Adult Brainiac 5 has Gates open a portal to bring him back to the 31st Century. Just as the Time Trapper wakes up, he finds himself face-to-face with his younger self. Prime doesn't believe that Trapper is himself, saying he'll never get old and wrinkly and grow a beard. Trapper tells Prime to shut up and listen to him, since he's smarter, but Prime refuses to take orders from this "grandpa." As they argue, Adult Brainiac 5 advises everyone to keep their distance.

Trapper is shocked to see how stupid his younger self is, and Prime prepares to punch Trapper's dentures through the back of his skull. Trapper tries to warn Prime to stay away, but Prime doesn't listen. As he punches his older self, he creates a weird, blue, reality-alternating blast. Everyone can only stand by horrified (except for the Other Brainiac 5, who calls him an idiot), as the Time Trapper and Superboy-Prime fade away from existence. Prime calls out for help, but no one can do anything. Soon, all that's left is the Time Trapper's ragged purple cloak.

Now that the battle is finally over, Superman gets a chance to embrace Conner, who jokes about having a stiff neck after being in that chrysalis for a thousand years. Clark says Ma Kent is going to be thrilled, and Conner looks at Bart, saying a lot of people will be. Bart, meanwhile, is trying to convince Jenni to come back to the past with him, saying he feels something different, which he thinks means Max Mercury is back. (Sadly, because of publication delays, we know Bart was feeling the return of his grandfather, Barry Allen, and not Max.)

Some Legionnaires are understandably worried that they broke their most important code and killed Superboy-Prime. But the Brainiacs explain that when Time Trapper interfaced with himself, he altered the history of him becoming the Time Trapper in the first place and ceased to exist. Adult Brainy describes this event as "hitting a giant cosmic reset button," which he believes caused enough trauma to Prime's body to leave him powerless. And for now, he's essentially under "house arrest."

We see that Superboy-Prime has awoken on Earth-Prime. Once again, he's entirely naked except for a thin rag conveniently keeping him modest. And to his astonishment, Prime came to right in front of his house. He gleefully runs back in to see his parents and girlfriend, whom he thought died a long time ago. But his girlfriend, Lori, runs away from Prime in terror, fleeing out the back door. Prime's dad darkly shows his son that they've been reading this very comic series, including the Sinestro Corps War and Infinite Crisis. Prime's family knows exactly what he's done, and they are both disgusted and horrified by him.

Back in the 31st Century, all the heroes stick around for a week to clean up the damage their battle caused and rebuild the prison planet. They hold a memorial for all the heroes killed in the fight, and Sodam Yat begins sending the Green Lantern rings across the universe to find new members of the Corps. And the Brainiacs set to work on sending everyone home. Superman asks the Adult Brainy how Prime was sent back to his Earth if it was destroyed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Adult Brainy explains that Earth-Prime was reborn during Infinite Crisis. He says this became obvious when the Element Lad of the "Other Legion" was able to make kryptonite that affected Prime. The "Other Legion" is from Earth-Prime. "Our Legion" (the Legion we've interacted with the most on this blog) is from Earth-247, which was not reborn during Infinite Crisis.

So the Legion of Earth-Prime prepares to head back home, given strict instructions to keep an eye on Superboy-Prime. And the Legion of Earth-247 decides to venture out into the Multiverse to look for other people like themselves who are stranded without a world. Bart again asks Jenni to come with him to see Wally and their grandma Iris, but Jenni decides to stay behind. Even though her parents (and Bart's) left this world because of the Reverse-Flash, Jenni wants to look for any remaining relatives here.

With everyone's fate decided, the three Brainiacs build two Cosmic Treadmills attached to large platforms for each Legion (although the Brainiacs do have to have one last argument about who deserves the most credit for this). With Jenni powering one treadmill and Bart powering the other, everyone cries out, "Long live the Legion!" as they disappear in a flash of light. Now that everything is finally back to normal, Adult Brainiac 5 takes off for a long overdo haircut.

In the present day, in the Teen Titans Tower in San Francisco, we see Nightwing, Raven, Robin, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, Roy Harper, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg and Wally West. Apparently Superman had asked them all to meet there, but didn't tell them why. Before too long, Superman makes his dramatic entrance, presenting the revived Conner and Bart. Wally says, "Ohmygod." Conner casually greets the stunned faces with, "'Sup?" Bart cheerfully adds, "Hi, guys!" Cassie, in disbelief, asks Conner if he's really back, and with a massive grin, he says, "Isn't it cool?" Conner and Cassie quickly embrace, and Wally is the first to hug Bart.

We then leave that happy scene to return to Earth-Prime. Unfortunately, Prime has decided to use his parents' fear of him to bully them into acting as his personal servants — ironing his Superman T-shirts and preparing him grilled cheese sandwiches. But no tomato soup, since he hates vegetables. Prime also ominously hints at some horrible fate that befell Lori. Prime spends his time reading comics in the basement, and complaining about how stupid they are. As he reaches the end of this issue, he turns and yells at the reader, saying he was supposed to be the real Superboy and that he's not going away. He then logs on to the internet to continue his war against stories he hates. But while he types out his trolling comments of disgust, his eyes begin to glow red, indicating that his powers have returned.




What a phenomenal series. And I'm not even a huge Legion fan! But it was incredible seeing all these characters come together for one massive battle. Everyone's here, and everyone has something to do. And even though we had to wait quite a while for Pérez to finish his work, at the end of the day, the story is so much stronger to have the same penciller and the same inker on each and every page. This is truly one of the most impressive achievements we've seen on this blog.

It probably isn't the most natural thing to have Bart and Kon be revived in a Legion story, but they both have had their fair share of adventures with the Legionnaires. But more importantly than that, this is the story of Superboy-Prime's defeat, and such a story could not be told without the two heroes he hates and fears the most. Fittingly, Prime was the one who actually defeated himself, but that wouldn't have been possible without the psychological trauma of Kid Flash and Superboy haunting him from beyond the grave.

And what a poetic ending for Prime. He's finally given everything he ever wanted. He gets to go back home and be the world's only superhero. But his past actions have tainted his arrival, and his mind is too warped to progress past the whiny brat that won't eat his vegetables. Despite this opportunity to start with a clean slate, Prime chooses to remain embittered and lash out against the universe that rejected him in his own impotent way. Like so many internet trolls, Prime is unable to understand that change is a constant in the world of comics. And just because things change, that doesn't negate or diminish any of the old stories. And if you don't like the new stuff? So what? Don't be a jerk about it online.

So now Bart is finally, truly back! Granted, he's still Kid Flash, and we'll have to wait another 10 years before he gets to be Impulse again, but we'll still try to have fun with his second run in the yellow suit. For the meantime, let's check out the new ads:

The Soul. A new way to roll. Kia.

Paying for college has never been this much fun. Navy.

MattyCollector.com. Exclusive toys, news and more!

Splat. Rebellious colors. Long lasting, semi permanent hair paint.

The DC Nation page is Dan DiDio talking about how Orange County, Florida, recognized George Pérez for his accomplishments in the field of comics and with the Heroes Initiative charity.

We have a five-page preview of Adventure Comics #1, which we will review in due time, as Kid Flash does make a cameo in it.

Knowing and Push on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II on DVD.

Next time, we'll return to The Flash: Rebirth #4.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4

Book Four

Geoff Johns – Writer
George Pérez – Pencils
Scott Koblish – Inker
Hi-Fi – Colorist
Nick Napolitano – Letters
Adam Schlagman – Asst. Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor
Cover: George Pérez & Tom Smith
Silver Cover: George Pérez & Hi-Fi

Our main cover features the adult Brainiac 5. But unlike the past two covers of this miniseries, we don't get small images of the other two Brainiac 5s here. Instead, we get an exciting glimpse of the figure that has been contained inside Brainiac 5's lightning rod since Justice League of America #10. I love that Pérez chose to highlight the plot of Bart Allen's return rather than displaying the other versions of Brainiac 5. I also enjoy this cover a lot more than the others Pérez did in this style, confirming my suspicion that it was the coloring job of those previous covers that I didn't like.

I do not own the variant cover of this issue (this was the lone installment I was able to find the main cover for at my local comic shop), so I took this image from MyComicShop.com. Unfortunately, I think Pérez tried to cram too much action into this tiny space. It is nice to see Bart and Jenni in action, but I can't quite tell what they're supposed to be doing amidst all this chaos.

Our story begins in the present day in Metropolis. Starman, a mentally ill Legionnaire, who was left behind in the 21st Century, enters a graveyard in Metropolis in the middle of the night and begins digging up the grave of someone named Kent. This is a crucial element of the third stage of Brainiac 5's plan. Back in the 31st Century, the battle against the Legion of Super-Villains continues in the streets of Metropolis, while the Legion Headquarters is engulfed in lightning heralding the arrival of our beloved Bart.

Bart immediately begins pounding on Superboy-Prime, mocking him for being so scared by the return of the fastest boy alive, Kid Flash. Prime retaliates with some blasts of heat vision, but he's unable to hit Bart, and is unable to prevent himself from stuttering as he says Bart got "old and dumber," became the Flash and was killed by the Rogues. Bart joyfully dodges Prime's attacks and says the Rogues tried — he guesses. Jenni is so excited to see her cousin again, she runs right through Superboy-Prime and gives Bart a big hug. Bart says it's nice to be "lightning out of a bottle" and he quotes the Genie from Disney's Aladdin about having "phenomenal cosmic power," but "itty-bitty living space." Superboy-Prime interrupts this touching reunion by shouting, "Dodge this, Impuke!" But Bart holds his ground and confidently says, "You first," as the various lightning-wielders blast Prime from behind.

With Prime momentarily immobilized, Kid Flash and XS begin racing around him to push him up with a whirlwind. Adult Brainiac 5 explains to the others what just happened, while Bart tries to answer Jenni's questions. Brainy says they have just reconstituted a part of Barry Allen's grandson. Bart tells Jenni that he "kinda" died. He starts explaining by going back to his first fight against Superboy-Prime, where Bart became entangled in the Speed Force. Brainy says Bart's aging was once again accelerated artificially at that point. Bart says he remembers the exact moment the Rogues attacked and he lost his speed. But then it was like an out-of-body experience, as the lightning pulled his spirit away, Bart saw the adult part of him die.

Adult Brainiac 5 theorizes that if he hadn't sent a team of Legionnaires back in time to bottle up Bart's youth, then regardless of the Rogues' attack, Bart would have died within a month of old age. The younger Brainiac 5s joke about how this means the adult part of Bart was like a cancer — as it is with everyone. Adult Brainy doesn't appreciate the joke, and he goes on to explain that he knew to prepare for this because Dream Girl saw a vision of Bart Allen's return and Superboy-Prime's attack.

Bart and Jenni's whirlwind manages to lift Prime up and out of the Legion Headquarters, and Bart tells Jenni he's never felt so fast before. Jenni says she also feels the surge in the Speed Force, and she asks Bart what he thinks it means. Bart hopefully suggests that Max Mercury is running right next to him. Prime shouts that when he gets his hands on Bart, he's toast. Bart retorts, "With jelly," and he and Jenni take the fight outside. Adult Brainiac 5 says Kid Flash, XS and the Legion will keep Prime unfocused for the moment, giving him time to attend to the third and final stage of his plan.

Sodam Yat hits Prime with a big blast of Green Lantern energy, and Bart follows that up with a whirlwind around Prime's head to take away his air. Prime can only whine, "S-stop, Speed J-jerks —" Bart then becomes distracted by the arrival of Superman, which he thinks is pretty cool. Superman is surprised to see Bart and asks if this is a result of time travel, but Lightning Lad explains that Brainiac 5 has apparently brought Kid Flash back from the dead. Superman then turns his attention to Prime, once again asking him what his parents would say to all the destruction he's caused. Prime says it doesn't matter, since his parents are dead. Superman says that even thought they're dead, they're still watching. Suddenly, an enormous purple fist reaches down from the sky and grabs Superman, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. Other Legionnaires recognizes this as the Time Trapper, but they're unable to rescue their teammates before the fist disappears.

The Time Trapper took those four crucial heroes to the end of time to "witness the fall of the Superman dynasty." But nobody left behind knows that, and a magical powered hero named Kinetix attacks Superboy-Prime, demanding to know where the Time-Trapper took those four. Kid Flash tries to warn Kinetix that Prime isn't vulnerable to magic, but he's too late, and Prime kills her with a blast of heat vision. This is third Legionnaire that Prime has personally killed, and he's met with a swift, passionate response from our heroes. One of the Element Lads turns all the rocks around Prime into kryptonite, and to the surprise of Prime and Bart, the kryptonite actually hurts Prime — a lot. Prime swiftly kills Element Lad by throwing a kryptonite rock through his heart, and Cosmic King quickly heals Prime by converting the kryptonite radiation in him into yellow sunlight.

The evil sorcerer Mordru then receives a vision of the future, and he warns Prime that the Legionnaires are going to win unless he destroys Superman's Fortress of Solitude right now. So Prime immediately flies toward the North Pole, which Bart notices and calls out for everyone to follow him north. Meanwhile, the three Brainiac 5s (and a couple of other Legionnaires) are impatiently waiting for the three Legionnaires to return from the past. Adult Brainiac 5 claims they're late, but Other Brainiac 5 says the adult's internal clock is running fast because he's panicking. He tries to call the moment the time-travelers will return, but he's also too soon. But Our Brainiac 5 is able to correctly anticipate the exact moment the time sphere returns and Polar Boy presents them with a fresh strand of Lex Luthor's hair. Our Brainy asks what the hair is for, and Adult Brainy asks if he's ever read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Other Brainy decries that as a book for children, and Our Brainy complains that it's incomplete — he apparently followed it step-by-step with little success. Adult Brainy laments that his younger doppelgängers are missing the point — that with the right amount of genius and a touch of perceived insanity, science can conquer anything.

Luckily, Superboy-Prime's ego prevented him from flying straight to the Fortress, as he insisted on blasting another massive "S" into the ground with his heat vision — a fact picked up by Bart, while he and Jenni were following Prime. This diversion gives Sodam Yat time to catch up and put a helmet over Prime's eyes. Inside the Fortress, Adult Brainiac 5 explains that he had Starman bury a Kryptonian Chrysalis here a thousand years ago. He has Light Lass pull it out of the ice, and he says this is the same device that regenerated Superman after his battle with Doomsday. But whereas the chamber took only a few months to heal Superman from those wounds, in this case, the healing process has taken over a thousand years, and it still isn't complete. Adult Brainiac 5 inserts the Lex Luthor hair into the Chrysalis, saying this fresh human D.N.A. will finish the other half of the healing. But now he needs to carefully select the correct crystal to complete the process. Other Brainiac 5 insists he can choose the right one, citing his experience with Supergirl, but Adult Brainy warns "Baby Brainiac" that if he so much as taps the wrong crystal, he'll trigger a complete meltdown.

But while they were arguing, Superboy-Prime broke free from Sodam Yat and threw all the nearby heroes (including Kid Flash and XS) through the ice and into the cavern under the Fortress, causing a minor collapse that conveniently knocks out the Brainiac 5s, but leaves Polar Boy, Dawnstar and Wildfire still standing. Polar Boy heads out to hold off Prime, which he tries to do by freezing every drop of water in Prime's blood. But that doesn't slow him down long, and Prime is just about to kill Polar Boy before Sun Boy arrives in the nick of time. Inside the cavern, Dawnstar and Wildfire finally express their love for each other, which somehow sparks Dawnstar's power to find the right path and choose the correct crystal. Bart is naturally the first one to recover from being knocked out, and once he sees what's happening, he excitedly exclaims, "NO WAY."

Superboy-Prime says he'll surrender to Sun Boy and Polar Boy, but then knocks them down by clapping his hands at super speed. As he laughs at how he was "totally being sarcastic," Dawnstar and Wildfire join the fight outside. Wildfire tells Prime he's in for it now, since they just got another Superman on their team. Prime looks up and weakly says, "Not him too." And on a big, two-page spread, Conner Kent punches Prime, while telling Wildfire to call him Superboy.

Superman sees this from the end of time, and he proudly tells the Time-Trapper that even though he doesn't know how or why Superboy and Kid Flash are back, he knows that with them fighting alongside the Legions of three worlds, Superboy-Prime doesn't stand a chance. He begins attacking the Time-Trapper, and rips off his cloak while Conner rips off Prime's shirt. In a neat, split image, we see that Time-Trapper really is an older version of Superboy-Prime, and he confidently tells Superman that even though Conner is back, the Legion is destined to lose.




What a terrific issue. Bart is back and is leading the charge against one of the most powerful beings in the universe. And now his old friend, Superboy, is back! The drama of choosing the right crystal was kind of lame, but Superboy's return was still pretty exciting. And the way he was brought back makes enough sense for me — let Kryptonian technology work on him for a thousand years, then add some fresh human D.N.A. at the end to complete the process. Bart's return, though, is a little more complicated.

Ultimately, this feels like Geoff Johns wanting to have his cake and eat it, too. He wanted Bart back, but not as the adult version nobody really liked, nor as his original Impulse version that Johns never really liked. So he used some convenient comic book science to say Brainiac 5 "bottled up" Bart's youth, letting his "adult self" die. This really doesn't make any sense. And the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. It especially becomes confusing when Bart says he remembers that final battle and being killed. Does this mean he remembers the whole year he spent as a 20-year-old? Does he remember drinking alcohol and having sex and all that stuff? Is Bart essentially an adult trapped in the body of a teenager now? These are questions that will never properly be answered. And that might be primarily because Bart's sudden aging from 16 to 20 was never properly explained to begin with. So, I guess all we can really do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Kid Flash is back, for better or worse.

Despite that, this is another incredible issue in this miniseries. Tremendous artwork. Great action. And I absolutely love watching the three Brainiac 5s bicker among themselves. Now let's check out the new ads:

Nothing hits harder than vengeance! The Spirit on DVD and Blu-Ray.

War. Perfected. KillZone 3 on PlayStation 3.

The fate of the world is in your hands. Dragonball Evolution on PSP.

Do you have an eye for design? If you're an aspiring graphic designer, this is your chance ... 2009 Design Scholarship Challenge.

DC Nation talks about the upcoming Wednesday Comics, which we will be taking a peak at before too long.

A five-page preview of The Last Days of Animal Man.

Beware of the darkest waters ... Vampirates: Black Heart.

Next time, we'll begin another massive miniseries that just couldn't wait for this one to end — Flash: Rebirth #1.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3

Book Three

Geoff Johns – Writer
George Pérez – Pencils
Scott Koblish – Inker
Hi-Fi – Colorist
Nick Napolitano – Letters
Adam Schlagman – Assoc. Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor
Cover: George Pérez & Dave McCaig
Silver Cover: George Pérez & Hi-Fi

Our main cover features Cosmic Boy, with the two other Cosmic Boys appearing in the magnetic force fields coming from his hands. It's the same idea Pérez used with Lightning Lad on the first issue of this miniseries, and once again, the end result just feels off. Perhaps it's McCaig's coloring, perhaps it's Pérez trying something different. Whatever the case, it just doesn't look that great.

Our variant cover is a tease to a subplot we don't care that much about. Essentially, it's two Legionnaires convincing the galaxy's last surviving Green Lantern, Sodam Yat, to end his life of exile and help them battle Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains. I suppose this is a fine cover for the cramped space Pérez had to work with.

We skipped the second issue of this 5-part miniseries, but we really didn't miss too much, as far as this blog is concerned. Basically, all we need to know is Superboy-Prime has freed all the villains of the 30th century and is leading them on an all-out assault on Metropolis. To combat this threat, the Legion of Super-Heroes has recruited two alternate versions of themselves, so we now have three separate Legions to deal with. The "main" Legion of this Earth that is coordinating everything, are all adults, while the other two Legions are still teenagers. Of those two teenage Legions, we only recognize one of them — the Legion that includes Bart's cousin, XS, and had several adventures with Impulse and later Kid Flash before being lost into a void of emptiness at the end of the Teen Titans/Legion Special. I'm going to call them "Our Legion." The "Other Legion" are also teenagers and share a lot of similarities with their counterparts, but we don't have any history with them. And I'll call the main Legion the "Adult Legion," so hopefully this doesn't become too confusing.

Anyway, let's pick up with Superboy-Prime attacking the Daily Planet in a vain effort to destroy everything connected to Superman. Our Superman from the 21st Century, attacks Prime from behind, puts him in a head lock, and covers Prime's eyes with his hand to prevent him from using his heat vision. Superman still wants to try to redeem Prime, so he begins calling him Clark and urges him to remember his supportive adoptive parents from Earth-Prime and his best friend, Laurie. Superman asks Prime to consider what they would say if they saw him acting this way. But all this only makes Prime angrier, and he manages to shoot a blast of heat vision through Superman's hand.

The fighting continues to grow more chaotic in the streets, and it seems like the Adult Legion is about to be defeated, until the Adult Brainiac 5 arrives with the two other Legions, shouting, "Long live the Legion!" Our Brainiac 5 is supportive of his adult counterpart, but the Other Brainy has a cynical view of adults and often chastises his his teenage doppelgänger for sucking up to the Adult Brainiac 5. The combined might of the three Legions is able to turn the tide of the battle for the moment, but the Adult Brainiac 5 explains that the war against Superboy-Prime is as psychological as it is physical. Bringing the three Legions together was just the first stage of his three-stage plan. For the second stage, Adult Brainiac 5 requests all the lightning wielders to follow him back to the clubhouse. For stage three, he has sent three Legionnaires back to Smallville in the 20th Century to collect a single hair from a young Lex Luthor.

The three Brainiac 5s gather at the clubhouse with all the Lightning Lads and Lasses, as well as XS, who says she has the strangest feeling of deja vu. Adult Brainiac 5 says that's to be expected, as XS wasn't born on the recently destroyed Earth-247 like her teammates, but she was born on this Earth, the keystone to the multiverse. He leads Jenni over to the Cosmic Treadmill, which is placed in front of a couple of portraits of Barry Allen and his wife, Iris, as well as two statues of the Tornado Twins, Don and Dawn Allen. Adult Brainy plays a video showing how Barry and Iris retreated to the 30th century to start a family. They had twins, Don and Dawn, who married Meloni Thawne and Jeven Ognats, respectively, giving birth to Bart Allen and Jenni Ognats.

But after Barry went back to the 20th Century and disappeared while fighting the Anti-Monitor, his greatest rival, Eobard Thawne, traveled to the 30th Century to attack the Tornado Twins. So Don and Dawn modified the Cosmic Treadmill and loaded up their families as passengers behind them as they attempted to run away to a parallel world. But Professor Zoom sabotaged the treadmill, causing an explosion that tore open the multiverse, resulting in three Legions from three different worlds being pulled together. Professor Zoom apparently had an army of "speed soldiers" with him at the time, but they were all defeated by the three Legions.

The three Brainiac 5s worked together to send everyone back to their proper world, except for the Tornado Twins and their families, who stayed hidden on Earth-247. However, Don and Dawn were killed shortly after this adventure. But Jenni and Bart remained safe and were reunited with their grandmother Iris. And Adult Brainiac 5 says that Iris watched both Bart and Jenni age to teenagers in days. Jenni is shocked by this information overload, and asks Adult Brainiac 5 why he's the only one who remembers it. Our Brainiac 5 (and Jenni's) hypothesizes that the turmoil of the event erased it from everyone's mind, but the mental capacity of an adult Brainiac 5 would somehow be able to retain this information.

The Other Brainiac 5, however, calls this story "completely illogical," pointing out that his Legion has interacted with Supergirl in the past, implying they can't be from a different world. But Adult Brainiac 5 explains that when people travel through time, they often shift into the multiverse, and actually end up on a parallel world. So even though the Legion we knew and loved during Final Night and all those adventures were interacting with our world, they were really from Earth-247. The Other Brainiac 5 asks Adult Brainy which Earth his Legion is from, and Adult Brainy says it's an Earth that is vital to this war, but he declines to elaborate. He then turns to Jenni, telling her bad things have happened to the Flash family since she last saw her cousin, and now it's time for her to help them. Adult Brainiac 5 shows Jenni his lightning rod and says all she has to do is run.

Meanwhile, the Cosmic Boys manage to take off Superboy-Prime's armor to make him vulnerable to red sunlight again. But the evil Saturn Queen managed to read the Adult Brainiac 5's mind, and she warns Prime that the Legionnaires are working to bring "him" back. Prime panics and begins stuttering, saying, "N-n-no. Not him! I won't let them bring back HIM!!" One of the Sun Boys hits Prime with some red sunlight, but Prime angrily fights through the pain and freezes Sun Boy's head, killing him. Prime tries to head for the Legion Headquarters, but he's stopped by Sodam Yat. However, the rest of the villains notice a surge of lightning emanating from the clubhouse, so they all begin working on breaking through the force field set up by the Brainiac 5s.

Inside the headquarters, Adult Brainiac 5 restores the powers of one of Lightning Lads with the "living lightning" in his lightning rod. This gives him five lightning wielders to surround XS on the treadmill and one Light Lass to control Jenni's weight. As XS runs, the Speed Force begins to break down around her and the laws of physics come into play, meaning the faster she runs, the heavier she gets. So Light Lass has to counteract that to prevent XS from becoming a singularity that will rip open the universe. As XS approaches light speed, Adult Brainiac 5 orders the five lightning wielders to pour lightning into the treadmill and the lightning rod attached to it.

Superboy-Prime breaks free of Sodam Yat's chain and begins to smash his way through the Legion's force field. As he pounds away, a voice from the lightning rod calls out, "Hello?" XS says she can hear the Speed Force reaching out for her, but the voice says, "That's not the Speed Force, Jenni — it's me." There's a big explosion of lightning on the treadmill, and Jenni falls off, exhausted from her run. Superboy-Prime finally breaks through the force field and heads toward our heroes, saying, "He's just a stupid kid! He doesn't matter!" The lightning around the treadmill begins to take a humanoid shape, saying, "Hi, guys! Man, do I feel better."

Adult Brainiac 5 tosses a ring at the lightning, and a human hand catches it, releasing the Kid Flash uniform inside. As Superboy-Prime approaches, he begs himself to not be scared now. But once he turns the corner, he can't help but scream at the sight of Bart Allen saying, "Boo."

BART IS BACK!

Almost two years after being killed as the Flash, Bart Allen has been brought back to life. But he's not that mopey 20-year-old anymore — he's the more light-hearted and fun 16-year-old Kid Flash. (Not as fun as the 14-year-old Impulse, though, but beggars can't be choosers.) It's a very exciting — and confusing — development that we'll get more into next issue. But for the main takeaway of this issue, I found it highly satisfying that Superboy-Prime completely lost his mind at the mere idea of Bart returning. Prime absolutely loathes Superboy and carries an intense hatred for all things Superman. But Prime is only truly afraid of one hero — our beloved Bart Allen. As Kid Flash, Bart handed Prime his first real defeat by carrying him off to the Speed Force. Prime was able to immediately break free of the Phantom Zone, but it took him a bit longer to escape from the Speed Force. This gave him a general fear of all speedsters, but Bart holds a special place in Prime's deepest fears. And I think that's because of the pure courage Bart demonstrated by continuing to run forward even after Jay and Wally fell away. Bart was clearly outmatched, and he wouldn't have been able to accomplish this task without the aid of Barry, Max and Johnny from the other side. But he still persisted in an act of selfless sacrifice — a courage that Prime had long ago forgotten and is now incapable of feeling. Years later, even with a massive army at his back, Prime is still haunted by the memory of Bart.

Now, we unfortunately have some retconning to address in this issue. It does make sense, though, as reality has been massively altered once again after Final Crisis (this miniseries ironically still carries the Final Crisis name, even though that event has already concluded). We are now told about what was surely a thrilling adventure with the Tornado Twins, Professor Zoom and the combined might of the three separate Legions. Although, I'm reasonably certain this event has never been depicted in the comics. If it has, and you know where it is, please let me know, because I would very much like to see it.

Anyway, the main takeaway here is that the Tornado Twins took their families to a parallel world that no longer exists. Unfortunately, this raises more questions for Bart and Jenni. Remember, originally, Bart's grandfather, Thaddeus Thawne, was President of Earthgov and the main antagonist of everything bad that happened to the Allen family. He had the Tornado Twins killed, cloned Bart, and forced his daughter, Meloni, to remain separated from her family. But if Meloni went to a parallel world, did any of that happen? How did Bart's dad die? Is Bart's mom still alive in this new reality?

Adult Brainiac 5 also delivered a very problematic line for me. He claimed that Iris Allen watched both Jenni and Bart age to teenagers in days. Originally, only Bart suffered from accelerated aging, growing to the age of 12 in two years. And it was precisely because of this aging problem that prompted Iris to take him back to the 20th century so Wally could save Bart's life. Jenni, originally, didn't display any super speed powers until she was a teenager, enabling her to grow up normally, and later join the Legion of Super-Heroes when she was ready. But if Jenni also had that accelerated aging problem, then why wasn't she also brought back to the past? How was her problem solved? Of course, the simplest explanation for this is that Brainiac 5 misspoke when he said both of them rapidly grew up (or rather, Geoff Johns made a mistake — it should be noted that George Pérez only drew Bart growing up quickly).

Setting all that aside, though, this was an incredible issue. Johns and Pérez are dealing with so many characters and alternate versions of those characters, yet have somehow managed to keep everything together as one cohesive, thrilling story. It's great for Bart Allen fans like me, but I'd imagine it's even better for long-time Legion fans. The only weakness this miniseries had was its slow release schedule, but looking back at it years later, I'm grateful to have the same art team on each issue. Now let's check out the new ads:

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Next in ... Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4, will evil win the future? Also, you know, Kid Flash!

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1

Book One

Geoff Johns – Writer
George Pérez – Pencils
Scott Koblish – Inker
Hi-Fi – Colorist
Nick Napolitano – Letters
Adam Schlagman – Asst. Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor
Cover: George Pérez & Dave McCaig
Silver Cover: George Pérez & Hi-Fi

Just like the Rogues' Revenge miniseries, the main covers here will focus on just one character. But where Scott Kolins went with a more stylized look, Pérez tried a more realistic look, which comes off rather odd. Lightning Lad's face just looks a little off. But I do like the detail of the other two Lightning Lads in the ball of lightning.

I don't know why DC calls this the "silver cover" — there's nothing silver about it. I just know this as the variant cover nobody wanted. When I picked up this series from my local comic shop a few years ago, they only had this variant cover for four of the five issues. Besides the major drawback of the massive red stripes on the sides, this cover isn't too bad. Superboy-Prime is back. Angry as ever, wearing his Anti-Monitor armor again, and no longer looking like a Superman-Prime.

Our story begins at the end. The end of time, that is. We see a figure wrapped in bandages and shrouded by a purple cloak, known as the Time Trapper. He laments his inability to kill the Legionnaires, comparing them to the cockroaches inhabiting his floating city. The Time Trapper decides to reach into time stream to pull out Superboy-Prime and put him in position to destroy the Legion.

Superboy-Prime crash lands into a farmer's field in Smallville in the year 3008. The xenophobic farmers believe this to be another alien trespassing on their property, so they attempt to kill him like they have killed many others. The massive blast from the laser gun destroys all of Prime's clothes — except for a small rag that conveniently covers his genitals. The farmers recognize him as Superboy, but Prime immediately kills them with a blast of heat vision, saying he's Superman.

Prime flies into town, finding the streets empty except for a robot walking dogs. He disdainfully realizes he's in the future, and quickly locates a Superman Museum. The museum isn't open yet, but Prime lets himself in and is greeted by a hologram of Jimmy Olsen to act as his personal tour guide. Prime is quite bored and disgusted by the whole museum, until he comes to the Hall of Villains. Using his x-ray vision, Prime is horrified to find the statue of himself has been buried in the back storage. The Jimmy Olsen hologram explains they're moving the Sepberboy-Prime statue to make way for Neutron, which was being repainted. He says Superboy-Prime was a loser barely worth mentioning, calling him a Clark Kent from a parallel Earth long dead, who was always whining about how our Earth wasn't as "perfect" as his. He then briefly recounts how Superboy-Prime was beaten by Kid Flash, Superboy and Sodam Yat.

Prime begins stuttering at the Kid Flash part, saying Bart Allen cheated by having all the Flashes gang up on him. He also becomes enraged by the museum's portrayal of his other two major battles, claiming "This isn't how anything happened!" He begins destroying all the statues of the villains, saying he's more significant than all of them. By the time he moves on to tearing apart the Teen Titans statues, the security guards catch up to him. But Prime kills them all with his freeze breath.

Prime then begins working on the statues of the Legionnaires, while the Jimmy Olsen hologram tells him all about the Legion of Super-Villains. This catches Prime's attention, so he has the hologram teach him that all those villains are currently on the prison planet of Takron-Galtos. So Prime puts on the clothes his mannequin wore (apparently the Anti-Monitor armor works) and he flies off to that prison planet. He easily fights through the guards and frees Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen and Cosmic King. To Prime's surprise, these three not only recognize him, but praise him as their inspiration and guide. They gladly agree to help him, believing he'll lead them to their final victory.

The Legion of Super-Heroes learn of this, so they call in Superman from the present day. Brainiac 5's message comes from Superman's concealed Legion ring on his finger, asking him to help. When Superman says "yes" the ring becomes a "rip cord" pulling him to the 31st century. When Superman arrives in the future, he sees a monitor showing the prison planet covered in massive fires in the shape of the Superman "S" shield. The Legionnaires explain that a young man that looks like Superman was seen destroying the Superman Museum and all of Smallville, before releasing all the prisoners of Takron-Galtos and destroying that entire planet.

Superman is able to identify Superboy-Prime, saying the last he heard of him, Prime disappeared after killing one of the guardians of the universe. Brainiac 5 says since they're up against a super-powered brat from a parallel world, their solution is obvious. He puts up images of the two other Legions on the monitors and says they need to fight fire with fire. Superman warns the Legionnaires of Prime's rage, saying he won't ever stop ... not unless they do something drastic. Lightning Lad assumes this means killing Prime, but Superman says that's probably not even possible anymore. Instead, he suggests they try to reach out to Prime, to find the boy who helped save the universe during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In short, Superman says they need to redeem Superboy-Prime.




This is the beginning of a huge, sprawling epic. It's Johns at his finest, teaming up with one of the few artists who could pull off such a feat. To DC's credit, they insisted on allowing Pérez draw each issue of this five-part miniseries. Unfortunately, this task would prove too daunting for even Pérez to meet a monthly deadline. Think about it. Each Legion has more than 20 members, and Pérez has to draw three different versions of all those characters. Not to mention the 20-plus members in the Legion of Super-Villains and any other fun little extras Pérez wants to put in the background. Needless to say, this is a beautiful, well-done series, but it did suffer from some publication delays.

The story itself has a very strong premise. Superboy-Prime is back and angrier than ever. And now he has a whole army behind him. But, he's still the same, insecure whiney brat, who is terrified of Bart Allen. And that puts a smile on my face. The only part I didn't like is Johns' insistence that every single artifact we see in any museum is the authentic thing. It makes no sense for a museum 1,000 years in the future to put real Anti-Monitor armor on a mannequin. It's just an annoying plot convenience. Still a fun story, though. We'll return to this series, but not for a little bit. Until then, let's check out the ads:

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In the DC Nation page, Dan DiDio announces a deal he made with Dwayne McDuffie to bring some Milestone characters over to DC.

Start strong. Army ROTC.

What's within your soul? Soul Calibur IV for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Next time, we'll wrap up the Rogues' Revenge miniseries and learn the final fate of poor old Thaddeus Thawne.

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #15

In a Flash

Jake Black Writer
Robert Atkins Penciller
Rick Ketcham Inker
Heroic Age Colorist
Pat Brosseau Letterer
Alex Szewczuk Cover Artist
Jeanine Schaefer Editor

Our cover shows us what Impulse might have looked like had he appeared on the short-lived Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century animated series. And I have to say he looks pretty good. The show itself was rather slow and simplistic, but I think Impulse could have been an interesting addition to their cast. Unfortunately, this issue does not feature all the characters on the cover.

Our story begins with Bouncing Boy taking Triplicate Girl on a date to John's Virtual Reality Game World. They hook up to the VR and enjoy some jungle and deep-sea adventures before their visors suddenly go to static. Our heroes soon find themselves in what appears to be Keystone City in the 21st century.

Bouncing Boy is frightened by what appears to be a bolt of lightning zooming right toward them, but it turns out just to be Impulse, who immediately demands to know why these two are "erasing" his world. Bouncing Boy insists they haven't done anything, but Impulse explains that something has happened to the Keystone City program, causing buildings and people to start disappearing. So Impulse does not consider the sudden appearance of these two people to be a coincidence.

Bouncing Boy gets a little heated by this accusation and tries to explain what happened to him and Triplicate Girl. Impulse asks, "Are you for real?" — by which he means, "Are you flesh and blood?" Triplicate Girl is able to calm things down and give Impulse the full story. He asks how long they've been at the VR center, and when she says only half an hour, Impulse realizes they aren't causing the erasing, since things started disappearing days ago.

Bouncing Boy asks Impulse who he is and why he brought them here. Impulse says he didn't bring them here, and his name is Bart. He explains that he has these crazy abilities, but he's not great at controlling them, so he was sent to this VR world to get them under control. He kisses Triplicate Girl's hand (much to the chagrin of Bouncing Boy) and asks if there are any more like her at home. Triplicate Girl coyly says there are a couple, actually.

Bart then apologizes to both of them for not giving them a warmer introduction, explaining that no one else from the outside has ever entered his virtual reality world before. Bouncing Boy then begins to wonder who did bring them here, and Bart speculates it might just be a glitch in the network. He's never heard of the Legionnaires before, but Bart is hopeful they can help him figure out what's going on. Triplicate Girl is enthusiastic to help, Bouncing Boy ... a little less so.

Bart says that everything in this VR world is real to him and the people that live here. He buys a hot dog from a street vendor, explaining that he has a super high metabolism and needs to eat a lot. Bart gets Triplicate Girl an ice cream cone, speculating that she should be able to taste it. He says the reason he's so worried by the erasing is because all the people in his VR world experience it like it's real. When buildings disappear, homes are lost and loved ones are missing. The people might be fake, but the trauma they experience is real. After giving this speech, Bouncing Boy is fully on board, saying they'll help Bart save these people, since that's what they do.

As soon as this new alliance is formed, our heroes hear a shriek coming from the Keystone Bank building. But by the time they get there, the building is already gone, with one lone surviving bank employee, who happened to be out at lunch when the building disappeared. Bart asks his companions if they have any ideas, so Triplicate Girl decides to fly up high in the air to see if she can spot any patterns. Bart tells Bouncing Boy that she's "really something," and Bouncing Boy says he doesn't know the third of it.

Bart quickly grows impatient as Triplicate Girl continues flying around the city. In an attempt to get Bart to sit still for a minute, Bouncing Boy asks him where Bart really lives while he's plugged into this VR to get his powers under control. Bart says he's not hooked up somewhere and literally lives in here. And even though he knows it's all fake, it is home to him, which is why he needs to stop the erasing. Triplicate Girl then tells the others she's spotted another building disappearing near the clock tower. So Bouncing Boy follows Bart to the corner of Waid and Wieringo, but once again they're too late.

Impulse can't understand how even with his great speed, he's still not fast enough to get to these buildings, and he laments the pointlessness of having powers that don't even help. He wishes he could somehow run into the middle of the network to see the glitch for himself, and Bouncing Boy says that might not be as hard as he thinks.

Even from within the VR world, Bouncing Boy is able to get a message out to Brainiac 5 in the Legion Headquarters. He explains the whole situation to Brainiac 5, who quickly does a search for Bart, Keystone and VR. Brainiac 5 finds out that something weird is coming from the city simulator itself and its affecting every VR system on Earth. So Brainiac 5 joins his teammates in Bart's VR world.

Brainiac 5 says it's an honor to meet Bart Allen, who immediately asks if he's flesh and blood, too. This version of Brainiac 5 is actually a sentient computer, but he does assure Bart that he is also a Legionnaire from the real world. Bart asks if he's found the glitch, and Brainiac 5 pulls up a map to show him the source of the problems are coming from the dead center of Keystone City. Bart realizes that's City Hall, so he leads his new friends off to save the day.

When they arrive at City Hall, Brainiac 5 begins to explain a hunch he has, but Bart doesn't stick around to listen to it and just runs straight inside. Brainiac 5 sighs, and follows him in, and sees that his hunch was correct — a half-man/half-machine villain named Tharok is behind this. Triplicate Girl tells Tharok to step away from the console he's plugged into, but Tharok refuses, saying he's using this computer to connect to the entire virtual reality network to download every VR program ever created. And once he's done downloading all that information, Tharok says he'll be able to destroy real cities, too. He then creates an army of virtual robots to dispose of the intruders.

Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl begin fighting the robots, but Brainiac 5 pulls Bart aside. He says he read that Bart is fast, so he asks him to blaze a trail through the robots to give him access to the computers behind Tharok. Bart agrees, calling Brainiac 5 "Greenie," and quickly helps him hook up to the computer. Brainiac 5 explains that he's rerouting the system to cut out Tharok and rebuild the city, but it's going to take some time, so he asks Bart to keep the robots off him while he works. So Bart creates a couple of whirlwinds to blow the robots away.

It doesn't take Brainiac 5 too long to work his magic, and just like that, Tharok is knocked out, the robots disappear, and all the buildings return. Brainiac 5 also makes sure to send a signal to the real world authorities letting them know Tharok is here. To all that, Bart says, "Kickin'!" Brainiac 5 then explains that Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl plugged into the network at the exact moment Tharok was erasing a structure to absorb the tech as an upgrade. Using a 21st century phrase, Brainiac 5 says their "lines got crossed."

Bouncing Boy asks Bart if he's ever considered joining the Legion of Super-Heroes, but Bart says he won't be let out of this VR world until he gains complete control of his speed. Triplicate Girl hopes that comes soon, and Bart says he looks forward to meeting her sisters. He then takes off to check on his city, saying, "Later, gators!" — a phrase that confuses Triplicate Girl. Brainiac 5 tells them they should head back to protect the real world, and when they take their visors off, Triplicate Girl tells Bouncing Boy she'd like to go on another date with him, but preferably one without bad guys and evil robots.




Well, I gotta give this comic credit — it certainly has the same look and feel of the show it's based on. Unfortunately for me, that look and feel is very slow and simplistic. It's intended for a younger audience, which is fine, in and of itself. But this particular issue was dreadfully boring. It took forever to figure out who the main threat was, and then he was defeated in an instant.

But I was thrilled to see that someone was still willing to write a new Impulse story years after Bart gave up that mantle and during a time when he was technically dead. I've always been interested in a what-if scenario where Bart stays in the future and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes (with or in place of his cousin XS). I have also always wanted to see more of Bart's time in the VR world, but this issue gave us a very bland, dull experience. And I don't understand why his VR world was based on the 21st century. Apparently whoever put him in there was preparing him for a trip back in time. But why? Well ... it doesn't matter, anyway. This is Bart's only appearance in this universe.

Next time, we'll return to the main DC Universe, which is currently embroiled in the big event of the year, Final Crisis. Since Bart's dead, he won't appear in the main story, but he will show up in a flashback in the off-shoot miniseries Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge.

Teen Titans/Legion Special

Superboy and the Legion Part Two

Writers: Mark Waid & Geoff Johns
Pencillers: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado
Inker: Marc Campos
Colors: Sno-Cone
Lettering: Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editors: Bouncing Berganza & Wonder Wacker

When you want to draw a cover with 50 different characters on it, there's only a handful of artists you can confidently turn to. Phil Jimenez is one of those artists. He gave us a great action scene, showing almost all the Legionnaires and almost all the Teen Titans (I can't find Kid Flash for some reason) battling dozens of versions of the Fatal Five. And in the middle of all this is Superboy, torn between his identity on these two teams. This cover seems to imply there is an actual, physical force splitting Superboy into two separate people, but the "trauma" he's experiencing is completely psychological. And, quite frankly, probably a bit overblown.

Our story begins with all our heroes on the ground, battling the Fatal Five Hundred. Cosmic Boy tells Robin to order the Teen Titans to fall back, saying they can't possibly win in a direct fight. Robin's hopeful they can work together to save the day, but four versions of the Persuader open up more rifts in reality to bring in even more version of the Fatal Five. So Saturn Girl coordinates and evacuation with Umbra, who gives them a cloak of darkness, and Raven, who teleports all the heroes to the Legion's old headquarters in Metropolis.

Beast Boy initially mocks the Legion for hiding in a building shaped like a giant letter L, but then he's reminded that the Titans work in a giant T. The Legionnaires refer to the Teen Titans as Superboy's old, or previous, group, telling them that Superboy has become a valued member of their team over the past five months. Bart tells Conner he likes his longer hair, saying it looks just like his. Apparition asks what "Conner" means, and Superboy says it's nothing, just a name. Cassie is worried by this and asks if Superboy wants to stay with the Legion. Superboy stammers for a bit, and can't find a good way to answer the question, so he excuses himself to change out of his torn Superman costume.

Bart thinks "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes" sounds familiar, and as he's wondering this, Brainiac 5 injects Bart with a shot in his shoulder. Bart yelps in pain and tells "Brainy" not to shoot him, reminding him that he's Bart Allen. Brainiac says he drinks to forget Bart, and he only gave Bart the same nanite injection he gave XS. Right on cue, Bart's cousin, Jenni, appears and gives him a big hug. She compliments his new "fibers," and Bart corrects her, calling them "threads."

Jenni hints that she knows Bart wants to visit his mom, but she urges him to be patient. Brainiac 5 then presents his plan to everybody. Basically, they're going to bounce vibrational signals from this building off what's left of Legion World to reset all the villains' vibrational frequencies and send them back to their respective parallel worlds. According to Brainiac, the only people capable of generating those vibrations are XS and Koko. Bart corrects Brainiac, saying he's Kid Flash and Koko was the name of his pet monkey. Brainiac assures Bart the insult was intentional, and explains that the nannies he injected into the two speedsters will harness their kinetic energy through a treadmill he's building with Gear and Invisible Kid. Raven calls Brainiac 5 an ass, and Beast Boy hopes he's not related to him.

Meanwhile, Superboy continues to struggle to decide which team he wants to be on, and Wonder Girl struggles with his inability to decide. Suddenly, the headquarters is invaded by the Fatal Five Hundred, so everybody has to fight off the villains and protect XS and Kid Flash on the treadmill. After a bit of running (and a lot of fighting surrounding them), Bart tells Jenni he needs to see his mom. She tells him they can't stop yet, but Bart insists he'll only be gone for a second. He then references his Uncle Jeven (for the first time ever), asking Jenni if she's still close to her dad. Jenni says she hasn't seen him in months, and admits she misses him. Bart says this may be his only chance to tell his mom he misses her. So Jenni relents, saying she'll speed up so Brainiac doesn't notice the momentary drop in vibration. She tells Bart to not abandon her, he asks if she really thinks he would, and she says she knows he won't.

Despite Jenni's efforts, however, Gear and Brainiac 5 do notice a slowdown in the kinetic energy. But there's not much they can really do about it, as villains keep pouring into their base. Bart eventually does find his mom in Central City, leading a team of officers protecting the Flash Museum. Oddly, her troops refer to her as "Miss Thawne." One would think she'd want to go by Mrs. Allen to strengthen her connection to the Flash family and distance herself from her dictator father. Anyway, Bart tells her he's helping the Legion right now and doesn't have long. He gives his mom a big hug, and she's thrilled to see he's Kid Flash now, saying Bart's father would have loved to see this. Bart takes off, telling his mom not to forget him, and she says, "No one will ever forget ... the Flash."

The fight at the Legion headquarters grows more intense. At one point, Wonder Girl is pinned down and about to be sliced in half by one of the Persuaders. But Superboy, dressed in his black T-shirt and jeans, saves her at the last second. Invisible Kid notes the speedsters' kinetic energy has only charged their machine to 99 percent, so he urges Kid Flash and XS to pick it up. Bart says they can't go any faster, so Jenni starts calling him Koko. This surge in anger is enough to push Bart over the top and charge the resonator cells to maximum capacity.

All the villains begin disappearing instantly, but there is a side effect. Destroying the Persuaders' axes is unleashing an energy that's severing our heroes' connection to the space-time continuum. Bart is shocked that Brainiac got something wrong. Invisible Kid defends him, saying that some other force is pounding against reality. He spots the last remaining Persuader from this reality, still battling Superboy, and tells Bart that his axe is the only thing now that send the Teen Titans back to the 21st century.

Superboy grabs the axe before Bart can, and holds it in a telekinetic shield as reality unravels around our heroes, placing them in a swirling rainbow vortex. Cosmic Boy explains that the Persuader is already caught in a temporal loop and is destined to return to the 21st century, but if they keep the loop open long enough to return to the 31st century, the impact on the time stream will be catastrophic. But Cyborg notes that if they do take the axe back to the 21st century and close the loop, then the Legion will be trapped in this space between dimensions. Cosmic Boy agrees, saying the decision will be made the instant Superboy drops his telekinetic shield, meaning he must decide if he's a Legionnaire or a Titan.

After considering this for a moment, Superboy realizes there's only one choice before him and Cosmic Boy was just testing him (which Cosmic Boy admits to). Superboy says the safest course is to take everybody back to the 21st century, where they can later find a way to get the Legion back to their time. Unfortunately, Superboy took too long to make this decision, as the Persuader was able to escape Starfire's grasp and fight Superboy for control of his axe. And this ruins everything.

The Teen Titans are sent in one direction, the Legionnaires in the other. The Titans quickly fly past some images of their near future before crash-landing in front of Titans Tower. However, they're pretty sure they're not quite home. The Legionnaires, meanwhile, all link hands to endure the rainbow storm together. But one of them isn't able to hold on, and she actually does make it back to the 31st century, only to find a completely different world with a completely different Legion of Super-Heroes. And this issue ends with a backup story by Mark Waid, setting up the new comic series for this new Legion.



This was a pretty fun issue with an epic, smash-em-up feel. We got some more of that explosive Ivan Reis art, plus the writing of Impulse creator Mark Waid. There was plenty of fun action for all the characters, and our little Bart Allen actually had a critical role to play. Yeah, the bit with him being called Koko was pretty cheesy, but it was better than Bart's usual role this year of merely pulling bystanders out of the way. It was a little odd that Brainiac 5 called Bart that, since Brainiac actually liked Bart the last time they met. Perhaps this was just Brainiac's way of playfully teasing an old friend in a stressful situation. And speaking of Koko, what happened to that monkey? Did it die?

A story like this really could have benefitted from a couple of mores issues. For example, Superboy's conflict of choosing between the two teams really fell flat because we didn't see any of the time he spent with the Legion. That could have been shown in an issue of Legion or Superboy (if that series was still going). And in Bart's case, I wish he had his own series to spend an issue to tell us more about his mom and even how his despotic grandfather fell from power. Regardless, I was thrilled to see Bart reunited with his cousin and his mom in the middle of a sprawling adventure.

Next time, we're going to review our first TV episode, "Run" from Smallville.

Legion of Super-Heroes #100

OK C.O.M.P.U.T.O.

Tom Peyer Co-Plotter/Scripter
Tom McCraw Co-Plotter/Colorist
Lee Moder and Derec Aucoin Pencillers
Ray Kryssing and Drew Geraci Inkers
Pat Brosseau Letterer
Frank Berrios Assistant Editor
KC Carlson Editor

Here is the special anniversary issue of Legion of Super-Heroes. For issue #100, we got ... 96 pages. I don't understand why DC couldn't have thrown in four extra pages of something simple like a timeline or who's who pages. But we also got this fun fold-out cover from Alan Davis and Mark Farmer. It shows exactly what happens in this issue — the Legion finally returns to the 30th century and is reunited with the rest of the Legionnaires. And I'm very proud that Impulse was chosen as one of the guest stars to stand beside Martian Manhunter and Superman.

Our story begins with C.O.M.P.U.T.O. wreaking havoc along the northeastern seaboard. Things have gotten so bad that even Green Lantern has come in to help prevent airplanes from colliding midair. C.O.M.P.U.T.O. also has disconnected 911, so Saturn Girl is using her telepathy to locate any and all emergencies. She then directs Impulse toward each home invasion, house fire and any other crisis that is going unrecorded. Apparently, they've been at this for quite a while, since the usually energetic Impulse is actually asking for a break.

Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 is holed up in the makeshift war room with Robin, Superman and Martian Manhunter. Robin suggests they feed C.O.M.P.U.T.O. a virus, but Brainiac says a virus will be too slow, and his ultimate machine would be able to quickly adapt to it and destroy it. But he does get an idea to create a large electromagnetic pulse, aided by Superman's new electric powers. Superman is willing to help, but as is custom for this era, he once again professes to not fully understanding how his new powers work. By the time he figures them out, he'll be back to normal again.

Superboy, meanwhile, is stuck guarding the time portal C.O.M.P.U.T.O. created above Metropolis. His job is to make sure nothing accidentally enters or leaves the 30th century, which he feels is a very boring assignment. Four minutes later, Brainiac finishes building his EMP rods, saying Superman needs to take one into the stratosphere, while two of them need to be placed at the North and South Poles. So they form two teams to head to the opposite ends of the globe.

Martian Manhunter leads a group to the South Pole, which makes sense because his base is in Antartica. C.O.M.P.U.T.O. sends the possessed Cosmic Boy there to stop them, but our heroes are able to save the leader of the Legion, largely thanks to Martian Manhunter's shape-shifting ability confusing the machine. Once freed, Cosmic Boy says he needs to head straight to the time portal.

Impulse was placed on the North Pole team with Green Lantern, and they are encountered by C.O.M.P.U.T.O. and the possessed Triad. As Impulse attacks the evil machine, something odd happens. C.O.M.P.U.T.O. says, "Impulse! I've been admiring your accelerated nervous system! Mind if I tap in?" It then blasts Impulse with some sort of electrical energy, and poor Bart begins having seizures on the ground. Soon, he's up and running around, but I can't tell if he's being controlled or is just running wildly. In any case, Green Lantern teams up with the teleporter Gates to finally catch Impulse in a net. But the poor kid continues to have seizures on the ground until C.O.M.P.U.T.O. is finally defeated.

And that happens when Cosmic Boy returns from the 30th century with the entire Legion roster as reinforcements. C.O.M.P.U.T.O. saw through Brainiac's plan and blasted the EMP rod out of Superman's hand. So Brainiac falls back on Robin's original plan of using a virus, counting on all the extra heroes to confuse and distract the machine long enough for the virus to take hold. The Legion comes through, largely thanks to the illusions created by Sensor, which mixed up everybody's powers — XS, for example, appeared to be turn invisible, while the Invisible Kid was apparently using super speed. Once the illusion is lifted, C.O.M.P.U.T.O. doesn't know what to do, and Superman is able to deliver the virus and destroy the evil machine once and for all.

We're then treated to a very fun two-page splash with everyone catching up with their long-lost friends. Bart is naturally thrilled to see his cousin, Jenni, again, but we don't catch any of their conversation. Instead, we just see them running circles around everyone and bugging people. Finally, the time comes for the Legion to return home, and they take Ferro with them, who was in tears over the prospect of losing his best friends. They also bring along the little white monkey Koko, much to Brainiac 5's displeasure.

There are also a whole bunch of backup stories in this 96-page special, but none of them involve Impulse, so I'll skip them. Overall, I thought this was a great way to send the Legion back to the future. It was an epic adventure, involving all the Legionnaires and a handful of great guest stars. Once again, the art was the weakest part for me, and I also wish they would have better explained what exactly happened to Impulse. But all in all, it was a fun ride, and I will miss having the Legion around. I was growing particularly fond of Brainiac 5.

Next time, we'll return to the main series with Impulse #33.