Legion of Super-Heroes #8 - DC (2005)

I've really been enjoying the latest reboot of the Legion of Super-Heroes by Mark Waid.

Until now.

The tension between Cosmic Boy and Brainiac-5 has been building since issue 2 or 3 and I was looking forward to seeing it come to a head. Unfortunately, Waid squandered a really good opportunity. The big blowup, when it came, was formulaic and uninteresting. This is disappointing because Waid has defied conventional logic about the Legion up 'til this point. He's done some wonderfully inventive things with the Legionnaire's powers and origins. He's made them real characters with depth. I cared about these people.

With issue 8 he turns them all in to cocky assholes who spend the entire issue one-upping each other and fighting pointlessly. I like conflict among team members when it's done well. That's what we had. This big fight issue did not resolve the tension nor did it move the story forward in an interesting manner. Now we have a big mess on our hands. Waid's a good enough writer to get us out of the mess and I hope he does so.

It doesn't help that this issue has the worst art yet. Kevin Sharpe and Prentis Rollins are listed as "Guest Penciller" and "Guest Inker", respectively. Everyone is drawn with bulging neck muscles even though they've never had them before. Also, there's very little diferentiation between the male characters. I have subtitled the character roster page "Five Men - One Face".

The inking looks unfinished. It's like the kind of thing you'd see in a sketchbook or a concept drawing. In a finished product, it just looks sloppy. I hope Barry Kitson and Mick Gray are back on board for #9.