The covers: Two super covers for this final issue. The Regular cover by Ryan Sook has Saturn Girl offering a Legion flight ring to Superboy. It’s shown from the point of view of looking through the ring as the Boy of Steel reaches for it. Behind him are members of the Legion cheering him on. Great cover with a great perspective. The characters look cool and the colors are incredibly vibrant. Having that baby blue sky as the background helps. The Variant cover connects to the previous issue’s variant and is created by Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair. This has OMAC in the lower center flying to the upper right accompanied by the Legionnaires. Great idea for a cover that looks good, though I would rather have the title characters on the cover than guest stars. Overall grade: Regular A+ and Variant B
The story: Continuing the horrible trend from last issue, writer Brian Michael Bendis has Rose/Thorn travelling through different times. First Rose is in a Space Museum in the future being followed by ecstatic fan of the 20th and 21st century, Michael Jon Carter, AKA the future Booster Gold. His dialogue is funny and cute, but she’s Debbie Downer, leaving to find a time bubble. Next Thorn meets with OMAC where she does him a favor and then leaves, but not before telling him he should change his priorities. Then Rose leaves Earth and ends up in the stars, but — wait for it — unhappy. She then returns to Earth where she meets the Legion. I continue to find myself thunderstruck at how pointless this was to promote the Legion. No Legion appearances until Pages 26 and 27. If this, and the previous issue, were simply a tease to say where the first story of the Legion is heading, it’s a waste. A good storyteller would be able to start a series running. Instead this is an unnecessary foray into DC’s multiple future books. I don’t care. Overall grade: F
The art: At least the book looks pretty in certain chapters. The artists are Jim Cheung, Jeff Dekal, Ryan Sook, with inks by Tomeu Morey. The first seven pages look fantastic, full of patrons and familiar holographic characters. The emotions on Michael and Rose are great. I’m all for a Legion book that looks like this. The OMAC pages have a lot of action and debris, resembling John Byrne’s take on the hero from decades ago. I don’t care for the scenes in deep space because I can’t tell specifically where the character is or whom she’s referencing. Given the history of previous Legion series, I do find it ironic that all I can say here is “Too obscure for me.” The final tale is populated by some neat aliens in the opening page, and I definitely would like to see more alien creatures for this future team of do-gooders. The architecture looks good, though I don’t like the double-page splash that shows the exterior of Earth as it comes across as sketchy. I do like the new looks of the Legionnaires and can’t wait to see more of them. A mixed bag on this issue. Overall grade: B
The colors: Jordie Bellaire does a solid job with the book’s colors. The first seven pages look the most vibrant, with colors strong and beautiful. OMAC’s world is debris filled tan, browns, and oranges allowing the hero to stand out. The space sequences reminded me of the colors by Juan Doe that I’ve seen in many AfterShock Comics, such as World Reader. I was disappointed at how flat the colors were on the final chapter, considering this is where the Legion is based. The characters are wonderfully colored, but their world is painfully dull on colors. Overall grade: B-
The letters: Scene settings, transmissions, dialogue, yells, and narration are created by Dave Sharpe. I like the futuristic font used for the scene settings and hope it continues into the monthly series. The transmissions are in familiar italics to show that the dialogue is going through a machine. The dialogue is easy to read and the yells are differed from it by being in a thicker and larger font. The narration in space is a sleek, cool elongated font. Sharpe contributes the strongest work to this book. Overall grade: A
The final line: A major misfire in reintroducing the Legion to the DC Universe that leaves me concerned. The story appears to be teasing a story without having the courage to simply introduce it in the monthly title when it finally is published. The visuals are okay, but don’t impress because the characters I’m paying to read about aren’t in the story. I’m incredibly disappointed. Let me put it this way, say you’re a writer and the company you write for says it’s going to pay you in cash, but instead they give you some paper that says MONEY at the top, but it’s not money. Would that writer be happy with what they received? That’s how I feel about the writing on this book. With a story this bad, and such a misleading title, I can’t average the scores to give a passing grade. Overall grade: F
To order a digital copy go to https://www.comixology.com/Legion-of-Super-Heroes-Millennium-2019-2/digital-comic/808488?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC90b3BSZXN1bHRzU2xpZGVy
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