Comic Info
Comic Name: Legion: Secret Origin
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artist: Chris Batista
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2012
Legion: Secret Origin #1
Reprints Legion: Secret Origin #1-6 (December 2011-May 2012). The universe is in danger. The 31st Century needs heroes and the United Planets’ forces aren’t strong enough to stop the danger. R.J. Brande has a plan and a team to stop the oncoming threat. The danger is real and the Legion of Super-Heroes could be the only hope!
Written by Paul Levitz, Legion: Secret Origin collects the six issue limited series. The series features art by Chris Batista and was released after the New 52 relaunch of the DC Universe.
The New 52 didn’t hit the Legion (in fact the Legion was severed from the New 52 DCU leaving a team behind in Legion Lost). Legion: Secret Origin actually is a little sketchy since the Legion has been relaunch time and time again. A clear timeline for the Legion hasn’t really been established with events like Crisis, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, etc. always tearing apart their world. For this reason, Legion: Secret Origin feels a bit redundant and as a fan of Legion, you know it might not be permanent.
Legion: Secret Origin #6
The story just really doesn’t add enough to the Legion’s past. The story of Brande’s founding of the Legion has been told before, but this feels like an expansion upon it because it was a Golden Age story and not as fleshed out. It almost feels a bit like the misguided Spider-Man: Chapter One which sought to streamline Spider-Man’s past and instead just felt like it was playing with a classic. In that aspect, it feels a bit like a chore trudging through the past to get to the obvious conclusion: the formation of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
I will say that the art for Legion: Secret Origins is on point. Chris Batista brings a lot of fun to the series. The Legion has always been over-the-top even in their names…Matter-Eater Lad and Chlorophyll Kid are examples of that. They’re costumes need to be bright and garish. They are representations of both the planets the characters come from and are almost flags for the character…and I love that that aspect of the Legion hasn’t changed that much over the decades.
I love the Legion (and wrote about that previously), but I hate how the Legion is often treated. DC often reboots their universe out of necessity, but it often hits the Legion the hardest since the continuity of the past screws up their future. Legion: Secret Origin doesn’t change much, but it also doesn’t add much to the story of the Legion. It feels like an unnecessary title in a time when the Legion is struggling to find an audience…and ended up losing both of their books.
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