DC COMICS
WRITER: Jim Shooter
ARTISTS/COVER: Francis Manapul, John Livesay

The now-penniless Princess Projectra tries to put her life back together while the rest of the Legion encounter various threats both criminal and bureaucratic.

The return of longtime Legion writer Jim Shooter has not meant a return to the simpler times of the 1960s-1970s when the Legion of Superheroes were at their peak and the future was looking bright. The continuity set up after the latest reboot still remains in place with the Legion, a band of super-teens in the 31st century who are tolerated but not totally trusted by civil authority.

At least the Legion is starting to come together as a team instead of feuding all the time. In this issue, they largely take on common criminals, except that in the future, even street thugs have the weapons and abilities to can match those of superheroes.

The art is reflective of the tone of the series. It is still mostly dark tones, gray backgrounds and scratchy lines, not the shiney future of Curt Swan, Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell. Frankly, despite some good scenes, (like Projectra in the ruined castle), the art is still a little too 'busy,' to the point that it becomes tiring to follow the story.

This issue is a little more accessible with small captions explaining who the major characters are and what their powers are. But at the same time, some of the dialogue is almost incomprehensible due to the frequent use of futuristic slang. Yes, the slang does convey a sense of how different the future is but it also simply gets in the way of telling a story, to the point that only the longtime readers can understand what the florg is happening. Or maybe that is the intention. Perhaps DC Comics has decided that the Legion is now a niche comic book that can only appeal to die-hard fans.

All in all, this issue gets three stars out of five.