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Legion of Super Heroes #37
Writer: Jim Shooter
Artist: Francis Manapul
Review by Brian Grindrod
2 stars out of 10
A decade after Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Oliver Coipel changed the tone as well as updated The Legion Of Super-Heroes for a comic book audience that did not care much about Carey Bates’ take on the characters nor may have not even been born when those issues were published, Dan Didio & Paul Levitz try to enthuse the geriatrics to pick up their walkers or canes and rush to a comic book shop by hiring Jim Shooter on the series. While my generation fondly remembers Jim Shooter as the mastermind behind Valiant Comics, it appears that those who were born in the 40s & 50s associate him as the teen prodigy who wrote some classic Legion stories when Lyndon B. Johnson was president. Perhaps comic book shops should start stocking up on Depends and Viagra for this new (or should that be old?) influx of customers that DC is aiming at.
I decided to purchase a copy of Legion Of Super-Heroes #37 hoping to read the story styling that made Jim Shooter’s Valiant books some of the greatest comics ever published. After I finished putting down the book, I needed a handful of acetaminophen and a few ounces of Southern Comfort to rid myself of one giant headache. Either I over evaluated Shooter’s writing skills, talent and editorial vision on the Valiant books or this guy is being ghost-written by the likes of Brad Meltzer and Judd Winick. The erratic plot threads that jump from one scenario to another have no structured pace while the characters’ dialogue is nonsensical at best. From the cast, only Karate Kid is slightly interesting while others such as Lightning Lad come off as needing a steady dose of Ritalin while Princess Projectra is as unsympathetic as they come.
Shooter also uses so many word balloons and panels that the artist is forced to draw figures and objects to such a tiny size that you will need a magnifying glass so that your eyes don’t squint constantly to make out what is being portrayed. The fight scenes are so cramped that it loses all impact and sense of awe. The script and Shooter’s dependence on being verbose hinders all of Francis Manapul’s effort to tell a story. I will not condemn an artist who is paired with a writer who will not script a story to suit his partner’s strengths. Manapul is also in poor company with inker Livesay whose styling is obviously not appropriate to enhance his pencil work.
For those who believe that a comic book’s value is in the word count and number of panels drawn, Legion of Super-Heroes #37 is the best bargain you will have come across since Chris Claremont’s X-Treme X-Men series. Realistically, either editor Mike Marts tells Jim Shooter to cut down on the writing prose or quickly scramble to get another creative team on the title so that DC can herald as well as hype that the series that is going in (yet another) bold new direction with (yet another) reluanch.
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