LEGENDS #5 & #6

“LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!” | “FINALE”
Plotter: John Ostrander | Scripter: Len Wein
Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Karl Kesel w/Dennis Janke (issue 6 assist)
Letterer: Steve Haynie | Colorist: Tom Ziuko | Editor: Mike Gold

The Plot: (Issue 5) Billy Batson sees a girl he had befriended hit by debris from a riot and finally changes back into Captain Marvel. Moments later, he’s spirited away by Doctor Fate. In Star City, Fate grabs Black Canary. He plucks Guy Gardner from Los Angeles, then the Blue Beetle from Chicago. In Gotham City, Fate grabs Batman. In New York, Captain Boomerang is captured by a gang of Gordon Godfrey’s rabid followers, and Fate takes Flash and Changeling before they can pursue. Finally, Doctor Fate appears in the White House as Superman confers with President Reagan and Vice President Bush. He grabs the Man of Steel as well, and they depart.

Elsewhere, G. Gordon Godfrey stirs up his mob in Metropolis and shows off the captive Captain Boomerang on TV. Amanda Waller orders Task Force X to either rescue or kill Boomerang before he blows the cover off their team. In Washington, D.C., Godfrey continues to speak to his followers, until Doctor Fate arrives with his team. On Apokolips, Darkseid prepares for the final act of his plan, while in Gotham City, a determined Robin leaves his hospital room.

(Issue 5) On Apokolips, Darkseid and the Phantom Stranger continue their chat, while on Earth the heroes battle Godfrey’s war dogs, soon augmented by a troop of parademons from Apokolips. Godfrey snags Doctor Fate’s helmet and makes a run for it, while not far away, the Suicide Squad rescues Captain Boomerang. Meanwhile Wonder Woman appears to help Guy Gardner against a war dog, while human agents of Godfrey storm the White House and attempt to assassinate the president — but J’onn J’onzz impersonates the commander-in-chief to thwart the intruders.

Eventually all the otherworldly threats are eliminated and the heroes are left to face Godfrey’s foaming mob. But the arrival of a number of children, spared from Godfrey’s power of suggestion, causes the adults’ frenzy to waver and wear off. Desperate, Godfrey dons Doctor Fate’s helmet, hoping to use its power to save himself, but it instead overwhelms him, reducing him to a gibbering mess.

In the aftermath, the gathered heroes decide to re-form the Justice League, while on Apokolips, Darkseid vows that his war against Earth’s legends is not over.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: I’ve never read a single Captain Marvel comic, so I have no idea if this is a normal occurrence, but I thought it was kind of cool: after Billy changes back into Cap, he once more possesses the wisdom of Solomon and immediately realizes he was tricked by Macro Man in issue 1.

This issue features the infamous skewering of Jim Shooter, as Wein and Byrne (and presumably plotter Ostrander, though I’ve never heard of him having an axe to grind with Shooter) depict the Marvel editor-in-chief in the guise of a villain called Sunspot, who babbles about creating a “new universe” and speaks of the atrocities he committed to gain his power. When he comes into conflict with Guy Gardner, Sunspot accidently atomizes his own foot. The scene is funny, but it’s honestly kind of mean spirited, too.

Superman states that he was captured by Darkseid “earlier today,” which feels off. The SUPERMAN, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, and ACTION COMICS issues we covered last week, while not explicitly calling out any passage of time, sure felt like they took place over more than a single day!

To further complicate the timeline, and as I also discussed last week, how are all these characters moving around so fast? Godfrey travels from Metropolis to Washington within the span of a couple pages that indicate no passage of time. Sure, he could be using a boom tube, but is he bringing his followers with him through it? Or does he just find a new flock waiting for him when he gets there? And Robin somehow gets from Gotham City to Washington while the heroes are fighting the war dogs. Mind you, I don’t know where Metropolis and Gotham are supposed to be in relation to D.C., but I doubt they’re all just a mile or two apart.

In issue 6, Darkseid recaps his plan to date:

Soon after, J’onn J’onzz arrives in D.C. to assist Doctor Fate’s team, and informs the gathered heroes that the Justice League is no more.

Wonder Woman declares that she’s revealing herself in man’s world for the first time, which according to the publication schedule is correct — LEGENDS was over and done with before the seven issues of WONDER WOMAN we just looked at had even begun to hit the stands — but as those issues showed, the Amazon princess had already made some very public appearances prior to the events of LEGENDS (the next issue of WONDER WOMAN we'll examine in a few more weeks is explicitly set after LEGENDS and fills in the blanks between Wonder Woman’s first story arc and the end of the mini-series).

Also, Wonder Woman implies that she came up with her own codename, another tidbit which will be proved false by her ongoing series.

By the story’s finale, the Justice League’s demise has been greatly exaggerated, and the team re-forms consisting of Doctor Fate, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, and Blue Beetle, with Guy Gardner saying that he’ll “think on it.” By the first issue of their new ongoing series, Guy will have officially joined and (based on a quick look at the cover) it appears Mister Miracle and the female Doctor Light will be members as well.

My Thoughts: And thus ends LEGENDS. Overall, I liked it. I’ve never read CRISIS ON INFINTE EARTHS, though I know what it’s about. It basically brings about the end of the original DC Universe and sets things up for a new universe to take its place. I suppose in that way, LEGENDS is a sequel to CRISIS—where the prior series blew everything up, LEGENDS puts it back together in some respects, with the reaffirmation of the Earth’s heroes and the renewal of the Justice League.

That said, the group chosen here to represent the League is pretty underwhelming. Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash all bow out, and the group’s Green Lantern is wannabe Guy Gardner rather than the “real thing”, Hal Jordan. Sure, Batman and mainstay J’onn J’onzz stick around, but aside from them, this group, on paper, is about as underwhelming as the “Justice League Detroit” team they’re replacing.

(Of course this group would go on to star in one of the most critically praised comics of the eighties, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire — but you’d never suspect that based on the lineup presented here!)

As far as why this is the group we wound up with… I seem to recall reading someplace that in the aftermath of CRISIS, the writers, artists, and editors of the “Big Guns” all wanted to keep their characters to themselves for a while to develop their new status quos without having to coordinate anything with the JUSTICE LEAGUE office. The way I read it, when Batman editor Denny O’Neil found out that Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern Hal had all been withheld from membership, he took pity on the Justice League creative team and offered them Batman.

Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. To wrap up, LEGENDS is fun and it serves its purposes of providing an uplifting crossover on the heels of the downer that was CRISIS, plus introducing new characters and revived concepts like Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, and the Suicide Squad into the new continuity. The artwork is stellar and the script is good — my only real issue, as I’ve noted once or twice already, is with the timeline. I don’t know if it was miscommunication between Ostrander and Wein or what, but it’s pretty clear that the story as plotted must have been meant to encompass more time than the single day or two in which the script implies it takes place — especially when you factor in all the long-distance travel characters make between panels!

Next Week: SUPERMAN #4 introduces Bloodsport!