Long Live The Legion

While everybody's attention has been on the Watchmen movie, I've also been keeping an eye on the TV schedules for the Legion of Superheroes' debut on the rejuvenated Smallville, which still isn't essential but is a lot more enjoyable than the largely routine last two or thee seasons. As a major fan of the Giffen eras (the only DC titles I bought regularly in the early/mid 80s were New Teen Titans and the Legion, abandoning the former when Perez left and the the latter when Greg LaRoque replaced Steve Lightle). Last night saw the long awaited episode in question and --given the compromised versions of Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary and Supergirl on the show (I think Green Arrow is a decent mix of the 40s and 70s GA) - what did I think of the show?

Well, the fact that I was grinning for a large part of the show is a pretty good indicator that I really enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting a whole lot but it was possibly the most pleasing episode of Smallville I've seen, yes even better than each season's "Sexy Lois" episodes. Okay, three members isn't exactly a Legion but it follows the comic history (which Geoff Johns has just reintroduced into official DC continuity and plays with again for his debut Smallville script here) by featuring the three founding members and they were all spot on to how I imagined them...except for Garth (Lightning Lad). When I started reading the Legion, Garth was already married so was calmer and had matured beyond the impetuous Silver Age version that the TV version is loosely based on. Still, he was likable enough and I liked Johns' novel usage of his and Rokk's powers. (BTW, I've just changed how I draw rocks, thought I'd just mention it).

It's a pity the Persuader was barely used as he was every inch the hardass he is in the comic and looked bloody excellent (with Doomsday, the Legion and Zatanna all being surprisingly good executions, looking forward to the possible introduction of more heroes into the show). While the plot was decent enough and Alison Mack turned in a great performance as Chloiac, it was the shout out to all the Legion history that I loved. From the flight rings, the Legion code (and the forming of it's first rule) and references to Light(ning) Lass through to a logical evolution for a featured character (won't spoil it for anybody watching it next week), I loved loved loved it.

Favourite line? "Garth, you're acting like a Sub" Made me laugh out loud...