Legends

Legends
Synopsis | Review | Titles

"Soon, Earth's mightiest legends will be no more than dust, and that miserable world will at last be mine for the picking."

ISSUES:

6 issues, monthly, Nov. 1986 - Apr. 1987.

WRITER(S):

John Ostrander, Len Wein.

ARTIST(S):

John Byrne, Karl Kesel.

MAJOR HEROES:

Superman, Captain Marvel, Suicide Squad, Justice League

MAJOR VILLAINS:

Darkseid and his minions, among them Glorious Godfrey and Amazing Grace

SUPPORTING CAST:

Phantom Stranger, Amanda Waller, Sarge Steel

THE PLOT:

Darkseid, master of Apokolips, has decided to take a more subtle route to destroying Earth's heroes, employing methods that turn public opinion against them. When a Presidential order forbids any superhuman activity, the heroes must choose whether to disobey.

TRIVIA:

Legends was the starting point for several revitalized DC series, including Suicide Squad, Justice League, Shazam!, and Flash.

RECOMMENDED READING:

None.

OTHER SITES:

The Unofficial Legends Biography

Synopsis

DARKSEID, THE SUPREMELY EVIL MASTER of the planet Apokolips, has refocused his attentions on the small planet called Earth, whose resident heroes have an annoying habit of opposing his plans. Deciding that a more subtle approach is in order, he enlists several of his agents in his plan to rid Earth of its legends.

First, Darkseid dispatches his master of mental manipulation, Glorious Godfrey, to turn public opinion against the heroes. In the guise of author and demagogue G. Gordon Godfrey, he uses his powers of persuasion to convince ordinary people that superheroes cause more trouble than they're worth. The result is a Presidential order banning all superhero activity.

Second, Darkseid sends his agent, Macro-Man, to Earth to battle Captain Marvel. During the battle with the giant, Captain Marvel summons the mystical lightning that changes him into Billy Batson, but the bolt triggers hidden explosives in Macro-Man's chest, killing him instantly. Believing he caused his opponent's death, Billy vows never to become Captain Marvel again.

Third, Darkseid unleashes the giant known as Brimstone, a gigantic artificial being of sentient plasma, to spread terror on Earth. After handing a decisive defeat to the Justice League of America, the monster is finally brought down by the newly created Suicide Squad.

Finally, Darkseid transports Superman to Apokolips, where he hopes the Man of Steel can be corrupted if he can't be destroyed. To this end, he uses the operative known as Amazing Grace, a beautiful but deadly woman whose specialty is ferreting out resistance groups and then dealing them a fatal blow. Stricken with amnesia, Superman falls under her persuasive spells.

While Darkseid's plans come to a climax, the mysterious Phantom Stranger warns Darkseid of the flaws in his plan, and reminds him that Earth will always have a need for heroes.

Review

HAVING DISCOVERED WITH CRISIS the sales success of crossovers involving many characters, DC produced this mini-series almost immediately afterward. This time, instead of uniting to fight a universal foe, the heroes (for the most part) remain on Earth and find their forces divided by public opinion and fear.

"The need to focus on a large cast results in unsatisfactorily small sequences with each, and resulting events are depicted in shorthand fashion."
- The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide

It's a clever concept, and one with a lot of potential if handled in the right way. Unfortunately, the story always stops short of really exploring the connections between heroes and the common people. I felt a little ripped off that the anti-hero subplot was just a glorified form of mind control; it would have been far more interesting if the public really did become resentful of its heroes, instead of being manipulated by the villains. Of course, the brainwashing angle just makes it easier to return to the status quo when the story is finished, and as a general rule crossovers rarely aim to disrupt the order of things.

The "abandoned heroes" theme was later taken up in the now-classic Watchmen, a 12-issue story published by DC but set outside the official DC Universe. In that series, the heroes were defeated by public opinion and self-serving political forces, the two forces their fists couldn't conquer. The character development in that series is far superior than what we see here, and we get many small hints of how political powers and their own shortcomings can bring down heroes. There is no such sense of deep introspection in Legends. Compared to Watchmen, Legends is baqically a slugfest with the occasional deep thought voiced by the mysterious Phantom Stranger.

Not that it doesn't have its own charms. John Byrne is at the top of his form, and his depictions of Apokolips are exceptional (no one does grit and grime like Byrne). Legends was also the starting point for several relaunched DC titles, including Suicide Squad, Justice League and Flash -- not to mention it introduced Captain Marvel to the post-Crisis universe -- so it's recommended reading for anyone who's a fan of any of those books.

But for all that, I can't help looking at Legends and feeling as if so much more could have been done. The Stranger's role as a Greek chorus to Darkseid's speeches is confusing (since when does he care what Darkseid does?), the climax is a total cliché, and people are just too happy to welcome back their heroes by the end. Plus, all throughout the series I just couldn't stop asking myself: If this Darkseid guy is so bloody evil and powerful and he hates our heroes so much, then why not just blow the whole damn planet up??? (It's because the Earth has something that Darkseid is looking for, but this motivation is never explored in the mini-series.)

And don't get me started on the robot dogs.