Legion of Super-Heroes #39

The third issue of the Jim Shooter/Francis Manapul era takes a bit of a breather to build story and character elements. Shooter provides individual characterizations for each of the Legion members avoiding the cardboard characters present before his tenure. He is building Saturn Girl up to be quite a leader and is providing a strong female character in this book. Where Lightening Lad comes across as a bit of a goof as team leader, Saturn Girl shines on her mission. I like the direction that Shooter is taking the team. While this issue lacked the all-out action of the previous issues, I liked the character elements and story pacing. Francis Manapul continues to provide strong support with his art. Shooter's dialogue heavy script does not overshadow Manapul's great characterization, layouts, and backgrounds.

For the first time in a long while, I look forward to this monthly. If you haven't jumped on board yet, don't fear the complexities of Legion history. In each issue, Shooter provides a window into the Legion that is both accessible to new readers and remains true to old time Legion fans.

Robin #171

So, I'm bagging all of last week's comics and came across "Robin" #171. I wondered if I had even read it and flipped through the book. I had, in fact, read the book but did not post a review. As you can tell, it was not a very memorable read. I liked Chris Batista's art. He does a good job of handling both the Robin's youth and contrasting him with the adults that he deals with. Writer Chuck Dixon seems to take a breather on the action this issue to build story and characters. While I don't mind that kind of issue, this one read more like it was stretching the story to fit the TPB mold. We don't get much closer to Spoiler here. I like the direction that Dixon is going. However, I wish he would pick up the pace a bit in getting there.

Robin #170

Chuck Dixon returns to "Robin" this issue and kicks off the "who spoiled Robin's day" arc. I did not read any of the Spoiler turned Robin issues and don't really have an opinion on whether Stephanie should have a memorial in the Batcave. I've read a lot about this on blogs and forums, but I have no stake in the outcome of Stephanie's story. Whether she returns, stays dead, whatever, I'm just hoping that Dixon can provide a good story along the way. Dixon's opening chapter introduces a new "hero" to Robin's world. She wears violet and steals from the bad guys. I found the read to be fun and interesting. A good first chapter in Dixon's return to the book. I thought Chris Batista's pencils were very good. He does a good job of making the teenagers look like teenagers, rather the short adults. I really liked his action scenes with Violet.

I was leaning towards not putting "Robin" on my pull list after "The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" but with a little pushing from my son and the fact that Dixon is back on, I decided to check out Dixon's first arc. I'm glad that I did.