Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Albert Avilla
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Pencils: Tan Eng
Inks: Craig Yeung
“Prodigal” (Spoilers!)
The story begins in the mind of David Haller, where he has set up a prison system to control his alternate personalities. Apparently, the system had been working until one of the inmates, Ksenia Panov, notices a weakness. David returns to the real world, where he is working with Merzah the Mystic to deal with his insanity. David seems to be doing well, even healing others from their mental illnesses. He has a moment when he loses his concentration and Panov attacks at this time. David gets his control back and Panov is put back in her brain cell.
At that moment in the real world, David deals with a group of restless natives; by the time he’s finished, they want to worship him. Then all heck breaks loose when David feels the death of Xavier. The prison in his mind is destroyed, and the compound and the surrounding areas in the real world are also destroyed. We are left with two ominous battles looming: (1.) David fighting the X-Men and ( 2.) David fighting his evil alternate personalities.
As a set up issue, this is not a bad story, but if the coming battles are not awesome, then I’ll feel that this was lost money. I want to judge an issue on its own merits, but that is hard to do when it is a part of a story arc. With a character as powerful as Legion, the challenges that he faces must be more powerful than he is. We need to see our heroes face insurmountable challenges. Mr. Spurrier has his own challenge of beginning to create stories where Legion will be challenged on a consistent level. Having Legion on the edge of loosing his sanity and going ballistic will always maintain a certain intensity in any story.
I respect the talent of artists, but I have taken on the role of reviewing books for the public. I have to have the integrity to say blah when I feel blah. The art in this book makes me feel blah. The faces are blah. The characters are blah. The backgrounds are blah. The details are blah. It might be the reason that X-Men Legacy does not put the wow in Marvel Now.
I rate X-Men Legacy #1 Read a Friend’s Copy. #3 (of 5) on Al-O-Meter Ranking
