Legion Of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 Charges Forward To The Future
by Tony Thornley
Legion Of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 was billed as the set-up for the Legion’s big return to the DC Universe with an added element of thrusting an existing DC character into the 31st Century. So how successful was it?
This miniseries comes from a murder’s row of creators- Brian Michael Bendis, Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Sorrentino, Andre Lima Araujo, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, John Kalisz, Dave Stewart, Jordie Bellaire, and Dave Sharpe, with a cover by upcoming Legion artist Ryan Sook.
Rose Forrest has discovered she is immortal, perhaps as a part of her meta-gene, perhaps some other unknown reason. We proceed to follow her story for the years that follow- from Neo-Gotham of Batman Beyond, to the world of the Legion itself. But one question remains- why?
This is a fun issue, no doubt. Seeing a familiar character as a fish out of water is one of the best tropes in fiction, especially science fiction stories. Each individual bit of the story (each with their own stellar art) is good and entertaining. However, where it falls short is in tying them together.
We’re not given any reason to care of Rose in their story, nor her predicament. We simply see a C-list DC anti-hero get inserted in a near-future world, Batman Beyond, Kamandi, and an “almost Legion” period. It’s missing a framing story, or even a bit of internal dialogue to help us understand Rose’s motivation better, or how it ties into the Legion. As it stands, it’s four entertaining vignettes with little giving the issue more impact than that.
However, that said, the vignettes are all illustrated wonderfully. Each short is tonally different enough that the vast difference in style doesn’t take away from the reading experience. Because each just looks so great, there’s no one standout either. It’s one of the best looking issues to come from DC in a very long time.
In the end this is a good issue that could have been better, but it’s worth it just for the art.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 is available now from DC Comics.
