Tag Archives: Legion

Preview: Legion #2

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Legion #2

Story: Peter Milligan Art: Wilfredo Torres Cover Art: Javier Rodriguez
Color: Dan Brown Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Graphic Designers: Jay Bowen and Anthony Gambino
Editor: Darren Shan Assistant Editor: Chris Robinson X-Men Group Editor: Mark Paniccia
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 28, 2018
SRP: $3.99

TRAUMA Part 2
• Celebrity psychologist HANNAH JONES has been sucked into LEGION’s bizarre mind-world!
• What strange alternative personalities, painful memory spores and mind-bending paranoia storms will she encounter?
• And will Hannah be able to heal the fractured mind of her patient – and keep her own life and sanity intact?!

Around the Tubes

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It’s new comic book day! What’s everyone excited for? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below. While you wait for shops to open, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.

Artsy – The Feminist Comic Book That Broke into the Cartoon Industry’s Boys Club – Some solid comic book history.

IGN – Legion Season 2 Premiere Date Announced – Hells yes.

 

Reviews

Talking Comics – Elephantmen #80

The Beat – The Ladies in Waiting

Comic Attack – The Silencer #1

Review: Legion #1

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So, what do you do when Marvel and FOX have a hit TV show on FX? Bring back that specific character in the comics to capitalize on it, even if it’s for a miniseries. Of course! I’m not cynical about this, honestly. Given the character of David Haller or Legion, his codename, has a lot of story potential. You could create a ton of psychological Horror stories surrounding this character given his powers involve telepathy and reality warping especially given he has multiple personality disorder. The possibilities are really endless especially if someone is talented enough to make it all interesting. Hell, the TV show Legion showed you can do it in other media.

So like I said, no doubt Marvel decided to bring back the character due to the TV show being a hit and who’s the guy they hire to bring him back? Peter Milligan, who previously wrote for Marvel and the X-Men with the book X-Statix. Admittedly, as a big Marvel fan I am, I am not that familiar with X-Statix but I am curious about his work now given he has put in a lot of twisted intrigued with Legion and seems to fit him like a glove. The book is pretty much psychological horror through and through but with a different flair than say, the TV show. Okay, I swear I’ll cut back referencing the TV show.

I describe the book’s feel so far as like a Stuart Gordon horror film like Re-Animator meets Beyond The Gate, at least in regards to tone. I don’t know how to describe it but it seems blunt with its weirdness. It’s colorful but also dark with its content. The entire book revolves around two characters. Yes, it’s not just David Haller. There’s somebody he has to warn of an incoming danger he has been meeting often times face to face in the first opening pages of the book. Haller has to work Dr. Hannah Jones, a psychotherapist who as of recent has been treating celebrities. And whatever force is after David, is after her too.

So the book has two POVs and it can be a bit jarring at first but it works once the last couple of pages have the two together, thus, setting up the next issue to come. And the book does at least do a good job introducing both characters as to who they are, what they do and how they’re reacting to this new, dangerous situation to them. Especially since Jones has had multiple encounters with tentacles. This book is fond of tentacles for whatever reason. Though thankfully, it wasn’t throughout the book. In fact, there’s a good scene of a statuette of Sigmund Freud seemingly talking to Hannah-really demonstrating how far this force will attempt to mess with her.

The art, I felt was jarring at first because it’s not bad art. I really love the art by Wilfredo Torres and the colors by Dan Brown. They make the art pop. Just that with a premise like this, I kind of got it in my head that a Legion book would be more twisted with its visuals to empathize the horror aspect in a way. But I think the art is growing on me as it reminds me of Mike Allerd’s art and I say that in a good way and I think it can fit the book the more it goes on. I mean, whatever twisted visuals are there, works to its effective use.

And Peter Milligan does do a solid job establishing the characters and situations to behold. It’s a set up but it’s good set up for things to come. It did feel a bit jarring from the first page when the book is dumped straight into the action where David Haller is running for his dear life. The text narration from him does help a bit but I’m too sure if that was the right call if only because maybe a build up to that moment would have sufficed. The rest, Milligan did well really from what this evil force can accomplish like having his victims relive their traumas or how David is coping with not just the situation but himself and what brief interaction was shown between him and Hannah does show promise.

If you’re a fan of the Legion character whether it’d be the comics or the TV show (whoops, did it again!), this comic is guaranteed to feed that satisfaction.

Around the Tubes

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The weekend is almost here! What geeky things will you all be doing? Sound off in the comments below. While you wait for work to end and the weekend begin, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.

CBR – The Mystery of the Missing Jack Kirby Demon Word Balloon! – Interesting. Didn’t know about this.

How to Love Comics – Black Panther Reading Order Guide – For those that want to know.

ComicBook – ‘Marvel’s Daredevil’ Season 3 Adds Joanne Whalley To Cast – Nice.

 

Reviews

CBR – Abbott #1

CBR – Legion #1

Comics Bulletin – Postal #25

ICv2 – Tales From the Crypt: The Stalking Dead

Review: Legion #1

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David Haller, the son of Professor Charles Xavier, has always had trouble containing the multiple personalities in his mind. And with each personality, comes a wild and dangerous mutant power. But now, a terrifying new personality is threatening to absorb these powers and take  over David’s mind and body.  In a desperate attempt to save himself, David seeks out the help of renowned young psychotherapist Hannah Jones to delve into his fractured mind and fight back this dark personality. But unknown to Legion….Dr Jones brings her own demons with her…

David Haller, aka Legion, is a character that’s never quite clicked for me beyond small doses. He’s had a few runs in the spotlight, and while there’s been some good, it generally isn’t memorable. With the succession of the FX Legion television show, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Marvel has launched a miniseries focused on the character.

Writer Peter Milligan takes the reigns in a story that… well I’m not quite sure where it’s going. David’s having a breakdown and there’s a villain, which may be one of his personalities stalking him. Why? Not quite sure. The issue is a lot of set up and while there’s some interesting aspects it never quite grabs me. It’s a bland journey by David to his destination while his personalities battle him and we attempt to figure out the “why” of it all. We’ve seen this what feels like many times before and none of it is really exciting.

Part of that is the art by Wilfredo Torres with color by Dan Brown. FX’s Legion stands out partially for it’s impressive visuals. There’s moments in the comic that makes you pause, but it never quite breaks out into what I’d expect. The page layouts are pretty standard and there isn’t any challenging perspective. While there’s a slight tease as to what’s real and what’s not it’s simple things like something coming “alive.” It’s weird but never really exciting or interesting. While there’s similar look to Mike and Laura Allred, both of them have embraced the weird and non-standard in their work. We’ve seen trippier elsewhere.

The story, the art, it all feels rather conservative in a way and falls short of the challenging and groundbreaking work we’ve seen in live action. This is a case where the spin-off adaptation is better than the original. While this series may improve as it moves along this first issue doesn’t quite have a hook to get me excited to see what comes next. For those checking this out due to the television show, I don’t see what would get them to stick around. There was a lot of potential in a new series, unfortunately that’s not tapped here at all.

Story: Peter Milligan Art: Wilfredo Torres Cover Art: Javier Rodriguez
Color: Dan Brown Lettering: VC’s Travis Lanham
Story: 6.0 Art: 6.0 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Pass

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

Each week our contributors are choosing up to five books and why they’re choosing the books. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Joe

Top Pick: Marvel Two-in-One #2 (Marvel) – The Human Torch and The Thing, half of the Fantastic Four are searching for Reed, Sue, and the kids. This has such potential, and I enjoyed the first issue. This should give a massive nostalgia overload for older readers like myself, but also give enough excitement and exploration for the younger crowd.

Action Comics #996 (DC Comics) – We are getting so close to the 1000th issue, and this series has been a blast since Rebirth. I love the addition of Booster Gold recently, and the best Superman book keeps on going strong.

Abbott #1 (BOOM! Studios) – I like a good crime story, and this first issue of this new series that deals with a detective investigating the occult coming from BOOM looks very promising.

Doomsday Clock #3 (DC Comics) – Who’s watching the Watchmen? Apparently the DC Universe as the two combine for a series that has been very promising so far. Sure, this could fall flat on it’s face, but for now, I am enjoying everything, even if it is just for nostalgias sake.

Dissonance #1 (Image Comics) – I love a good sci-if tale, and this looks promising. It is always fun to jump on a new indie series, and we need more science fiction comics.

 

Jon

Top Pick: Abbott # 1 (BOOM! Studios) – A great example of what comics can be when every member of the team contributes the best of their talents. Abbott has all the makings of being the next Locke and Key.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive Trio (IDW Publishing) –  If you missed these three issues when they were printed years ago, IDW is giving you another chance to catch up before the long awaited final issue launches next month. This is a book that’s worth owning for Bernie Wrightson’s art alone and is probably the best value for money you’re going to find at the comic shop this week or any other.

Hungry Ghosts #1 (Dark Horse/Berger Books) – Either Karen Berger or Anthony Bourdain would have been enough for me to give this book a shot but having both attached made it an absolute must-read. I can’t recommend it to everyone (see my full review for details) but for people looking for a horror anthology inspired by Japanese ghost stories its a nice taste of what Dark Horse’s new Berger Book’s imprint has in store.

Raven: Daughter of Darkness # 1 (DC Comics) – Raven was never a character I had much interest in or knowledge of but this book has me hooked for at least a couple more issues. It doesn’t even matter that I missed last year’s mini series. Marv Wolfman manages to use plenty of the tools that made old comics so accessible to new readers without the storytelling ever feeling too retro.

The Demon: Hell is Earth #3 (DC Comics) – This six issue limited series continues to be a fun take on one of my favorite characters with a twisted sense of humor and great visuals.

 

Alex

Top Pick: Ninja-K #3 (Valiant) – Although I enjoyed the previous series the title character starred in, Ninjak, the current series is everything I could want in a comic and more. The art is fantastic, and secondary only to the exquisite writing from Christos Gage. I love this series’ look at the murky history of the Ninja Programme, and at the history only hinted at thus far.

Doomsday Clock #3 (DC Comics) – I still haven’t decided if I expect this to be a train wreck of epic proportions, or somewhat enjoyable… but I’m looking forward to finding out.

X-O Manowar #11 (Valiant) – Now that the opening three arcs are over, I’m really looking forward to seeing what Matt Kindt does with Aric now that he rules an entire planet (or, rather, is failing miserably at ruling a planet). One could argue there’s real world parallels to people interfering in local politics and royally fucking the local situation up while acting the savior, but there’s more meat on that bone than I have space for here.

 

Brett

Top Pick: Southern Bastards #19 (Image Comics) – Any time an issue comes out it’s at the top of my read list. It’s been an amazing series and I don’t mind the gap at all as every issue delivers an emotional punch.

Avengers #677 (Marvel) – “No Surrender” has been excellent so far so I’m all in for this weekly series.

Detective Comics #973 (DC Comics) – Things are falling apart for the team in this finale of the latest arc. I’ve really wanted to see how this one ends.

Legion #1 (Marvel) – After the excellence of the television series, I’m intrigued to see what this limited comic series does.

Star Trek: Discovery #2 (IDW Publishing) – I’ve really enjoyed the television series so to get more in this world has me happy. The first issue added some depth so looking forward to the second to see what it does.

GLAAD Media Award Nominees Have Been Announced

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The GLAAD Media Awards nominees have been announced, which includes a category for comic books. The awards “recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and the issues that affect their lives.”

The awards tend to recognize “mainstream” representation, so you’ll rarely see indie comics on the list.

Below are the nominees for comics, and comic related other media. You can find the full list at their site.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women from Annapurna Pictures was nominated for “Outstanding Film – Wide Release.” The film is a loose history of the creation of Wonder Woman.

Wynonna Earp, which is based on a comic series, was nominated for “Outstanding Drama Series.”

Legion‘s episode “Chapter 8” was nominated for “Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBTQ character).”

For comics, the nominees are:

America, by Gabby Rivera, Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Stacey Lee, Ramon Villalobos, Walden Wong, Jen Bartel, Annie Wu, Aud Koch, Flaviano, Joe Rivera, Paolo Rivera, José Villarrubia, Jordan Gibson, Tamra Bonvillain, Brittany Peer, Rachelle Rosenberg, Travis Lanham (Marvel Comics)

The Backstagers, by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh, Walter Baiamonte, Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios)

Batwoman, by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Jeromy N. Cox, Stephanie Hans, Renato Arlem, Adriano Honorato Lucas, Fernando Blanco, John Rauch, Deron Bennett (DC Comics)

Black Panther: World of Wakanda, by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Yona Harvey, Rembert Browne, Alitha E. Martinez, Manny Mederos, Joe Bennett, Afua Richardson, Roberto Poggi, Tamra Bonvillain, Rachelle Rosenberg, Virtual Calligraphy, Joe Sabino (Marvel Comics)

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, by Sarah Vaughn, Lan Medina, Phillip Hester, José Villarrubia, Janice Chiang (DC Comics)

Goldie Vance, by Hope Larson, Jackie Ball, Brittney Williams, Noah Hayes, Sarah Stern, Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios)

Iceman, by Sina Grace, Alessandro Vitti, Ibraim Roberson, Edgar Salazar, Edgar E. Tadeo, Robert Gill, Rachelle Rosenberg, Joe Sabino (Marvel Comics)

Lumberjanes, by Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Carolyn Nowak, Ayme Sotuyo, Maarta Laiho, Aubrey Aiese (BOOM! Studios)

Quantum Teens are Go, by Magdalene Visaggio, Eryk Donovan, Claudia Aguirre, Zakk Saam (Black Mask Studios)

The Woods, by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, Ed Dukeshire (BOOM! Studios)

Legion’s The Shadow King is Revealed for Season 2 in April

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Legion will return to FX in April and in it David Haller (played by Dan Stevens) learns that freeing himself from the Shadow King’s influence isn’t over.

The true for of the Shadow King/Amahl Farouk will be played by Navid Negahban. Negahban is mostly known for his roles in 24 and Homeland and has a long career mainly in television and voice work in video games. Legion isn’t his first foray into the world of comics, he previously was Al Ow-Al on Arrow.

While the first season explored an “insane man in a sane world,” the second will be sort of a “sane man in an insane world” and will explore his abilities.

Listen to Graphic Policy Radio Discuss Legion with Guest Leonardo Faierman on Demand

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On demand: iTunes ¦ Sound Cloud ¦ Stitcher ¦ Listed on podcastdirectory.com

Legion is the latest comic book character to come to television. The first season introduced David Haller, the powerful mutant who may or may not be schizophrenic. The series recently wrapped up its eight-episode first season not just delivering trippy visuals but an intriguing story that weaved in elements of the comic series and classic character.

Guest Leonardo Faierman is joining Graphic Policy Radio’s hosts Brett and Elana to discuss the series.

Leonardo Faierman was born in Buenos Aires, raised in Queens, on the playground was where he planned most of his schemes. He writes video game, music, comic, and movie reviews at BlackGirlNerds and other websites. He also writes a comic book and co-hosts the podcast #BlackComicsChat, live on Twitter every other Friday.

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