Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics

Legends #2 (1986)

Legends #2 (of 6)

Cover date: December 1986

Plot: John Ostrander
Script: Len Wein
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Karl Kesel

"Breach of Faith!"

Reviewed by: Christopher Evans



A reporter interviews G. Gordon Godfrey at the scene of Macro-Man's death. Godfrey takes the opportunity to speak out against super-heroes again, stating that they will bring about society's downfall. A family watches the broadcast in their home. The mother and father think that Godfrey has a point. Their daughter thinks it's on top of his head. People at the scene agree with Godfrey, shouting him on and chanting against super-heroes. Hearing the crowd, Billy Batson slinks away; hiding in an alley and burying his head in his hands in despair.

On Apokolips, Darkseid observes Batson with satisfaction. Guards bring in an android form, and once delivered, it is inhabited by Doctor Bedlam, who was animating the organic android form of Macro-Man. Bedlam psionically induced Captain Marvel to transform back into Billy Batson, the lightning in turn activating the explosives planted in Macro-Man's chest; making it appear that Captain Marvel was responsible for his 'death'. Darkseid gloats that Phase One of Operation: Humiliation is an utter success, and asks a figure standing in the shadows what he thinks. The figure steps forward, revealed as the Phantom Stranger. The Stranger tells Darkseid that his twisted concept of order will never be imposed. Order needs to be chosen. Darkseid scoffs, as the second phase of his plan begins.

The JLA engages Brimstone in combat. They succeed in bringing the giant to his knees before he in turn brings a whole building down on top of them, burying them alive under the rubble.

Colonel Rick Flag visits Floyd (Deadshot) Lawton in his jail cell, offering to drop all current charges against him in return for his participation in a dangerous assignment. If he survives it. Lawton agrees and Flag takes him away as the warden wonders just what Task Force X is...

Gotham City. In a new shopping mall, four gunmen demand money and a getaway car, or they'll start killing hostages. Batman and Robin jump into the fray, taking down the gunmen in seconds. Commissioner Gordon and a SWAT team arrive. As the SWAT team leader argues with Batman, the crowd of civilians around them becomes angry, feeling that the dynamic duo could have got them killed. The crowd turns into a mob. Batman is blinded by a bottle of perfume hurled into his face and Robin is dragged away by the mob. Gordon escorts Batman away, leaving his men to take care of Robin. Outside, the mob overturns the Batmobile and as Batman is sped away in a police car, policemen on the scene discuss their feeling that G. Gordon Godfrey might just be right.

Chicago. Blue Beetle grabs a drug dealer from a street corner, but as he threatens the scared hoodlum, Police swoop in on the scene, angry that Beetle has just blown weeks of planning for the dealer to lead them to his connections. The dealer tells the police that Blue Beetle is his connection and was after him for his cut. The police try to arrest Beetle - opening fire as he escapes to his Bug ship. Beetle is hit in the arm, but his suit holds. As he speeds away, he considers rethinking his role before it becomes the death of him.

Green Lantern Guy Gardner responds to a mid air disaster, as a passenger flight's port engine explodes. Using his ring to form a shield to collect the debris, he is struck in the head by a yellow chunk of metal. Grimly refusing to pass out, he safely lands the plane on a freeway. But the passengers and drivers are far from grateful, accusing him of being a menace who could have just killed people. Gardner forces the crowd back with a whirling power ring construct and flies off. The poison is spreading...

At Titans Tower, Cosmic Boy awakens, finding himself in the care of Beast Boy and the Flash. He remembers pulling himself free of the collapsed building to find the JLA had disappeared. The Titans start to ask him about Brimstone, but Cosmic Boy excuses himself in order to fly off and find the woman he loves, concerned for her safety given current events.

The White House. Superman and the president of the United States watch footage of protests and riots on a bank of monitor screens. The Man of Steel tells the President that super-heroes aren't responsible for the madness - it is the work of one man. G. Gordon Godfrey. Nevertheless, the President feels he needs to serve the people by taking some form of action. He regretfully issues an executive order - all super-heroes are to cease activity until the crisis is over.

In Gotham, worried policemen make a call to Commissioner Gordon. They have found the battered body of Robin the Boy Wonder...

5Story - 5: Again, this comic book has more packed into its 22 pages than some other comics present in 2 or 3 issues. Yet the story moves along nicely, showing things falling apart due to Darkseid's machinations at the same time as introducing us to different characters and their abilities. I'd never come across Blue Beetle or Guy Gardner before, but learnt something about them through both of their appearances here. Nice to see how the crowds twist events against our heroes, ignoring the good they've done and focusing only on what might have happened as Godfrey's influence over them grows. That said, Blue Beetle does screw up weeks of police work here, regardless of Godfrey's influence. Hey, might he just be right about the heroes after all..?

Batman is handled well. His brutal efficiency in disposing of the gunmen is nicely mirrored by his concern for Robin as the crowd turns on them and he is unable to help. Brimstone seems to enjoy knocking buildings down on top of our heroes, as the same stunt that felled Cosmic Boy in issue 1 seems to work against the entire JLA here. Reading Ted Kord's cheery enthusiasm as the Blue Beetle again for the first time since I saw him die in Countdown to Infinite Crisis made me really miss him - and I've never bought a single issue of the JLA in my life. A good character, who should be sorely missed. Let's just hope that the big, red reset button doesn't get pressed for him in 5 to 10 year's time, making him do a Hal Jordan/Oliver Queen/Norman Osbourne/insert name here that ultimately cheapens his death.

Adults readily agreeing with Godfrey whilst a child seems to only ridicule him might just be something interesting and we get something in this story that I haven't often seen in comics. An attempt to realistically portray a contemporary president as being in power in the DC universe. The president in this story is very clearly Ronald Reagan, even if he isn't named as such. I think in all my 20 plus years of reading comic books, I've only ever seen this once before. Without spending hours leafing through my collection, do I remember seeing Bill Clinton in the Superman titles at some pojnt? I definitely remember him appearing somewhere.

This story continues to thunder along at a nice fast pace, drawing us in as more and more characters are introduced and the story progresses. A cracking read.

(My favourite sound effect this issue was CHASH! as Batman has a bottle of perfume smash into his head. I wonder which brand it was...)

4Art - 4: The art continues to be very good, albeit with somewhat scratchy inks and the occasional loss of background detail, hence the loss of a point. That said, Darkseid looks fab on page 5, (VE-RY Jack Kirby) and Batman spends a lot of time as a menacing silhouette with piercing eyes (my favourite look for him!). The president looks just like Ronald Reagan and in the final panel, Robin really does look like he's toast - battered and torn in a garbage-strewn alleyway. On the whole - solid work that is suitably heroic in nature.

4Cover Art - 4: A good depiction of our heroes surrounded and menaced by the very people they are there to protect. Superman looks suitably heroic and upset and Batman is poised well, looking restrained and grim. I'm knocking a point off this cover as at some point, John Byrne got bored of adding detail to the crowd and they get a bit sketchy the further away from the heroes they get.


Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comic Book Reviews

1986 1987 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Back to the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.