This week I finally arrive at ‘The Great Darkness Saga,’ arguably the biggest and most well regarding Legion story of all time. Does it live up to the hype? How does it compare to ‘Earthwar?’ Have I been mistakenly conflating this “Great Darkness” with Alan Moore’s “Great Darkness?” Read on to find out.
Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes
Written by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen
Illustrated by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt
Colored by Carl Gafford
Lettered by John Costanza and Annette Kawecki
Where do we even begin with this one? ‘Great Darkness Saga’ is truly an event in an age before event comics, standing up there with the likes of ‘Dark Phoenix Saga’ in terms of scope, artistry, and spectacle. While there is certainly a lot of spectacle, the plot isn’t necessarily there to back it up.
Levitz’s choice to bring Darkseid into a Legion story is incredibly inspired. Following Kirby’s original run on the Fourth World, the New Gods went unused for nearly a decade. Darkseid’s turn here plays on Kirby’s original run in interesting, building on the mythology in ways that other writers have continued to riff on for decades. Darkseid’s servants are a particularly interesting angle, being corrupted clones of Superman, Orion, Kalibak, an Oan Guardian, and, most interestingly, an ancestor of Shadow Lass. This is of particular note, as this character would later play a prominent role in Giffen’s run on “L.E.G.I.O.N.” some years later.
Starting with the good, this arc looks incredible. Giffen, Mahlstedt, and Gafford deliver the finest looking issues in the run to date, with Gafford’s colors arguably stealing the show. Gafford’s pages are lush and vibrant. The pages in which Darkseid or his servants appear are bathed in rich purples, blues, and oranges, accompanied by an iconic Kirby crackle. While these “darkness” pages are among the most stunning and memorable pages in the arc, others stand out as well, such as the introduction of the Sorcerer’s World.
Giffen’s pencils and layouts deserve praise as well. This arc is filled with action, with dozens of characters duking it out in exciting and dynamic action sequences. Giffen’s panel layouts vacillate in size, shape, and configuration. Layouts are rarely recycled and to my knowledge are never repeated consecutively. Despite this, the storytelling remains cohesive the fight sequences are easy to follow. Take a look at this page, which features Wildfire fighting against Darkseid’s servants. Along the top of the page, Wildfile zips left and right, ping-ponging from one attack to another. At the bottom of the page, the panel orientation shifts vertically to better depict a sequence in which Wildfire flies upward, only to be spiked down by servant Orion. Also note the use of color used in the sequence, as noted earlier.
This is just one small example of any number of well crafted pages throughout the arc. Of course, there are also a number of stunning splash pages. I’ll include a few of my favorites throughout the remainder of the review. Giffen also seems to have a lot of fun sprinkling in designs that look suspiciously like Marvel characters. I specifically noted homages to Dr. Strange, Thor, Spider-Man, and Blackbolt over the course of the story. He clearly has some fun with his own designs as well. Just look at Chameleon Boy’s attorney, who like a demon from “Shin Megami Tensei.” That is to say, he looks like a penis.
‘Great Darkness Saga’ balances between telling a spectacular tale of the Legion confronting Darkseid and his servants, which I’ll call the “A” plot, with the continued ongoing dramas of the Legion, which I’ll call the “B” plot. In the “B” plot, Levitz continues to address various threads from earlier in the run, such as vacant Legion leadership, the strained relationships between Lightning Lad/Saturn Girl and Timberwolf/Light Lass, and the plight of Chameleon Boy. While these are all interesting stories in their own rights, they do intersect with the “A” plot at weird times and in strange ways, often disrupting the flow or at least dislodging one’s attention enough to be noticeable.
Continued belowThe Legion leadership plot is arguably the one that flows best, with Dream Girl’s election playing a significant role in the proceedings. In a way, it’s a fascinating choice to see how a change in leadership in the midst of a galaxy-shattering threat affects the overall story. The use of Dream Girl and her sister, the White Witch, leads to one of the “A” plot’s most memorable moments, the showdown on Sorceror’s World.
It’s not only his own run that Levitz pulls from. As touted in issue #293, seemingly every Legionnaire or Legion adjacent character makes an appearance in the climactic final issue. We see the return of the Substitute Legion, alongside more obscure characters like Dax-Em, the Wanderers and the Heroes of Lallor. Even Supergirl makes an appearance alongside her cousin, Superboy, who looks suspiciously more like Superman here. While some of these amount to glorified cameos, most play integral parts in the story.
However, as much as I enjoyed this story overall, it is not without its faults. While I would argue this story is much better than ‘Earthwar,’ it shares some similarities. Both arcs are five issues long and feature the Legion bouncing around from crisis to crisis for four issues, leading to the reveal of the big bad and a climactic final issue. In both cases, Levitz is great at setting up the villain reveal but not so great at knowing what to do with said villain at the end of the story. Darkseid’s motives, aside from being generally “not good,” are poorly defined. I suppose the living incarnation of Evil doesn’t really need a good reason to be bad. His goal, to get more power so he can spread more evil is pretty standard super villain fare. His use of Daxam and the Daxamites near the end is intriguing, but it also comes as somewhat of an afterthought.
The resolution of the fight against Darkseid is the most “Kingdom Hearts” bullshit I’ve read in a comic in some time. Being fully self-aware, I loved it, but I can subjectively acknowledge that it’s not necessarily “good.” While I’m certainly here for a good deus ex machina, Darkseid’s surrender feels extremely abrupt. Whiplash inducing, even. However, I do appreciate the idea the Legion is thoroughly outclassed in the face of a god, and that his defeat only comes in the form of divine intervention. Furthermore, said divine intervention comes about through sacrifice and the indomitable will of the Legion and their comrades, paying off on plot beats seeded throughout the story. Even in defeat, Darkseid leaves behind a “curse,” something I expect to be explored in upcoming issues.
Ultimately, I think ‘The Great Darkness Saga’ is a great Legion story, but perhaps only a “good” story overall. I also suspect readers without a passing familiarity with the Legion may struggle to get through it due to its dense reliance on Legion continuity. I certainly think the work stands on the merits of the art alone and the book deserves its place in the DC pantheon. If your are Legion agnostic and don’t mind being a little confused, this is a piece of DC Comics history that deserves to be explored.
