Take a fringe character in Charles Xavier’s son Legion and pair him with a Brian Michael Bendis “Moon Knight” meets “Dial H” premise and you have a book that sounds like a longshot to become an enduring hit. That won’t stop it from being a great book, but a few other elements present in issue #1 just might.
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Tan Eng HuatLegion, the most powerful and unstable mutant in the world and son to Professor Charles Xavier, has killed gods and reshaped the face of the universe. NOW! in the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men, Legion will finally attempt to conquer his demons and embrace his father’s legacy!
I must be honest. I was not at all familiar with David “Legion” Haller before this issue. I was basically aware that Charles had a son that had massive mutant power and pretty much nothing else. But that’s the kind of reader that this book needs to reach because, let’s be honest, most comic fans are probably in that boat with me. This being “Marvel NOW!” and all, I think it’s important that a book like this not only tells a good story, but makes the reader care about David Haller while informing them about who he is. I can report that writer Si Spurrier makes good on the character side of things, at least. It’s the storytelling that suffers for a variety of reasons that I’ll get to.
The story centers around David, who is currently secluded from the X-Men in a convent of formerly powerful, but now broken or retired psychics. Under the guidance of Merzah the Mystic (a delightfully entertaining character indeed), David looks to re-harness his powers and hopes to one day make use of himself again. David harbors hundreds of personalities with unique powers all their own in a sort of “mental prison” that he’s created in his mind to hold them in check. He needs a purpose and a focus to keep himself together, a direction that his mystic guru is progressively leading him toward. Their relationship is one of humor and mutual admiration, rather than the “tough love” trope that is common in stories like this. Merzah wants David to realize his potential and continually reinforces David’s great power, rather than trying to control him or be subversive. It’s a refreshing and surprising take on the master & pupil story. David has been secluded from mutantkind because he has dangerous potential, but he mercifully doesn’t spend much time brooding over this fact. He wins the readers’ favor by being proactive. We see David using this power to influence a rioting mob – a glimpse of the power that he could use to change the minds of a public that hates and fears mutants. Another layer of tragedy is added when David continually asks about his father and whether he will get to see him soon. Above the clever premise behind his powers, there is no doubt that Spurrier is fleshing out a complex and enjoyable character.
Unfortunately, the story loses steam once it sets in motion the events that will take David away from this convent. Due to art problems that I will point out later, the issue was definitely not flawless up to this point, but it was focused by being a strong character piece. Without spoiling things, the story manically jettisons itself off the track it was on in the last several pages to move the character towards the X-Men. The plot doesn’t progress to this point very smoothly or naturally and instead relies on a sudden random occurrence or two to change the playing field. It doesn’t help that Tan Eng Huat’s art doesn’t get us to this point very fluidly at all.
The art style is bizarre, but I would not say that it alone is off-putting enough to be the major problem. In fact, it potentially could have lent itself pretty well to the madcap premise of tons of visually unique personalities for our main character. These moments are few and far between, as most of the characters in David’s “mind prison” are never shown in enough detail to highlight their eccentricities. Instead, the characters in the physical world that we spend the majority of our time with do not fair very well. Huat’s proportions vary at random and his characters contort in unnatural ways, even when not under duress. These contortions distract from the dialogue at times, by failing to match or enhance what’s written in the scene. In this way, the art doesn’t always do the best job of telling the story or giving us a sense of place. It makes the sudden plot advancements at the end of the book a little hard to follow. The most specific problem I can point to, however, is in the way that the characters’ eyes are all drawn. The iris’ go from very large to non-existant and everywhere in between, with seemingly no contextual reason behind it. The expression in the eyes does not seem to consistently correspond to the characters’ emotions and they end up being distracting.
I’m a big proponent of “weird” being a great thing in comics. It’s a medium that can show us the visually impossible and the weird and immerse us in those better than any other. “X-Men Legacy” has the potential to do that, but in order for the “weird” to add up to anything, you need a strong storytelling sense behind it. Spurrier does an excellent job with the characters, but the story and the art really stumbles especially over the final sequence and leaves the reader wanting just a little bit more.
Final Verdict: 6.2 – Browse or borrow. It’s on the verge of being a really good book.
