The Legion of Superheroes has been around since the '60s and has been rebooted more times than Windows 98. This version, by Waid and Kitson (Empire
), showcases the teenage supergroup of the future as a genuine youth movement, rebelling against their parents' stultifyingly utopian government. In the process, they face off against runaway robots, planetary governments, ruthless mercenaries and, best of all, one another. Superhero guru Waid pulls out all the stops for this revamp. He does have a few moments of being a little too inside-joke cute: the character Colossal Boy, for example, insists on being called Micro-Lad because he's a giant who can shrink to six feet tall. But for the most part Waid strikes a nice balance between social-minded science fiction, manga-fied teenage soap opera and all-out action. Most of the story is character-driven, focusing on internal conflicts among team members rather than just the supervillain of the month. Kitson's art is top-notch: realistic enough to ground the more fantastic elements without ever losing sight of the fact that comic-book futures work best when they're sleek and colorful. This is a Legion that could attract that ever-elusive mainstream audience. (Nov.)
