If Only All Comics Were This Good

I love a comic that you can re-read only a week or two after the first perusal, pick up on all kinds of stuff you missed earlier, and get just as big of a big kick out of. Back in the days when Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman were doing regular monthly work for DC Comics, that was a common occurrence... now, not so much! Every once in a while, though, a comic comes along that combines a gripping story, well-written dialogue and amazing artwork... and right now, that's Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds! The second issue (cover shown to the left) maintained the high quality of the series kickoff while simultaneously ratcheting things up a notch or two.

Superboy-Prime continues his campaign of terror in the 31st century, forming the largest version of the Legion of Super-Villains ever seen. When you've got the Fatal Five, Mordru, the inappropriately-named "Justice League" (from Geoff Johns' recent "Legion of Super-Heroes" story in Action Comics) and the original LSV members all rolled into one big seething pile of evil, that's a threat for the ages. In this second installment of the five-part series, the "main" Legion of Super-Heroes (again, the ones from Johns' Action Comics relaunch) goes ahead with its plan to bring two other Legion incarnations to their universe, and just in the nick of time. Being an avowed fan of dopplegangers, I couldn't help but thrill to the pages showing 3 Brainiac-5's, each uniquely distinctive to longtime Legion fans, arguing over what the right course of action might be. I'm hopeful that over the remainder of the series we'll see some other "instant classic" team-ups like 3 Ultra Boys, each using their Superman-like powers (but only one ability at a time) to take down some villains together. Or maybe a baseball team's worth of Triplicate Girls, all fighting together? (Although one or more of them might be downgraded to Duo Damsels by now, given the mortality rate of that particular character in the past.)

With lots of story still to go, we have at least the following questions remaining to find answers for:

• What's contained within the lightning rod that Brainiac-5 has from the JLA/JSA/LSH crossover that appeared across the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America titles all those months ago? And is it really Flash-related?
• What's up with Sun Boy, and why does it feel like his depowered and discouraged current state is just a setup for something big later on? Could young Dirk Morgna hold within him the red sun radiation that Superboy-Prime loses his powers under? Huh, could he, huh?
• Why is Daxamite Sodam Yat, another favourite of Geoff Johns', still alive in the 31st century and presiding over a graveyard of Green Lantern rings on the planet Oa?
• Will this story give Johns a convenient means to bring back Impulse (who originated in the 31st century anyway) and undo DC Editorial's ham-fisted edict to kill the character earlier this year?
• Is Superboy-Prime really redeemable, or is Superman just a dreamer (recall that Johns brought Hal Jordan back from the Land of Evil, so nothing's impossible)?
• What are Polar Boy, Dawnstar and Wildfire travelling back to the 21st century to find? If Sun Boy's solar powers aren't the answer to Superboy-Prime, is this trio looking for Superman's Phantom Zone projector?
• What will the Legion of Super-Heroes look like at the end of this (will all 3 versions merge in some way, ala the 5 key Earths at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths)?

And that's another thing I love about Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds... it makes me want to get my hands on the next issue right away, just like the best comics have over the past (nearly) 40 years of reading them. That beats a meh reaction any day of the week!

Between this and the main Final Crisis title, it's proving to be a pretty interesting time in the DC Universe right now. Too bad more of the line can't be like these two gems.