DVD Review: Legion Of Super Heroes, Volume 3

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

As a young Musgo, my super-hero teams of choice were the Avengers, the Justice League (both the Of America and the International variety) and the occasional Teen Titan adventure. On TV there was no competition, it was the Superfriends and all of their incarnations. The Legion Of Super Heroes were one of the strange teams. They had a long history, having been around since 1958, but I didn't know any other kids who read the comics nor could I identify any member of the group that wasn't Superboy. Their stories took place 1000 years from current time and they seemed to have an inexhaustible roster of characters to choose from. The animated version of Legion Of Super Heroes debuted in 2006 on the CW network. Today, the super-hero team must compete on TV against Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, and even their own appearances in live-action form on Smallville.

My introduction to the animated world of Legion Of Super Heroes is in the Volume 3 DVD which contains the final five episodes of the First Season of the show. The core members of the series are "young" Superman (not referred to as Superboy), Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy (elected leader in the "Chain Of Command" episode on this disc), Triplicate Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, and Timber Wolf.

The disc opens with an episode called "The Substitutes" that closely resembles a Teen Titans episode that I recently reviewed. Much like that storyline, a group of heroes that don't make the team are forced to come together as a team while the main team is away on a mission. Just like the Titans story, here the group calls themselves the Legion Of Substitute Heroes and learn that heroes have to work together. Their battle helps solve the mystery of the Legion's main mission. It's a common plot device but it's effective here. The sheer amount of characters is daunting to keep track of and I felt like I needed a scorecard, but the heart was there. The rejected members weren't made to feel bad even if their powers seemed useless - Color Kid can just turn things different colors and yet his power actually finds a creative use in battle.

The remaining four episodes don't hold up as well. "Child's Play" and "Chain Of Command" are perfect comparisons as to why this series doesn't work as well as Titans. In that series, the main characters feel like real teenagers - videogames, pizza, cars, and falling in love. In their stand-alone episodes, they usually explore the motivations and pasts of one of their five main characters. These two Legion episodes lack that characterization aspect. "Child's Play" ultimately is about a spoiled kid with magic powers who hates rules. It doesn't play his powers off against a similar character like Phantom Girl. Instead, the focus remains solely on the villain. The conclusion leaves the viewer feeling empty.

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