Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga

Rating:
Summary: One Of Their Finest Stories
Review: A great story with a lot of attention to detail, especially with regard to Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga and the Legion's 30th Century world in general. Also included is a copy of the Giffen/Mahlstadt poster which includes almost every character that appeared in Legion stories up to that point. Fun to figure out who the villains are and this story is amazingly consistant and strong regarding the Legion's multiple personalities.

Rating:
Summary: A must have!
Review: All through the years, the Legion of Superheroes has been the greatest and most popular superhero group in the comics industry. For any die-hard fan, the highest point in the LSH history has been those wonderful issues written by Paul Levitz, drawn by Keith Giffen and inked by Larry Mahlstedt. A combination between science fiction and magic, this saga tells the story of Darkseid's attempt to take over the 30th. Century universe and the struggle form every legionnaire and hero known to stop him. A strong script from Levitz and the unforgettable art form Giffen/Mahlstedt make this story the most praised adventure from the heroes of the future.So, if you ever see this book, buy it. It's very difficult to find, and maybe a little expensive but it's worth its price.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe I'm not the best person to review this, but...
Review: I have never been a huge fan of the Legion of Super Heroes. The concept of a futuristic team of teen super aliens with groan-inducing names was just too goofy for me. While I certainly browsed random issues over the years, I never stuck with a storyline. That changed this week when I read LOSH: THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA. I hate to say it, but if this is the best DC has to offer in the way of LOSH storylines, I will pass.

I can remember back to the early '80s when this story was serialized: readers were on the edges of their seats, dying to know the identity of the villain. It was kept a mystery for several issues, and that generated quite a bit of excitement. The cover of the trade paperback, however, features Darkseid's mug smack dab in the center, which ruins a bit of the appeal of the story. Anyway, Darkseid is out to stomp the Legion in this story, and he sure does it. You'll see the majority of the LOSH, plus the Substitue Heroes, Mordru, and others, get their clocks cleaned. Plus, there's a nifty bit of time-paradox concerning one of the LOSH's most formidable foes.

I'll admit that, so far, this review probably doesn't warrant such a low rating, so why in the world did I give it 2 stars? First off, this whole story is primarily a slugfest - just one battle after another. I prefer stories that are more character-driven, and this certainly isn't one. And even with all that action, it's fairly dull! My biggest problem, however, concerns the presentation of the Legion within this storyline; specifically, the disconnect between their apparent ages and their names. I have always understood the LOSH to be a group of teenagers, especially with names such as Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, etc. But to see those characters presented here as more mature, with bulky steroid physiques, sporting full beards, and having children, while still retaining their childlike names, is kind of creepy. So are they the matured Legion retaining their original names for the sake of tradition, or could Keith Giffen only draw one stock body style? The world may never know.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat less satisfying than I remembered...
Review: Strangely, The Great Darkness Saga doesn't show up on Amazon when you do a search for Legion of Super-Heroes or Darkseid. I only happened upon it an someone's list of their favorite comic book sagas of the 70's and 80's.

I should say right up front that I was never a die-hard Legion fan, or even much of a DC fan when the Great Darkness Saga came out. Up until then, I thought the LoSH was, well...more of a kids' comic, if that makes any sense. I mean, come on...Lighting Lad? Element Lad? Bouncing Boy? The Invisible Kid? These are some truly lame superhero names, and they never really seemed interesting enough to investigate back then. Still, there was something about The Great Darkness that made me check it out back then, and kept me looking for the trade paperback. Maybe it was Keith Giffin's artwork. Maybe it was the mystery of Darkseid's identity. Maybe it was just me searching for the next Dark Phoenix (never found it) storyline to captivate me.

All of that said, after reading this story for the first time in 20 years, I came away disappointed. My recollection was that Darkseid came off in this story as being DC's equivalent to Marvel's Thanos - a malevolent, near omnipotent being with a complex agenda. After reading this, I realize that he's really nowhere close in either his menace or his complexity. He's just a bad guy doing bad things because...well, because he wants to. This may have changed as the character developed in other titles, but here that's all he is. While we're doing a comparison, let's be clear that the Legion aren't the Avengers either, or even the Titans. Even beyond this story, they're a group of one-dimensional characters that you really don't get to know well enough to care much about.

Don't get me wrong. There's some promise here. Giffin's art really does get better as the story goes along. The Servants of Darkness were an interesting group of villains. Wildfire is an interesting character, and Giffin seems to put more artistic energy into him, particularly in battle. And, of course, Darkseid is a great villain despite his shortcomings here (I won't give away the unsatisfying resolution to this story here).

While I'm glad I bought The Great Darkness Saga to add to my collection of stories to share with my kids when they're older, it's likely going to be my last trade paperback of DC stories. It's just not the classic I remembered, and at the end of the day, there's just not enough there.

Rating:
Summary: The best Legion story ever
Review: This was the storyline that made me start collecting The Legion of Super-Heroes comics back in 1982. I actually came on board in the middle of the Great Darkness Saga, but quickly scrounged back issues to get the whole story. Everything Levitz and Giffen did afterward was shadowed by this story. Heck, this was where Darkseid made his comeback after being virtually relegated to comic book oblivion in the '70s.
Even when Kirby was writing the Fourth World comics, Darkseid was not the major player in the DC Universe that he is now. But Levitz showed the potential for the character, making him a cosmic villain of universal proportions. Like one of the other reviewers here, Darkseid was new to me simply because I was too young to know about the New Gods. But Levitz used him as a mythic character whose legend would have been known to those who read their Encyclopedia Galactica.
In this story, Darkseid takes a while to reveal himself, working through his "servants of darkness" to procure vessels of power, including living beings he sucks dry of their power. When he does this to Mordru, the Legion know they've got a problem bigger than any they've faced. In one mind-blowing subplot, Darkseid transposes Apokolips with Daxam, giving a yellow sun and the power of Superman to three billion Daxamites he mind-controls.
It's difficult to know whether this remains an official part of Legion continuity because the group has endured so many revamps and rewrites. But it remains an outstanding story. As for Darkseid, this is just one of many possible futures for DC's #1 villain. John Ostrander also did a superb job writing a climactic battle between the Martian Manhunter and Darkseid thousands of years from now.

Rating:
Summary: Not THAT Great!!
Review: When this story came out, it was many times better than the awful Legion stories that faithful fans had to endure in previous years. To watch Giffen's artwork get better with each issue was a treat. Levitz and Giffen understood Legion lore and knew how to entertain the old fans.

The problem: Darkseid. Prior to this story, Darkseid had made NO previous appearance in Legion stories. Because of this, when his identity is revealed, I was left confused. Not having any prior knowlegde of this character, I wondered who the heck he was and how he fit in the continuity. Its as if Lex Luthor showed up in a Sgt. Rock comic.