Another decade, another revamp: THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, by Waid and Kitson.

Just another LSH Reboot? Or a return to the original magic and inventiveness?

By Derek Handley

This article contains some minor spoilers for issues 1-3

My first reaction to the news that "Legion of Super-Heroes" was headed for a continuity-restructuring revamp was 'Oh, is it that time of year again'? I was, of course, being unfair, as in its long history, the title has only undergone two other revamps that radically changed the Legion universe: it only seems like more. Nevertheless, it was with some trepidation that I picked up the first three issues of the new title. "Legion of Super-Heroes" had always been a favourite book of mine, and I had been enjoying its current story lines: could Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's take on the concept measure up?

The new "Legion of Super-Heroes" is set at the dawn of the 31st Century, an age of peace and tranquility. The stories take place on a network of worlds run from Earth with a practically utopian society. According to the Legionnaires, all they and their families have ever known is security and stability, and they are so sick of it, they could scream. The Legion of Super-Heroes is an organization of teenagers with a strong rebellious streak; they have come together to shake things up and take charge of their futures.

Or at least that's how things seem at the start of issue one.

Mark Waid and Barry Kitson are crafting an intriguing tale, and the art is beautiful. The team and the universe have little in common with the Legions we saw pre- or post-Zero Hour: while the names and faces are all familiar and the powers are the same or similar, the rationale behind the teams' existence and the tone of the book may not sit well with long-term fans. Despite all this, I found myself enjoying the book.

The first three issues are beautiful to look at. Barry Kitson is one of the great comic-book artists. His work is clean and expressive, with a great sense of timing, and he seems as comfortable with big cinematic action scenes as with intimate moments. As inventive as he is skilled, he is the perfect artist for a book like "Legion of Super-Heroes", where the setting and supporting cast have to convince us that this is the 31st Century where aliens walk among us.

A redesign of the cast and world was deemed necessary, obviously to give the title its own identity as it was released within months of the previous title's cancellation, and Mr. Kitson has proved more than up to the task. With a pinch of his inspiration from the pre-Crisis days when Superboy was a member of the team for some of the characters, a snippet from the post-Zero Hour Legion, and mixed in a healthy dose of his own design sense, he has produced a set of designs that feel like they belong in the same world. The sense of each Legionnaire having a rebellious streak is there - no 'L' symbols on belt buckles for this team - but the styles do not clash. As mentioned above, the Legion cast will be generally physically familiar to anyone who has read the title before, and some costumes are almost identical: Phantom Girl is in her white bell-bottoms, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad have slightly redesigned versions of their classic costumes, and Ultra Boy is in his red, green and leather outfit from the newer title. Other characters, notably Element Lad and Chameleon, have been thoroughly redesigned, but remain recognizable. I suspect there will be no snake-like Princess of Orando this time round; in fact, considering the characters who have appeared so far, I believe we will not be seeing Kinetix, Andromeda, XS, Kid Quantum or any other character brought in after Zero Hour.

The title on the cover has a retro feel to it, like some of the costumes, and the names of the characters are definitely a step back to basics, with Kids, Girls, Boys and Lads aplenty. Those names that are new, Micro Lad and Atom Girl, fit this, and the only character thusfar to have a name from the nineties fashion for cooler more modern monikers is Chameleon. Why not Chameleon Boy? Becau

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