Faster than a DC Bullet: Project Crisis!, Part XLV: Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds

Comic hardcover, n.pag.
Published 2009 (contents: 2008-09) 
Acquired and read June 2015

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds

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Writer: Geoff Johns

Penciller: George Pérez
Inker: Scott Koblish
Letterer: Nick Napolitano

This story's connections to the main Final Crisis are tenuous at best: basically it serves to explain how Superman ends up in the 31st century, which he returns from after a month-long absence near the end of Final Crisis. What he was up to in the meantime was helping the Legion of Super-Heroes battle Superboy of Earth-Prime, in what must be the only good Superboy-Prime story: Superboy is portrayed as a cynical, obnoxious fanboy that hates the very optimism that the Legion represents. Geoff Johns likes to tell stories that don't show why someone is awesome, but constantly tell you they are, and Legion of 3 Worlds definitely does that for the Legion, but in this case, he makes it work, and it's fun to see the "reboot" and "threeboot" versions of the Legion united with this "deboot" version of the original, even if the focus is squarely on the original Legion. (Of the other two versions of the Legion, really only their versions of Brainiac 5 get any focus.)

The future is kind of stupid.
from Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1

A couple complaints, though: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes mentioned a case called "Legion of the 3 Worlds," which turns out to not be this one, but an unseen past one that sounds incredibly complicated, but for some reason this adventure we've never seen has continuity ramification for the one we're reading. Huh? The other is that two different issues end with the restoration to life of... Teen Titans! Characters from a completely different series who have nothing to do with this one. It's a little weird (though getting back the clone Superboy of Earth-Zero is a nice touch, given it was Superboy-Prime who killed him in Infinite Crisis.)

Brainiac 5 vs Brainiac 5 vs Brainiac 5 at the meeting of three Legions!
from Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2

But overall, this is a fun, crowd-pleasing book. The complicated planning of Brainiac 5 is always a delight, and getting three Brainiacs makes it even better. I wanted more Saturn Girl, though! It doesn't have the character depth of Legion heights like The Great Darkness Saga or Legion Lost, but it does have the undefeatable storytelling skills of George Pérez, the master of the page with over a dozen panels as well as the two-page spread. Pérez knows how the punctuate the big moments, and when to let them breathe-- and of course a book about three different Legions is perfect for his infamous ability to cram in a bajillion characters.

Next Week: Time for some Revelations!