And Then I Read: LEGACIES 3 – 4

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

This series combines the idea of a regular man-on-the-street's perspective of super-heroes, in the spirit of Marvel's MARVELS, and a Cliff's Notes summary of the entire history of the DC universe. It might have been a rather dry and predictable effort were it not for some quite good writing by Len Wein and excellent art, on these issues by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dave Gibbons (main stories), Dave Gibbons alone on one backup, and Joe Kubert alone on the other. Even if you're quite familiar with the material here, it's a great pleasure to see it come to vibrant life in the hands of these master artists, and Len keeps the story moving through the viewpoint character Paul Lincoln and his family and friends. The only art I'm not impressed with is the opening two pages of each issue by Scott Kolins; it's okay, but pales compared to the rest.

Here's the classic meeting of the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes that ushered in the whole idea of multiple worlds of super-heroes. The original version by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino is the source, but this version is a visual treat despite the large amount of dialogue.

If you're relatively new to the DCU, this crash course is a fun way to catch up. If you're a long-time reader you can still enjoy the fine art and good writing. Sure, it's not going to develop much suspense, we all know where things are going, but LEGACIES is a fun read. Recommended.