X-Men Legacy, Vol. 8: Lost Legions

X-Men Legacy (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Mike Carey, Khoi Pham (Artist), Steve Kurth (Artist)

The X-Men have escaped the "Age of X" and returned to Utopia - unaware that something sinister followed them back. Upon discovering that this new evil has been loosed into the world, Rogue and Magneto round up a team to hunt it down. but is this motley new crew of X-Men prepared for what awaits them?

Collecting: X-Men: Legacy 250-253

Genres: Comics, X Men, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Superheroes, Comix

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting to see some of Legions personalities("power sets"), but when the back teased something from the Age of Apocalypse dimension I got my hopes up because I love that storyline, but there was no threat from that dimension.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five of Legion's 'personalities with powers' have escaped into the real world!! Legion and Frenzy's debuts as X-Men alongside Xavier, Rogue, Gambit and Magneto! Some neat plotting... Legion's move to normalcy is just done too quickly! 7 out of 12.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never quite get into the stories where the protagonist has an infinite number of powers and so cannot possibly be defeated in the long run. Sure, there's always dramatic scenes of seeing some foe take them down for a little while, but eventually they get up, find their lost courage/purpose/focus, and rally from the underdog position to find a way to defeat the (otherwise outmatched) enemy.

Legion is one of those over-powered characters, whose sole flaws are anger towards his father Charles Xavier and doubt at his own ability to remain sane in the face of all these powerful multiple-personalities. Yes, on the face of it that should provide plenty of dramatic storytelling fodder, but somehow it falls flat in execution here (and I suspect in many other instances as well). It would be fascinating to see Legion have a tragic fall that focused inwards, rather than the constant see-saw of love and hate towards his father. (starting to sound a little like the boring Daken/Wolverine "dynamic".)

That aside, I'm also getting might tired of the Rogue "sugah..." and Gambit "homme, chere" mixed-language/accent nonsense. I know this has been with X-men since early days, but I swear I've never met anyone who's otherwise fluent in English who intentionally retains a few "colourful" words like this in their decades-long use of our language. It's a ridiculous affectation that every X-writer appears to be contractually obligated to mimic, and it arrests my enjoyment of these stories the more I notice it.

Can't say I'm a fan of Frenzy as a cast member - too generically angry, not much depth. Magneto seems to ooze nuance though, and Rogue is just as fascinating as ever - hard to tire of Carey's obsession with her.

Thankfully we didn't have to go through the one-at-a-time hunt for the six escapees, but rather face the greater menace before last. And a clever way to deal with him in the end. Too clever perhaps? I dunno, I'm just glad it's over and on to the plot thread I thought we'd dropped.

Art has been good - a different style than the hyper-realistic so many are shooting for these days, and yet not cartoony or ridiculous.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic case of Hunter becomes Hunted, with a few extra special twists.
Six of Legion's fractured personalities take on material form and escape into the material world, from which they soon wreaking global havoc. Legion, with a small team of X-men set out to recapture them, but what they don't know is, Styx, the most dangerous of Legion's personalities has planned this all along and is waiting for the perfect time to snatch Professor Xavier while the team battles Chain, one of Legion's personalities. Should they go for a full frontal attack, or should they switch it up and give Styx something to lament about?

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice art. This was a Legion story, who I know through name mentioned but not a lot through actual reading, outside Age of Apocalypse. He's an interesting character with a cool power and I think there's a lot of potential to use him as a productive character without making him a constant problem.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

After surviving a twisted version of reality, the X-Men discover that several of Legion's multiple personalities have been unleashed upon the world in the flesh. Professor X, Rogue, Gambit, Magneto, Frenzy and Legion himself set out to track down and deal with the threat these powerful personalities pose.

I've not read any of the rest of 'X-Men Legacy', so this book dropped me in the deep end with only a passing familiarity with what has gone before. Despite that I found myself very much enjoying the story presented here. Legion is a fascinating character in an of himself, so the idea that some of his dangerous and deranged personalities are out there operating on their own is a great story idea to begin with.

What follows is an engaging tale of X-Men out of their depth until they can truly come together and work as a team, something made harder by Magneto's secret agenda, the love triangle between him, Gambit and Rogue, and the barely-reformed presence of Frenzy.
In short, classic X-Men fare.

The only real downside is that the book features a subplot about Rachel Summers being lost in space and that storyline leads to an unresolved cliffhanger ending here (and I don't have the next volume available to read).

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Judah Radd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this is a book about zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh shit! Did I just doze off talking about this story? How rude! I apologize. But goddam was this dull. Koi Pham’s art was a mix between good action moments and uncomfortably weird faces. The story was... I dunno... the age old story about Legion having powerful personalities that everyone needs to worry about. Also, I dunno... Magneto and Rogue and Gambit’s boring love triangle was hinted at. Also, Xavier and Magneto’s will they/wont they fight tension... and... how did 4 issues feel this long? This title is constantly alternating between good and snoozy. This was big snooze. Anyway... glad that’s over.

Two stars for decent art, decent layouts, and not being worse.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Carey's run on X-Men has its ups and downs but this is one of my favorite Legion stories. The story didn't meander other than the small setup of the next arc. This story could have been stretched out for no good reason but Carey correctly streamlined it. He does Magneto/Rogue/Gambit well. The different personas of Legion were done very well. I still have no interest in Frenzy and Professor X whined more than I would expect. The art was very good, especially from Koi Pham. Overall, a very enjoyable collection.

[Craig Lotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A team of Xavier, Rogue, Gambit, Magneto, Frenzy, and Legion are tasked with tracking down and absorbing back the six wayward powered personas that have escaped David's mind. But one of the six is a lot more sinister and deadly than the rest! Great action packed read from Carey, backed up with dynamic (though sometimes a little flat) pencils from Pham. Exactly what you want and expect from an X-book.

[Ambra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

I enjoyed the story!! It felt like one of the first times David’s character was starting to be explored, you know, where he’s not just a plot device to randomly kill characters because of the abilist view that his disorder makes him kill people for no reason. Anyway. Could have been more meaningful, but I liked David working with the x-men for once.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/2018... (and I am really far behind with my reviews so I will be putting up a bunch of quick-takes to catch up...)

Entertaining and interesting set of stories but then again, I always love a good Legion tale.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad! Pretty good Legion story. This is the one where some Alters have uh.. escaped and he has to reabsorb them. Now, I... don't really remember much of it? But I have been reading a lot of Legion comics, they are starting to blend in my brain. I also don't care about the other X-men. Only Legion! So I am probably not your typical reader, admittedly. There was Rogue? Gambit? and I did not care. Legion Portrayal: 3/5. Not bad but not dealing with his Godlike powers that I prefer.

[Rob Marney · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are fun character bits for our characters, but the stakes have never been lower than "go clean up some of Legion's multiple personalities".

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the previous volume giving Legion control over his personalities, this volume focuses on him and a team of X-Men (mostly characters who have featured prominently in previous volumes of X-Men Legacy) trying to find some personalities who are missing from his control box. That part of the story is relatively straightforward, but it also deals with some mistrust within the X-Men in general after the Age of X event changed some things around, and most of the characters here are still affected. Rogue and Gambit try some new things based on their experience, and Frenzy is trying very hard to be a hero now, with varying levels of success. It is a rather tense story that takes us to several locations, and the team's dynamics are interesting. I hope to see more intricate stories with this group in the future.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda pleased with myself that I can recognise "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" in Latin on sight.

More of Legion's multiple personalities have taken physical form and run amok. You do get the feeling that he is one of those mutants that should just be terminated for safety's sake. I mean, fair play, not his fault, but still. If they talked about putting Wanda out of her misery when her reality-bending got right shifty, I don't know why no one's voicing the same concerns after Legion's Age of X nonsense. I suppose Magneto is, but then that's just coz he's naturally trigger-happy and going cold turkey.

Also doesn't anyone else think it's creepy that one of Legion's personalities is a little girl who makes people want to spontaneously fuck in front of her while she eats their orgasms? Or is that just how I read that? Either way, so wrong.

All in all, good fun.

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably would have helped if I had read the earlier books in the series but I just couldn't get into it. I like Carey's storytelling and I am familiar with over 90% of the characters but frankly, I think I may have OD's on X-Men. Perhaps I will revisit this book but for the meantime, it just didn't interest me beyond the first several pages.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

These characters are growing on me with each volume of X-Men Legacy by Mike Carey though clever plot twists and character moments in between big rolling battles. A good mix. The art is also improving: smoother line work give the close up expressive panels more emotional punch. Even with some skimping on backgrounds, watching these characters in motion is a lot of fun.

[Annji · Rating 3 out of 5]

This TPB had me frightened to use the loo at night! Many unanswered questions arose whilst reading this but that's probably because my knowledge of X-Men is limited to the films and not due to any fault of Carey's. I'd love to read more X-Men after my experience with this.

[Steven Laverty · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-Men legacy continues to march along. It's entertaining stuff with some of my favourite characters featuring prominently (Gambit, Rogue, Magneto...), but it lacks the real heart-pounding intensity and emotional payoff that the best X-Men stories have. Worth a read, but by no means essential.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accidentally read this twice from the library, which attempting to prevent accidental rereading is one of the reasons I log in on goodreads. The second time around I had started to appreciate some of the facets of Legion. Outside of his character, there isn't much else reason to visit this book.

[Bill Mazzola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never been a huge Legion fan, so I thought the story was just ok, but I enjoy the Magneto/Rogue/Gambit dynamic and loved the art.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tied up the x-age arc. I enjoyed it.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little arc. Nothing overly remarkable, especially given the rest of Carey's run, but deals nicely with the aftermath of Age of X, and Legion's personalities are really well designed.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returns to some of the weirdness of Carey’s earliest X-works in an enjoyable action adventure. The addition of Frenzy to the cast is a definite plus.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the artwork was appallingly rough, Mike Carey's intelligent writing saved the day, and again showed us why he deserves to be writing an X-Men series!

[Aaron Swensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read and had a nice lead in to the next story "Five Miles South of the Universe"

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The x-men on a quest to find the lost sides of Legion.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harmless.

The story telling is choppy and the art relies too much on **Biff** **POW!!!** action scenes, still it kept me with it until the end. I am entirely neutral on this bit of fluff.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was all fine. It seems like everyone is pretty irrational. It's also true that the book seems to hide the stakes by introducing relative power dynamics late and also shifting them a lot.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much a fan of Legion. But it was an all right volume, I suppose.