Legends of Tomorrow, #1

[CBR News]

It's four powerhouse tales in one colossal comic, as some of comics' most legendary talents launch new tales of Firestorm, Metamorpho, Metal Men and Sugar and Spike-that's right, Sugar and Spike!
FIRESTORM
Written by GERRY CONWAY
Art by EDUARDO PANSICA and ROB HUNTER
Firestorm is back! To save Jason Rausch, Firestorm will need to retrieve Danton Black's stolen research from Professor Stein's lab. But if Jason can't fuse with Ronnie by the Firestorm Protocol...who can?
METAL MEN
Written by LEN WEIN
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR and TREVOR SCOTT
Doctor Will Magnus' Metal Men may be the next step in robotics technology, but when the mysterious cyber-terrorist known only as Nameless comes after them, they may have met their match!
METAMORPHO
Written by AARON LOPRESTI
Art by AARON LOPRESTI with MATT BANNING
Metamorpho-a prisoner of millionaire industrialist Simon Stagg! Now, the only person who can save him is Stagg's beautiful daughter, Sapphire!? But can they defeat Stagg's prehistoric bodyguard, Java?
SUGAR & SPIKE
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by BILQUIS EVELY
The last time we saw Sugar and Spike, they were still in diapers! Now, they're grown up, and they've become private investigators who specialize in cleaning up embarrassing problems for the DCU's greatest heroes. Sugar & Spike's first assignment: retrieve a cache of Batman's retired costumes that have been stolen by Killer Moth!


Full article here.

[Jim Kelly]

I hate to see Sugar & Spike handled by anyone other than Sheldon Mayer--I feel the same way about Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. And it's even worse to have a concept that is completely NOT what Sugar & Spke was about. On the other hand, it's possible this will get DC to reprint more of Mayer's work--so modern readers can see what Sugar Plumm and Spike Wilson were really like.

I enjoy anthology style comics and the other features might be fun, but I don't understand why DC is publishing a book called LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, yet not just doing a comic book based on the TV show.

[GlennSimpson]

I hate to see Sugar & Spike handled by anyone other than Sheldon Mayer--I feel the same way about Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. And it's even worse to have a concept that is completely NOT what Sugar & Spke was about. On the other hand, it's possible this will get DC to reprint more of Mayer's work--so modern readers can see what Sugar Plumm and Spike Wilson were really like.

I enjoy anthology style comics and the other features might be fun, but I don't understand why DC is publishing a book called LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, yet not just doing a comic book based on the TV show.

I can answer your last question - because they had already commissioned most of these as mini-series, then when DCYou failed, needed to pull back on it. So this is a way of using the material they already paid for and hopefully getting a little boost from using the name of the TV show. If they had done a comic based on the show, then they would have had to do additional material.

[MangoldMoney74]

See what this brings, dosen't look too bad

[nx01a]

I'm just here for the Lopresti Metamorpho.
And Firestorm's on the TV show and is the biggest image on the cover. Makes sense.

[JasonTodd428]

Looks fine to me. I'm really only interested in Metal Men though so while I plan to give the first issue a try I may still end up just trade waiting to see if they do separate trades for each "book" here.

[kcekada]

Firestorm looks decent. I think a back to the basics approach is what the character needs after the horrible nu52 stuff. Metamorpho -- not loving the updated look. I guess purple and orange is a bit out there, but that's what I'm missing.

[protege]

I'm not sure about the metal men; i don't understand why gold has to look so preppy. As usual, my favorite character is lead.

[PyroTwilight]

It's interesting looking at this barring Sugar and Spike (which I know next to nothing about) this looks like it could easily be Pre-New 52 stories. With the exception of Metal Men since (largely Gold) have their current New 52 designs.

(Though why Metamorpho has a story and we don't have one for Element Woman is beyond me)

[Jim Kelly]

The tagline on some issues of SUGAR AND SPIKE was "Tomorrow's Teen-Agers." The idea being that today they are toddlers who haven't learned to speak English yet, but one day they will be teen-agers.

That's the only feature--from the description--that actually seems to have some connection to the future. And it doesn't look like Sugar and Spike will be teen-agers--probably twenty-something. If you were going to age them, then seeing them in their teens would make the best sense. As that would give them an Archie-style--and a writer could develop all that teen angst and unrequited desires.

Firestorm is the only link with the TV show--and I wonder if they will try to make him more in line with the CW version. But the idea of the television show is that all the Legends can be plucked out of their timeline because they don't matter. Maybe the end result when the series finally wraps is that the Legends will matter--but at the moment, they are irrelevant.

So it seems like the title is just trying to ride on the coat-tails of TVs LEGENDS OF TOMORROW.

Nevertheless, it's a book I'd almost like to buy. Except I don't want to send the wrong message to DC that I actually support what they're dong to S&S. I bemoan that DC can't escape the straight jacket of super-hero adventure comics and the style of writing and art that those require. It would be nice to see DC do more things that are completely different both in genre and in style. However, I can see why they don't--since the comic book buying public doesn't reward experimentation with form and flavour.

[Starchild]

Thoughts:

1- Sugar & Spike. Let's be honest, no one cares about them. So any change wouldn't be a big thing. I'm still going to give it a read, it looks interesting.

2- Firestorm being written by his creator is a goddamn no brainer for me.

3- Everything I heard about Lopresti's Metamorpho sounded great. But the preview doesnt have much to go off of.

4- Metal Men. Again, no-brainer.

[KoriandrJean]

While I am eager and grateful to see Firestorm written by Gerry Conway, the best writer for him EVER; I'm uneasy to see the continued apparent mis-characterization of Ron as a jerk ...

Not to mention, the loss of the beloved puffy sleeves - they made Firestorm's costume unique ...

Still, I'm definitely buying it!

[Jim Kelly]

Thoughts:

1- Sugar & Spike. Let's be honest, no one cares about them. So any change wouldn't be a big thing. I'm still going to give it a read, it looks interesting.

So what am I, chopped liver? Don't answer that--I don't think I want to know.

[Starchild]

So what am I, chopped liver? Don't answer that--I don't think I want to know.

Poor choice of words on my behalf. Every character, big or small has some sort of fan base. What I meant to say is that Sugar & Spike are super-super obscure, so any liberties taken would be justified.

[Kenozoic]

LOVED Cinar on The Legion, so adding him to the Metal Men is a major draw for me.

Len Wein Firestorm. As long as Ronnie isn't portrayed as a complete idiot, this should be good too.

Metamorpho always reels me in.

And the new spin on S&S looks interesting.

I always snag anthologies from various companies when I come across them, and this should pay off more than many.