Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2 Review

Rose Forrest Gump

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Ryan Sook, Nicola Scott, Jim Cheung, and Jeff Dekal
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: October 2, 2019

I can't say I loved the first issue of Millennium, but I was a bit intrigued.  No, it wasn't the Rose and Thorn walking tour of the DCU future that had my interest or the different characters we saw.  Nope, what had me intrigued was what we didn't see...the Legion of Super-Heroes!!!  Talk about your classic "bait and never give it to ya"!  Let's see if this issue at least gives us that and would it be too much to ask for a little year designation if this is setting up the future timeline?  Ok, I'll stop acting like Veruca Salt and get on with my review...




The issue opens with an And Then..., a cool concept of hologram heroes and an annoying Wonder Twins name drop.  Seriously, I love a connected Universe, but Bendis just goes so far out of his way to be a Try Hard that it always throws me right out of any issue of his I'm reading!

My eyes kept rolling as we get the typical Bendis dialogue which, much to a lot of people's chagrin, sounds straight out of a 90's TV show...but he actually goes meta here and says it's straight out of Friends.  I'm not a huge fan (my wife is), but I wouldn't pat myself too hard on the back about it.

I also wouldn't pat my back on characterization, either as we continue with Rose hanging with Booster Gold...actually, just Michael Jon Carter.  I'm starting to get a real Forest Gump vibe in this book as Rose just meanders around as the future of the DCU happens around her.  The problem is, this is just not that clever or even fun.  Most of what we see is the most uninteresting parts and that's the case here as Michael stammers about the 20th Century and asks if Rose wants to get some pizza.

We switch scenes with yet another And Then... and I want to scream.  Why bother doing this if you aren't going to actually give us a timeline?  This part is all about OMAC and if you are a fan, you may like it or you may be furious at the tone, characterization of it all.  I, personally, was just bored and again, that's not something that should be possible with OMAC in the house.

We continue with a couple more And Then's, some attempts at trippy space stuff, some references thrown in to remind us that this is a DC comic and then (dum dum dum), The Legion of Super-Heroes!!!  On the next to last damn page!  I will say one thing, I felt how long a journey Rose took because I felt every damn step of it on a very personal level!

These two issues were a bunch of nonsense!  If they were supposed to get me pumped for the upcoming Legion series, they were a failure.  If they were supposed to convince me Bendis knew the DC Universe and its cool cast of characters, they were a failure.  If they were supposed to make me go back and forth between boredom and anger then MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The art was fantastic in this issue, though, so it's not a total loss.  However, the words kept getting in the way of any sort of enjoyment and my score will certainly reflect that.

Bits and Pieces:

There really is no reason to pick this issue up.  If you are a Legion of Super-Heroes fan, don't let this taint you.  Just wait for the Legion series to start and pray for the best.  The art here is stellar, but even that can't save this book from being 100% skippable.

3.5/10