Does the second episode of Legion of Superheroes continue to impress like last weekend’s premiere?
In this week’s episode entitled “Timberwolf” the Legion welcomes a new member of the team in, who else?…..Timberwolf. In the episode the Legion receive a distress call from a scientist on a distant planet warning them of a monster on the loose. When the team shows up they soon realize that the monster isn’t the real threat, it’s the scientist who sent out the distress signal.
What I enjoyed about this episode was the interaction between the characters. In the beginning of the episode Lightning Lad and Superboy (I have a hard time calling him Superman) are battling a creature in space. Once they receive the distress signal, Superboy makes short work of the creature by tying him up using his own tendrils and hurling him into space…Lightning Lad replies with “you know, you could’ve done that in the first place.” I enjoy this aspect of the show because despite the fact that the Legion recruited Superboy knowing he would become the greatest hero of them all, they don’t really give him any special treatment. This isn’t the Justice League…Superboy clearly isn’t calling the shots on this team.
The battle scenes were pretty good as well. If this show has one strong point it definitely comes in the form of the animation which is fluid throughout the entire episode. It’s animation like this that truly makes me happy shows like this are being made now and not 20 years ago when the technology just wasn’t there.
The most enjoyable aspect of not only the episode, but of the series (and it’s whopping 2 episode run so far) is how the team reacts more like a family and less like a team. It’s obvious that Bouncing Boy and Braniac are the little brothers constantly in competition for recognition, while Lightning Lad and Superboy are the older brothers constantly trying to out do each other every chance they get. In this episode Saturn Girl serves as the anchor of the team (yes girls, she is obviously the most mature) and even scolds both Lightning Lad and Superboy after they attack Timberwolf without finding out what’s really going on.
Overall I am enjoying Legion of Superheroes for what it is. I am learning more about characters that I’ve known of, but never really took the time to “get to know.” Is it the best thing animated TV has to offer? No, but it is a solid show with some terrific animation that is supported by a fantastic voice cast, and honestly that’s more than a lot of shows nowadays can say for themselves.