Season one primarily deals with Clark Kent being brought to the future by the Legion of Super Heroes so that they can help him become earths greatest champion Superman. In return (when he returns to the past) the legacy of Superman will serve as an inspiration to the Legion (yeah it's kind of a mirror within a mirror thing). It may sound a little confusing but this theme really works well, especially when we see Clark struggle with the burden of becoming a legend.
The show's not all about Superman though. The cast of heroes includes (as evidenced by the shows name) the Legion of Super Heroes. Legion characters from season one include Lighting Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Timberwolf, Triad, Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy. Other Legionaries show up as well but these are the ones most often used. With a cast this large it's easy for characters to get lost or underdeveloped. Thankfully the shows writers do an excellent job of exploring each character throughout the first season. From Bouncing Boys insecurity to Phantom Girls strained relationship with her mother to Lighting Lads conflicted relationship with his brother (and later Cosmic Boy) just about everyone gets a dedicated episode (though some get more than others).
Character relationships are also well developed. Notables include Lighting Lad and Saturn Girls budding romance as well as the seemingly mismatched Bouncing Boy and Triad. Brainiac 5s hero worship of Superman is also fun to watch, particularly because he is also serving as a bit of an adviser and guide to Clark on his journey to become Superman.
If I were to offer any criticism of season one it's that I felt the show could have gone a little further with its character development. Also the Clark Kent learning to become Superman theme seems to disappear later in the season. Overall these were pretty small complaints though and the rest of my production expectations were met (solid animation and production/character design, good sound and music, fantastic voice acting, writing, dialog etc.).
On to Season two. The second season of this shows jumps two years into the future. Of course we're talking about the future to begin with so let me clarify, the shows characters are all two years older. This is a little odd and unexpected at first, but you quickly become accustomed to the change and I found the show was better for it. I honestly do not know if this was an organic change the shows producers had intended from the start, or perhaps a response to criticism from the previous season. Either way I liked it.
The season premiers with the Legion going to the future (What's that you say? You thought the Legion was already set in the future. Well they are but that was the 31st century. They're traveling further into the future, the 41st century) to help a cloned Superman fight the villain Imperiex. You see in the future (I mean the futures future) earth is getting whooped on by Imperiex and his ginormous army. The only hope for us is to clone earths greatest hero Superman. But that's still not enough to stop Imperiex so this new Superman travels to the 31st century to recruit the Legion for help. Got all that? Good. Anyway they end up beating Imperiex but don't finish the job. As a result Imperiex escapes to the past (the past being the 31st century) and wages his war on the universe all over again.
That sets up Imperiex as the seasons overarching villain. This is another change from season one (which did not have an overarching villain) that I approve of. Anyway the Legion go back to the future (I mean the 31st century) along with cloned Superman to, once again, stop Imperiex. To do this they recruit modern day Superman (the original from season one) to help them. So essentially we have two supermen. The original big blue boyscout and his edgier, moodier, doesn't play well with others clone. Still with me? Good.
I'll spare you any more confusing synopsis now and focus on the season in broader terms. Once again the show does a great job of giving each character their own episode so that we can explore them in depth. Timberwolf has a nice episode dealing with his fear of his own primal nature and animal side. Lightening Lad finally gets to settle things with his brother. Best of all Brainiac 5 faces down his own demon, his evil ancestor Brainiac 1. Previous character dynamics are still present as well, but much to my disappointment they are still not fully developed (Saturn Girl and Lightening Lads romance, Bouncing Boy and Triad as well).
Visually the show is actually better in season two. The animation feels cleaner and more detailed. The action sequences are more vivid and the overall design is just stronger. The music and voice acting are top notch once again.
I do have one complaint I want to call out from this season though. Chameleon Boy. I am familiar with the comics, and I've always liked the character but he comes off very generic in the show. Generic in what way you ask? Well if you've ever watched Teen Titans just imagine an orange Beast Boy with tentacles instead of hair and you got Chameleon Boy. Actually Beast Boy is probably a little sillier than Chameleon Boy but my point is that Cham (as his friends call him) ends up feeling like some cliched shape shifting goofball for the team to poke fun at. A role that many of us had already seen played out in the Teen Titans cartoon just one or two years prior to this. Personally I wish they would have found a better purpose for the character.
To conclude I would have to say that season two of Legion was a significant improvement over season one (and since I liked season one that's pretty impressive). The more mature characters and themes were a step in the right direction and given another season I think the show could have gotten even better. But this was not meant to be. Luckily each season is self contained. What I mean is that each season has a beginning, middle and end so you're never left with unresolved story lines. At worst there may be a little set up for season three but not enough to bug you. If you're a fan of Superman, or the Legion of Superheroes or just good action/adventure cartoon you should check this series out.
DVD Notes: Only season one of this series has been released on DVD to date. There are no indications that the second season will ever be released.
