The story that takes place in a dream realm is a familiar plot in super-hero comics, but Abnett and Lanning take this stock plot and make it a pretty essential part of their "Dream Crime" story. The dream sequence that takes up most of the issue is interesting enough on its own, but the way they make Imra's absorption into this dream so believable is impressive, and the final couple of pages that reveal the villain served up a big surprise, as I had been expecting another bad guy backing the whole thing up. In addition, Batista continues to impress in his new role as Legion regular penciller, with a detailed and interesting view of the future, both "real" and dreamed of.
Legion #20 is something of a departure from the first part of "Dream Crime," which focused on Dream Girl and Saturn Girl on the telepathic homeworld of Titan. Indeed, much of this issue is spent on a dream sequence that blends 1950s culture with science-fiction, with plenty of winks and nods to the Legion characters in the background. To be honest, the winks and nods sometimes get a little too heavy and overly cutesy, but it's easy to forgive, because the central story of Imra as a waitress who dreams of being more is so engaging. One trap that these dream sequences often fall into is to be so obviously fake that it makes the hero seem dopey to be duped. That's not the case in this issue, because the world around Imra seems fairly well-realized, and the subtle changes in the second dream world are even more impressive, playing into Imra's desires as much as her beliefs.
Something that's kind of fun about this issue is that it reads like a self-contained story to some extent. Imra's crush on a Sci-Cop, her trouble with a street gang and her hopes of becoming more than just a waitress make for a story and setting that's as well-developed in part of one issue as about three issues of any slow-paced Marvel comic these days. Though the central conflict of the story is about Imra breaking free from the hypnosis, it's easy for the readers to get wrapped up in the faux conflicts of the dream sequence.
If the writers deserve credit for fleshing all of this stuff out so well and so quickly, though, then Batista and Farmer deserve even more. Batista has really risen to the challenging level set before him by Olivier Coipel, handling an immense cast and far-flung setting with ease. The 50s sci-fi design for the dream sequence is perfect, cute and retro when it needs to be but with high-tech and modern flair in the design of uniforms, vehicles, hairstyles and costumes. Batista also has very expressive characters and focused close-ups for characterization, as well as exciting and smooth flowing action sequences. Basically, his work here is what I'd want in a Legion artist in a perfect world.
While it's easy to read this issue as a jumping-on point or brief dip into the world of the Legion, there's definitely more here. To some extent, the references to Legion Lost only point up again what a mistake DC is making by not reprinting any of the Abnett-Lanning run in trade, but the creators do manage to get the basic points across to new readers as well as those who remember the limited series. And the finale is a real treat for long-time Legion fans, as we learn the villain who is behind this... and it's not the one who was so broadly hinted at in the first part of "Dream Crime." Leading me to believe that either these two powerful Legion foes are in it together, or the creators have pulled a clever switcheroo. Either possibility guarantees I'll be back for more next month.
