Sometimes Legends Fall: a “Jupiter’s Legacy Volume 2” #3 (Review)

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Jupiter’s Legacy Volume 2 #3
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Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Frank Quitely

I don’t really care what anyone says about Batman v Superman. I do like my heroes deconstructed. I’ve loved that particular sub-genre in comics forever, and I still do today. So Jupiter’s legacy Volume 2, by creators Mark Millar and Frank Quitely is right up my alley. My interest was sparked by issue #1, although I felt that it fell a bit short of what I would want out of a first issue. I felt like issue #2 fell off a bit more and did not capture my favor as much as the first issue. But the third one? The third issue is juuuuuust right. Issue #3 is a true culmination of what I have enjoyed of the series so far, and a realization of the remaining things that have been missing. I could read stuff like this all day.

Issue #3 opens with the central heroes on the hunt to track down Skyfox. They believe that he is their only hope for cracking the Supermax, a critical node in their strategy to reclaim America by setting free all of the super-villains imprisoned there. Once free, those sheer numbers should make things more even between the resistance and the corrupt super-heroes who have gained influence over the country’s leadership.

But Skyfox, one of the most powerful supers from the preceding age, is not interested. The whole sequence is a remarkable statement on Millar’s writing abilities in dialogue and character development. You have three generations of heroes standing together in discussion. The young idealists (Hutch and Chloe), the even younger revolutionary (Jason), and the older generation, who has became a disillusioned apathetic long ago. While Chloe and Skyfox’s son try to convince the elder that America is worth saving, it’s Skyfox’s grandson, Jason, who elicits the strongest reaction, and ultimately gets ‘Fox to join in the fight. But it’s the getting there; the verbal quips, parries, sarcasm, cynicism, and sorrow, all of which are traversed in the course of this dialogue, which takes up half of the issue, is exquisite. I love Skyfox’s first line, after his family enters, some of whom he has never met, Hutch who he has not seen in decades, and: “Quiet. I’m watching television.”

Quitely’s art is on point as always. While his particular style either resonates with me in perfect synchronicity or else it just doesn’t hit my interest spot at all, this issue we’re in sync. I think it might be a matter of just certain poses or character setups or scenes that turn me off to his art. But 90% of the time, it is exactly what I want and what I wish we would get more of in comics. The best scene is when Jason and Skyfox are standing together talking and, despite having never met each other, are dressed in pretty much the same outfit and you get this sense of connection from the three generations that they span. Serendipitous.

My favorite panel from this issue is of Chloe ripping open the door to Skyfox’s layer. Quitely really does an excellent transition representing her power and strength, while his normal draw of her is such that you would not suspect that kind of display from her frame, otherwise.

While we are a good bit into this series, I would strongly recommend it to fans of Watchmen and, yes, BvS. Issue #3 is an issue where nothing really happened in terms of fists being thrown, and yet I find it the most artistically intricate and superb issue of the three released so far. I’m hoping that this is the new groove for this run and that we have nothing by upside left to see. Mr Millar and Quitely, to the moon and beyond, gentlemen.