Okay, so this is a new experience for me – reading a comic from publishers Advent Comics, who have been going for ten years now but are a new one on me. “Legend & The Vanguard” is one of their many titles, and it’s interesting to see how they compare against the big two.
As a newbie to the Advent universe, jumping in at the deep and with a new superteam book made from existing Advent characters is a little daunting. Each of these characters has their own backstory, but as far as I can see it there’s Legend, a century old superhero who formed the Vanguard to protect Earth. Everyone has their own powers, natch, and the designs are, fore the most part, pretty cool, especially Godspeed. The let down is Aura, a very sexy and well endowed female who basically goes around with her boobs three quarters out, and those puppies ain’t small. Many of the male heroes are a bit overmuscled if I’m honest, and could benefit fro not having abs like a relief map of the Himalayas.
Aside from a few design worries (please, get Aura a decent costume), Marcelo Mueler does a nice job on art throughout. The fight scenes are well done and his clear lines and composition work well throughout. The job of drawing people into this new team’s story is Tony Kitrell’s, and he does a pretty decent job. Alongside a couple of learning elements ( I now know more about light than I did) he juggles plenty of characters well, and although I was a bit lost as a new reader a few times by the time the comic finished I was pretty solid on the story that is to come. Bascialy, Legend has got the Vanguard back together to fight a friend turned insane and powerful enemy from his early days, and it’s al set up nicely.
“Legend & The Vanguard” is one of those comics that doesn’t grab you by the balls but also doesn’t suck in any way. It’s a pretty standard, fun read with plenty to enjoy, and not a bad entry to Advent comics if like me you haven’t read them before. I can see people reading this, then tracking down previous issues to find out more about the characters, but it’s not essential, which is how it should be. Definitely worth a look if you enjoy superhero books that aren’t Marvel or DC.
(Seriously, though, get Aura a costume that doesn’t make her look like a hooker)
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