The stakes for the Legionnaires are always high and the writers manage to keep things relatively interesting with some nice twists, many of which are unexpected. The stories here are a fluid, lyrical blend of action and character and move along at a brisk, compelling clip. In 'Lost,' Abnett and Lanning display a solid command of their characters. In the process, they discover a new ally, and are heartbroken by the loss of not one, but two of their own. Known only as the 'progenitor,' their enemy is a powerful unseen entity with a mysterious connection to the Legionnaires themselves, and whose minions track down and destroy any alien races they regard as 'variant.' Desperate to survive, the lost Legionnaires must evade the hostile forces of the Progenitor and find a way back home.

In 'Lost,' the Legionnaires find themselves far from home in an unknown sector of space and are confronted by an adversary who represents the very antithesis of what the Legion stands for. Whatever the case, Legion Lost represents a well told, wonderful story by Abnett and Lanning with excellent sci-fi and slight horror elements.

(The poor treatment of the work is however, somewhat perplexing, given that Abnett and Lanning have returned to the DC fold to write a re-launched 'Resurrection Man' after a substantial absence.) The collection is almost completely a result of direct fan demand, as the series became a cult favorite that eventually blossomed into a well-regarded and much sought after series long after it was released, similar in many respects to the way some movies find a new and larger audience on dvd or blue-ray after only modest success in the cinema. Despite strong fan reaction and appreciation since its release, DC has treated Legion Lost pretty shoddily, waiting some ten years to finally collect it. Oddly, this treatment of a fairly important story for DC is not surprising. No foreword by writers Abnett and Lanning, no sketches or commentary at the end by Coipel, one of comics most popular artists at the moment. It's a basic, as in bare minimum, collection, although the hardcovers and binding are reasonably good quality and the paper stock is pretty good as well. This is a mean (not in the good sense) collection by DC comics of an excellent twelve issue maxi-series originally published around 2000-2001 and is collected here for the first time.

Legion Lost by Dan Abnett