Reboot: Legionnaires #27

Legionnaires #27 (July 1995)
title: "Eyes of Hate!"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

penciller: Mike Collins
inker: W.C. Carani
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Jeffrey Moy and W.C. Carani
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Apparition, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Spark, Triad, XS

Guests: 
Live Wire, Marla Latham, President Chu, R.J. Brande, Ultra Boy, crew of the Kendal, Science Police


Opponents: 
Obin Der, Roxxas, White Triangle

Recap: 
Andromeda has just been outed as having ties to the White Triangle, a xenophobic organization originated on Daxam. Recently, Saturn Girl's mind was injured in battle with a murderous Durlan and she's recuperating in hospital, a virtual child. Live Wire has left the Work Force to look for his brother Mekt, while that team's Ultra Boy has shown interest in Apparition...

Synopsis: 
Out in space, powerful Daxamite xenophobes working with the White Triangle are destroying R.J. Brande's stargates to keep impure "space trash" from moving about the galaxy; it's costing lives. Looking for help with his own problems, Live Wire accost Brande as the businessman storms out of his office to see to the stargates, and the older man advises he visit Saturn Girl in hospital, her injuries news to him. He does and is saddened by what he sees. Meanwhile, Terran White Triangle members are using a drone to attack aliens on Earth, in particular those who would mix races.

Having learned of a connection between Andromeda and the White Triangle, Cosmic Boy restricts her to quarters and tries to have her kicked off the team. She calls her embassy, where Ambassador Roxxas admonished her for failing to fit it. It is revealed she is a White Triangle plant, and interested in the cure to lead created by Brainiac 5, he arranges for the United Planets to prevent her expulsion from the Legion.

Ultra Boy catches up to Apparition, their stormy romance catching the eye of the White Triangle who attack using hi-tech armors. XS, Spark and eventually Live Wire all join in and defeat the Triangle members.

Commentary: 
Shotgun
The xenophobic plot is becoming more and more complex. Starting with the return of the Space Boy Band of Doom and its mission to destroy the Stargates. I must admit that this is well thought out. Without these, the U.P. members won’t be able to communicate and travel as freely and efficiently. They will stop "mixing the races" before it can even be a possibility. Then, to attack the exogamous couple to stop it at its core. Can’t say that the White Triangle members aren’t awful, but I also can’t say they aren’t smart. Their plan is disgusting, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t clever. These couples were at their most vulnerable around their loved ones. It’s pure evil to use this sort of comfort to get rid of unwanted affiliations. I’m glad they got to Apparition and Ultra as this will result in the arrest of at least part of the organization.

Live Wire’s return to Metropolis makes me happy. I never even thought that he didn’t know about Imra. What a shock (no pun intended) it must have been for him to see her that way. I know he came back to find a way to keep searching for his lost brother, but Saturn’s condition might convince him to stick around. I wish he would’ve at least tried to interact with her instead of just looking from a distance. If he sticks around, could it be that we will finally see him and Ultra join the Legion? I wish it would happen soon, but for this to work, the Legion must get rid of the influence of the government (or whatever they call themselves). Andromeda is in deep right now. I first thought, after reading her origin story, that the Triangle effigy was inspired by the Daxamites’ attitude towards the other races. I’m afraid it is a lot more complicated than this. Was she sent to the Legion with the mission to destroy it from within? That would certainly be a hit to the U.P. if their precious unification project would collapse and fail.

Before leaving you with Siskoid I must mention this really nice touch on page 14. You know that Phantom Girl / Apparition left an impression on the Hot or Not ladies (especially myself) when I actually recognized the suit from a past era. What a great way to connect with past readers... or with the weirdos that rate the Legionnaires on their hotness level. Kudos!

Siskoid
Oh you got the reference! I was hoping you would! Yeah, it's pretty neat.

We really trashed the whole Triangle reveal for Andromeda in the previous issue - and I'm not walking that back, it was badly done - but at least it seems like she didn't tell Brainy everything. She really IS guilty of something. New readers wouldn't get this, but naming the Daxamite ambassador Roxxas, ostensibly the original continuity's most notorious murderer would fill the older reader with dread. You don't name a character after the Butcher of Trom and not make him a bad dude. I certainly don't want him, as a Daxamite, to be free of the threat of lead poisoning. Andromeda will hopefully see the light soon, but Cosmic Boy did the right thing in isolating her. Of course, the United Planets can be counted on to do the wrong thing, and they too, have to go.

Like you, Shotgun, I want Live Wire and Ultra Boy to join the Legion sooner than later. At least their love interests are keeping them in the book. Jo and Tinya have a rockier relationship than I remember from the original stories, I don't particularly enjoy it more for it. Garth can know only heartbreak given Imra's present situation... and the reader too. And let me just say I'm kind of sorry R.J. Brande wasn't more of a focus, because "This is a job for R.J. Brande" should have been prologue to something cool. Soon, hopefully.

Science Police Notes:  

• Apparition admires a costume in a store window that looks just like the previous continuity's bell-bottomed costume Tinya wore as Phantom Girl. Other costumes in the shop - which is named after Legion artist John Forte - recall those of Cosmic Boy, Tyroc, and Shrinking Violet.
• Roxxas is here reimagined as a Daxamite and the leader of the White Triangle. In the previous continuity, he was the assassin responsible for the genocide of the Trommite people, and the murder of Blok.
• The crowd scene on page 6 features a cameo by Deanna Troi, in her Season 7 uniform, one of many Star Trek references across the Reboot series.