L.E.G.I.O.N. '89 #9

L.E.G.I.O.N. '89 #9 (October 1989)
title: "Second Chances"
plot/breakdowns: Keith Giffen
script: Alan Grant
penciller: Barry Kitson
inker: Mark McKenna
letterer: Gasper Saladino
colorist: Glenn Whitmore
assistant editor: Art Young
editor: Karen Berger
cover art: Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon
review by: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

L.E.G.I.O.N.airres: The Durlan, Garryn Bek, Lobo, Lyrissa Mallor, Phase, Stealth, Strata, Vril Dox.

Recap: Vril Dox successfully conquered the Planet Cairn, overthrowing the drug lords that ruled it and uniting its police force into his new Army. Stealth began exhibiting increasingly bizarre and violent behavior that culminated in her raping and murdering Dox. Strata convinces Lyrissa that despite their differences from Dox, his goal was a good one and his new army could be used for good. She steps up and assumes leadership in Dox's place. Meanwhile, she has Garryn Bek working with his estranged wife, Mari'n Bek, to clone Vril Dox.



A month has passed since Dox's murder and the Durlan continues to run tests on Stealth to determine if she is still a danger. She appears to be back to her old self but is starting to become frustrated with his tests and with being under house arrest. Bek is not any happier over having to work with his wife.

With Strata's assistance, Lyrissa has successfully reorganized Dox's army into a formidable police force that has begun offering its services to other planets. Three planets have so far shown interests and her envoys are reaching out to more. Bek questions whether they even need Dox back but Strata points out that they have only accomplished what they have because people believe they are operating with his blessing. There is too much risk if it was discovered that one of them murdered Dox. Bek confronts his wife and demands that she treat him with more respect but she laughs him off. His trantrum is interrupted by the Durlan to discuss how to deal with the imprisoned Lobo but suddenly he disappears and is replaced by a strange woman. 

Since they assume the Durlan merely changed shape into the woman, the Beks do not report the incident to anyone. Elsewhere, Lyrissa speaks to the population of Cairn and explains the new status qua for the plant now that the drug lords have been overthrown.

On Talok VIII, the homeworld of Lyrissa Mallor, the Computer Tyrants of Colu plot their revenge on Dox. Everyone on the planet is concerned that they lack a champion since they handed Lyrissa over to the alien alliance in the Invasion! series. The Tyrants learn that she left behind an heir, a daughter, but she is too young to fill the role. It is clear, however, that the child could play a role in the Tyrant's plans for revenge. 

The mysterious girl who appeared in place of the Durlan is wondering their headquarters, obviously confused as to how she got there. Bek confronts her but when she phases into a wall, he finally realized she cannot be the Durlan. He decides to get to the bottom of this but not to tell the others, proclaiming she is just a girl and he can take of this himself.

While Lyrissa meets with an envoy from the planet Gerguzz, Stealth tells Strata that she has decided to join their new organization. They are interrupted by Marij'n, who is furious that Bek deserted their project to go on some sort of secret covert mission. Since none of them have heard of any such mission, Stealth goes to find Bek. The mysterious girl continues phasing through their headquarters until she reaches Lobo's prison cell. Bek comes in at the same time and orders her to stop. When she approaches him, his gun goes off, but since she is phased the blast passes through her and hits Lobo's cell, freeing him. 

This would be very bad news for Bek if he did not pass out from fright. Lobo decides to wait until he wakes up to torture him and stumbles into the room where they are cloning Dox. Still angry over being imprisoned, he decides not to let Dox have a second chance at life and destroys the cloning chamber.

It has been a number of years since I last revisited this series and I had forgotten how often there are issues in which team does not fight any opponents. Of course, there was often enough political intrigue and tension between our cast to keep a reader entertained. In this issue, we finally see Lyrissa take what Dox had built and start to transform it into the interplanetary police force that is the L.E.G.I.O.N. We were given hints early on that she was far more noble in nature than Dox, but the last two issues are the first time we have really gotten to know her personality and learn details of her past.

One of my only criticisms of the first few issues was that Dox was given so much focus that we barely got to know much of anyone else. That is even more apparent now that he has been taken off the table. We finally get a real sense of Lyrissa's strength, Strata's loyalty, and the Durlan's intelligence.  Stealth's past remains a mystery, but after the bloody events of two issues ago, the reader cannot help but wonder if she is a ticking time bomb. Despite the Durlan's test results, I cannot help but feel that the team is far too trusting of Stealth after what she did. Bek remains Bek, spending more time whining than making himself useful.

Despite how Marij'n treats Bek, we do get to see her thoughts and learn that she does genuinely care for him. Their scenes are still played mostly for comic relief, but we do get hints that there is more depth to her character than we have seen and more potential as well.

The subplot involving the Computer Tyrants is interesting but I wish they gave us more information as to the current situation on Lyrissa's home planet. It has been suggested the government is in some sort of upheaval, in part due to the loss of the planet's champion, but beyond that, the situation is vague. There is someone from Talok helping the Tyrants, but we really have no idea who this person is or what they are seeking from the Tyrants. I understand that these scenes are meant to only tease an upcoming story, but this has been going on for several issues and it is hard to find these scenes that interesting when we are continually getting so little information.

Another big development in this issue is the arrival of the mysterious women who took the place of the Durlan. Fandom at the time very quickly coalesced around a common theory as to her identify, one that would provide a very strong link to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Her powers are the obvious clue, and although I am sure most of you know of whom I speak, I plan to hold off explicitly mentioning the theory for a few issues. Of course, I am not saying the theory turned out to be correct, but there was an obvious intent by the creators to suggest it. But that is something I will get into more detail about as we spend more time with her, and will also require discussing some behind the scenes decisions. There is also far more to the Durlan's disappearance but that is also something I will explore more in the future!