Reboot: Legion Worlds #6

Legion Worlds #6 (November 2001)
title: "You Are Here: Rimbor"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

artist: Kilian Plunkett
title: "A Moment Here"

writers: Dan Abnet

penciller: Mike McKone
inker: Marlo Alquiza
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw
seps: Digital Chameleon

editor: Mike McAvennie

cover: John Cassaday
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kinetix, M'Onel, Sensor, Spark, Triad, Violet, XS; statue: Brainiac 5.1, Chameleon, Element Lad, ERG-1, Gates, Kid Quantum II, Live Wire, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy (also as flashback/voice), Umbra

Guests: 
Apparition's child, Emerald Dragon Gang, Magno, R.J. Brande, Shvaughn Erin, Timber Wolf, Wolf Gang (named: Crody, Hubble, Mash, Race, Rn'drr)

Opponents: 
Jinx-Dog, Jo Nah's mother, Kuga, Leland McCauley, Mr. Venge, Swool, Venom Gang, Wimena Wazzo, Xoth

Recap: 
Half the Legion's been missing, thought dead, but they've just now returned after a year. While they were gone, Leland McCauley became president of the United Planets, disbanded the Legion...

Synopsis: 
On Rimbor, Apparition is chased through the city skies by a rape gang, a carefully wrapped package in her arms. She drops it and it splashes everywhere - it's thankfully only gelato. The gang corner her, but she's saved by Brin Londo, Timber Wolf, a member of a rival Wolf Gang. Because she once saved his life, he's worn to protect her and - GASP! - her unborn child!

His gang resents his providing sanctuary to the wife of a rival Emerald Dragon, but she has nowhere else to go, at least until the child is born. To make things more complicated, her mother's sent a squad of mercenaries to find her and bring back the child, which she refuses to see raised on the slum planet. Going to Jo's family serves no purpose, because Jo's mom doesn't care and only tries to exploit the situation for reward money.

 

By the time the mercenaries find Tinya, she's gone into labor, perhaps provoked by the news that the missing Legionnaires are back. As Timber Wolf fights a losing battle against them, she's saved by the jinx-dog used by the mercs. These Durlan animals start turning into their prey, allowing them to better track, but in this case, the animal also gets sympathy labor pains and a maternal instinct that makes it turn against its master. The mercs defeated, Tinya phase-births a son. The mother, child and Timber Wolf then take the mercenaries' tickets back to Earth to hopefully be reunited with Ultra Boy.

In "A Moment Here", we flash back to a year ago when President McCauley unveiled a memorial to the lost Legionnaires and disbanded the team. Several discuss what they will now do (as seen in Legion Worlds), though some keep the faith after R.J. Brande sends them an inspirational message.

Commentary: 
Shotgun
Tinya was pregnant. You know what, if there's something that wasn't needed is a way to make the outpost disappearance even more tragic. Running away from home to try and find a piece of Jo on Rimbor, all the while being chased by her mother's henchmen, the poor girl has had it extremely rough. And finding Jo's mother only to have her trying to take advantage of the situation. Tinya really found herself in a vile place. I'm glad she found a friend in Timber Wolf. I suspect, since he's going to Earth with her, he might join the Legion later on, but from what we've seen in this story, he has a lot to learn about their way of doing things before he can become a member of the team.

What I've loved about the Legion Worlds up until now is the way they introduce new characters we didn't get the chance to meet in the main books. I also think they found the right way to show what the Legionnaires that stayed behind were up to in the past year. We just catch up with them, moments before the outpost comes back, and the writers are really good at closing the gaps. From what I can see in the short “A Moment There”, we've pretty much caught up with everyone except Sensor. I wonder if she got back home and took her place in the hierarchy... I especially wonder if we'll be given a chance to know. That short story felt like the right way to close up the recap and have the gang reunited... Well, slowly reunited, keeping in mind the lack of stargates has slowed down space travel.

My final thought: I don't know what I found more creepy here, that jinx-dog creature or Wazzo's wish to prove her own daughter legally incompetent to raise her child. That woman is totally bananas - B-A-N-A-N-A-S I say!

Siskoid
This was a bit of a mess for me, I have to admit. While I've loved DnA's science-fiction vocabulary to date, Rimbor slang sounds like A Clockwork Orange to me, and it's annoying to my ear (eye). Showing the planet as a gangland slum isn't any different from how it's been portrayed before, and I certainly resent Tinya being put under sexual threat by one of the Venom Gang. Gross. I certainly don't need that in my Legion comics. Lots of characters are introduced, too many for me to care about them all, or even understand what their particular powers, abilities or dynamics were. As for Timber Wolf's introduction, I imagine they might give more details later, but here he shows up fully formed. We're told Tinya saved his life, but we don't see it. He has powers, but no origin story. He's probably going to be form a romantic triangle with Tinya and Jo, but he's so big brother here, you can't quite see it. He's just a story implant, probably because the writers like Timber Wolf and the previous teams neglected to introduce him (and as a super-fighter, he might just be the replacement for Karate Kid). Meh. The back-up just tells us things we already knew, with Legionnaires preparing to do the things we've already seen them do. Double meh.

I do like the fake-out at the top of the issue, however. It looks like Tinya's holding a baby, but it's an oddly wrapped package of gelato (ok, maybe I don't like it that much given the awkward manipulation here). But anyway, first you think crap, did she have a baby?! Then, no no, of course not. And then yes, wow, she's pregnant. Huh. Some great stuff there, between her seeking out Jo's deadbeat mom to Apparition being unphased (ha!) by nude picture, to the phase delivery to the platonic couple arguing about the baby's name. If they hold up a while, they can call him Garth, I guess.

Science Police Notes:  

• This is the last issue of Legion Worlds. The story then continues in The Legion #1.
• The main story is told from Apparition's point of view and takes place on Rimbor (Ultra Boy's homeworld).
• In the Reboot, Timber Wolf is apparently from Rimbor rather than Zuun. There is no hint yet of his powers' origins.
• This issue features the birth of Apparition and Ultra Boy's baby. It would seem the gestating period for the child is at least a year.
• The back-up story marks the last appearance of Lori Morning, in a non-speaking role.

Milestone: 
First appearance of the Reboot's Timber Wolf.