L.E.G.I.O.N. '91 #31

L.E.G.I.O.N. '91 #31 (September 1991)
title: "Where Dreams End"
plot: Alan Grant & Barry Kitson
writer: Alan Grant
penciller: Barry Kitson
inker: Barry Kitson
letterer: Gaspar Saladino
colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
editor: Dan Raspler
cover art: Dan Brereton
review by: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane


Recap: Vril Dox suprised Phase by asking her to take over for Larissa Mallor as his second-in-command. She struggled with the decision because she believed Dox resented her for the Durlan's disappearance, but ultimately she accepted. Strata welcomed a team of new recruits, which included a Khund and Lydea Mallor, who had killed her mother while under the influence of the Computer Tyrants of Colu. Telepath scanned each recruit to ensure that none were spies, but there was one he was unable to read, the cyborg A.I.-11. Meanwhile, the gangster G'odd was furious that one of his shipments was stopped by Lobo under the orders of Dox. When one of his gang expressed concern over the L.E.G.I.O.N.'s growing influence, G'odd informed them that he had already placed a mole inside their organization.


Stealth finally returns to the team after the birth of her son. Dox demands to speak with her about their child, but she refuses and visits with Phase instead. Unfortunately, she has been gone so long that she is unaware of the recent death of Lyrissa Mallor.

While Phase explains what happened, Garv tries to introduce the new recruits to Lobo. Shockingly, this does not go well, and after threatening them, Lobo decides he needs to get away for a while. Just as he is about to take off on his bike, Telepath shows up and informs him that Dox insists that he accompany him. Lobo takes this better than expected and allows him to come along, which probably does not bode well for Telepath.

Lobo takes them to a bar on another planet and while he gets drunk, Captain Marvel suddenly appears in space above the planet. The big red cheese is unconscious and is pulled into the atmosphere. He gains speed and finally plummets to the surface, crashing thru the roof of the bar, and landing right on top of Lobo.

Needless to say, Lobo is not happy. But after Lobo punches him twice and pours a drink over his head, Marvel still maintains a pleasant demeanor, and suggests they just sit down and have a friendly chat. Lobo is so disgusted that he heads to the bathroom to puke.

Lobo returns and again tries to provoke Captain Marvel but it does not work. When Marvel hears shouts for help from the restroom, he goes in to discover that Lobo has jammed someone halfway into a toilet. And then Lobo finally gets his wish.

Cap and Lobo engage in a bit of fisticuffs and Lobo becomes increasingly frustrated that he cannot get the best of this "goody-goody." He is having trouble finding his frag grenade but Captain Marvel disappears before he could use it anyways.

While all of this has been going on, Dox has been unable to find Stealth and his furious. She went to visit Lyrissa's grave with Strata and Phase, which put them all out of range of the monitor cameras. Dox storms into the washroom just as Lobo remembers where he put that frag grenade.

Before I get to my review, one thing I neglected to mention is that this issue is a War of the Gods crossover. The main reason I forgot to mention it is that I recall not liking that crossover when it came out and I did not really want to go back and reread it when the only real impact it would have is explaining why Captain Marvel mysteriously appeared and then disappeared. And frankly, that is not important to this story in any way, so that is all we really need to say about that.

On a more positive note, I am a huge Captain Marvel fan and am always happy to see him show up in any comic. I think they made great use of him here by having his cheery demeanor constantly chafing on Lobo. It was also fun to see two such drastically different characters do the punchy-punchy thing for several pages.

Several of our ongoing plot lines were pushed aside for this story but the one we do get is the return of Stealth. Watching her learn of Lyrissa's passing and reuniting with Strata and Phase was quite touching, but the creative team managed to put an amusing spin on it by having Dox lose it over his inability to find her. The final panel was the icing on the cake because it is not often we get to see Dox get any sort of comeuppance in this series.

Undoubtedly, their reunion will happen soon enough but I am glad they gave it some breathing space and have Stealth spend some time with her friends first. Of course, the big unanswered question is where is their baby. So check back with me next week and we will see if Dox makes any headway with Stealth!