R.E.B.E.L.S. '95 #12

R.E.B.E.L.S. '95 #12 (October 1995)

writer: Tom Peyer

penciller: Michael Dutkiewicz

inker: Michael Dutkiewicz

colors: Stuart Chaifetz 

letters: Gaspar Saladino
editor: Dan Raspler
cover: Derec Aucoin & Mark Probst

Reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Recap: Having been presumed dead, Vril Dox reunited with his fellow fugitives from L.E.G.I.O.N.'s tyranny in the haven of the lawless world of Raxull.

Dox's old ally, Captain Comet, returned to the L.E.G.I.O.N. homeworld and freed his love, Ig'nea, from Lyrl Dox's control. At the same time, the representatives of each L.E.G.I.O.N. world, still victim's of Lyrl's brainwashing, hired the powerful Iceman to hunt down Vril Dox.

A L.E.G.I.O.N. research outpost is under attack. After one of their crew is ripped through the hull of their ship into space, their assailant is revealed to be the Iceman.

Iceman kills the rest of the crew and then orders the computer to open its file on Stealth. He already knows that the L.E.G.I.O.N. does not know her location, but he absorbs everything it has on her to see what he can intuit.

On the planet Raxull, Dox is repairing their ship while Strata and Garv ocopy their time playing a game. When Stealth joins them, Borbb becomes visibly nervous and teleports away.

Dox is only gone for a short time and when he returns he is holding two humanoid brains. Yes, brains. Garv is understandably freaked out, but Strata explains that they were already aboard the ship when they found it. Dox learned from his earlier mind-link with the craft that the brains store their own specialized energy capacity. These two will give the ship increased speed and offensive capability, and the rest can be combined in any permutation they may later need. Stealth is impressed and begins to show some affection towards Dox, which he ignores to try out his plan.

The ship's speed and weapons both prove to be very impressive, although Dox is reluctant to immediately to go looking for trouble with the L.E.G.I.O.N. Instead, he leaves the others and goes in search of Phase to seek her guidance. He has trouble sharing his concern at first, but she has seen Stealth's recent displays of affection and quickly figures out the problem. He says he is afraid, which is understandable given that time he was raped and murdered by Stealth. 

While they speak, Stealth is alone in her room thinking of whether she should give Dox a visit. Her thoughts are cut short, however, when the Iceman bursts through the wall and begins to choke her. They battle for some time until Stealth is able to get away. She runs into Borbb, who has finally worked up the nerve to share his feelings. He insists on speaking and will not let her get a word in, so she gives up and knocks him out. She gets to the pilot's seat just as the Iceman is catching up. As he approaches, she removes one of the brains that Dox had installed, which leaves the ship's tentacles searching for another target.

Stealth realizes she may have made a mistake and goes in search of Dox. She locates him in Phase's room, and shows a bit of jealousy before remembering why she came. She has some difficulty explaining but does get out that she thinks she did something to the ship.

This was a solid issue, although not quite on par with the last couple. My biggest issue, unfortunately, was with the art. As I have mentioned before, I had some trouble with the art in the early issues of this series but Derec Aucoin's style was slowly growing on me. This was a fairly typical instance of a filler artist who was adequate but the difference was slightly jarring.

In any event, there was still much to like here. Including the return of the Iceman, who proved to be a pretty formidable opponent for Dox in the past. Stealth was also very quick on her feet, and I think her plan was a very good one, even if it did not turn out as she expected. 

It was a relief to see Garv acting fairly comfortable around our crew, excluding Dox of course, after how out of character I felt he had been treated lately. And to see him and Strata sharing some pleasant moments amidst the chaos. Borrb's storyline is fine, I guess, even if his feelings for Stealth seem to come out of nowhere. I do not recall them sharing much time together or sharing more than one or two significant scenes. So far, at least, it is just not grabbing my interest.

I am much more curious about Stealth's obvious attraction to Dox, although there are some definite mixed feelings there. Even though they have a child together, that was the result of her going into heat, and raping and murdering Dox. Outside of that, they have generally shown more contempt for each other than anything else. Stealth does mention that her feelings began after she learned that Dox was still alive, so perhaps that reawakened some instinctive feelings inside her. After what happened the last time. I do not expect them to ever become a serious romantic couple, but it is intriguing to see where things go for now.

I did feel Comet and Marij'n's absence a bit here, but hopefully we will check in with them next issue. It would also be nice to see them quickly reunite with the rest of the R.E.B.E.L.S., so please check back next week as we see how our crew deals with the threat of the Iceman bonded with their ship!