R.E.B.E.L.S. '95 #13

R.E.B.E.L.S. '95 #13 (November 1995)

writer: Tom Peyer

penciller: Derec Aucoin

inker: Mark Propst

colors: Stuart Chaifetz 

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

Reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Recap: Vril Dox: Super-Intelligent founder of the interplanetary police agency L.E.G.I.O.N. Now a fugitive from his own organization.

Lyrl Dox: Vril's power-mad son, who wrested control of L.E.G.I.O.N.  by framing his parents for his own terrible crimes.

Stealth: Lyrl's mother, now wanted for assasinating 87 planetary leaders - all victims of Lyrl Dox.

Telepath, Phase, Borb Borbb, Strata, and Garv: Former L.E.G.I.O.N. officers, now Vril's fugitive comrades.

The Iceman: A killer-for-hire sent to avenge the 87 leaders, his essence is now trapped in the R.E.B.E.L.S. ship's systems.

After the Iceman was sent after our heroes, Stealth led him into a trap that ended in the ship connecting to his brain. Instead of the ship taking control as usual, the Iceman appears to have gained the upper hand. Stealth sought help from Vril Dox, who grabbed one of the ship's tentacles and attached itself to him.

Stealth, who has been displaying feelings for Dox over the last few issues, panics and rips the connection. The tentacles turn their attention to her while Dox and Phase try to pull them off. Suddenly, a strange, blonde being in a cape appears who recognizes their ship. (Note - their ship mysteriously appeared several issues ago from another time.)  When he sees their surprise, the being, Neron, realizes that they did not call him here.

Since Iceman used the tentacles of the ship to take over Borrb's mind, Neron communicates with him. The two battle while Dox tries to regain control of the ship, which has come out of hyperspace and is about to enter Earth's atmosphere. Telepath tries to read the minds of Neron and Borrb but is pushed away as they reach some sort of agreement. Before we can learn the details, the ship crashes into Earth. 

Meanwhile, on Cairn, Lyrl is chastising the core L.E.G.I.O.N. team for not apprehending his parents. His mention of using mind control to achieve his means causes a reaction in several of them, particularly Lydea.

At the same time, the rest of the R.E.B.E.L.S. confront the Iceman. At first, they seem to gain the upper hand but it does not last too long.

Telepath and Stealth try to distract the Iceman, but it does not seem to work. Fortunately, a laser cuts through his heart, which turns out to belong to Neron, who made a deal with Dox.

This issue left me feeling confused more than anything else. The first half was a fairly natural progression but Neron's appearance was out of nowhere. I realize it was due to the issue being tied to a major crossover, but still. While there were a few elements I enjoyed, this issue felt a bit too quickly paced. Neron's appearance was jarring and Lydea's sudden realization came out of nowhere. It had the feeling that Peyer suddenly learned that he only had a few issues left and had to speed things along.

Since we are so close to the end of the series, I hope they do not speed things up too much. I was glad to see the regular art team return and I hope we see them through the end series. Please check back with me next week to find out if Lydea's awakening sticks!