R.E.B.E.L.S. #6

R.E.B.E.L.S. #6 (September 2009)

title: "Dominators"

writer: Tony Bedard

penciller: Claude St. Aubin

inker: Scott Hanna

colors: Jose Villarrubia 

letters: Steve Wands
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Kalman Andrasofszky

Reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Recap: Vril Dox found himself on the run after the new leader of L.E.G.I.O.N. put a bounty on his head. He received a message through time from his descendant, Brainiac 5, who explained that there was no record in his era of Vril Dox after this day. To ensure his survival, Brainiac 5 provided him with the complete personnel files of the Legion of Super-Heroes to maximize his chances. Vril Dox then stole a device from one of the mercenaries chasing him, which gave him control over the giant beast, Tribulus. He travelled to Starhaven, home of the Anasazi Tribe of Earth, who had long ago been abducted by aliens and resettled. There, he recruited the outcast native, Wildstar, and used technology to awaken the latent tracking talents of her people.  Unfortunately, the effects of the process mean that she must now wear a special containment suit for the rest of her life. He then travelled to the planet Cairn to recruit former L.E.G.I.O.N. officer, Strata, and her companion, Bounder. Their ship came under attack by a Durlan, Captain Ciji, who commanded a troop of Khund warriors.

Ciji reveals to Dox that the Council of Durla are afraid of whoever took over the L.EG.I.O.N. and they want to work together. Meanwhile, a wormhole appeared near the Dominator homeworld and they have come under attack by an invasion force led by Starro.

Despite the technologically advanced nature of their weaponry, the Dominators struggle in battle against Starro's army. They are preparing to fall back and fire thermo-nukes when Starro resorts to a more old-fashioned method of attack.

The Admiral leading the Dominator's defense retreats to the Emporer's palace to see why the thermo-nukes have not been fired.

Amon Hakk has a gun to Vril Dox's head and is explaining that he was hired by the L.E.G.I.O.N. supercomputer, Silica. Amon had been labelled a sell-out by his people for joining the L.E.G.I.O.N. and was made a symbol of weakness and corruption. Their discussion is interrupted by a message from the Dominators warning everyone that their planet has been overrun by Starro creatures. Dox notes that after Maltus & the Dominion, the Khunds are next.

Suddently, Captain Ciji, the former Durlan captain, emerges from Amon's armor. Dox is less surprised than everyone else that she survived her ship's explosion. She declares that they are partners now and if what the Dominator said was true, they will all need each other going forward.

Wildstar has recovered the supercomputer Silica and returned her to Dox. He is able to reactivate her, although everyone is caught off guard when she calls him "her love." He quickly changes the subject and orders her to tell every L.E.G.I.O.N. unit of every client world to deactivate. But she is unable to connect to the L.E.G.I.O.N. net.

Meanwhile, Starro and his commanding officers are conducting a review of the army of L.E.G.I.O.N. officers he has possessed. Storm-Daughter has returned and is reporting her failure in capturing Vril Dox when they are interrupted by a message from Dox.

Dox activates the "iron curtain" proticols he had prepared to keep enemies out, which command all of the L.E.G.I.O.N. peacekeeping robo-troops to abandon their posts and go into space. It was a dormant command he hard-wired into their system and they will no longer follow Starro's orders.

Starro throws a temper trantum while Dox orders Silica to self-destruct. Strata mentions that he made the big guy angry, and Dox notes that angry people make mistakes.

Man, this was a heckuva an issue. I loved everything about it. Amon Hakk had been one of my favorite of the newer recruits in the L.E.G.I.O.N. series and I was thrilled to see him back, but a bit hesitant that he had become a mercenary hunting Dox. But this issue finally explained his situation in a satisfactory way. And I love his frustration towards Dox because virtually every character in both of the previous series shared that at some point as well.

I mentioned a few times that this series was very much written for the trade, because thats the era, but in retrospect, I think I was selling it short. We just completed the sixth issue and are still moving at full steam ahead. This is really all part of one over-arching continuity, at least so far, and I love that.

It was nice to see that the Durlan survived, although I mentioned last issue that it was inevitable. Dox's friendship with a Durlan in the first few issues of L.E.G.I.O.N. was fascinating and one of the very few times we could sense that Dox had real affection for another being. And this harkens back to that in how he seems to immediately be impressed by and trust Captain Ciji.

With Dox back in top form, but with another character complaining about how much they hate him, we are really back at the high point of the original L.E.G.I.O.N. series. This was the perfectly balanced mix of inter-personnel drama and suspense that I loved. So please check back with me next week so we can see if the series keeps up this momentum!