Wednesday, December 29, 2021

R.E.B.E.L.S. #26

R.E.B.E.L.S. #26 (May 2011)
title: Starstruck, Part 3
writer: Tony Bedard
penciller: Daniel Horn de Rosa & Claude St. Aubin
inker: Scott Hanna
colors: Tanya Horie; Richard Horie
letters: Travis Lanham
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Aaron Lopresti

Recap: Dox asked Blackfire Komand'r to join him for dinner to learn how the Tamaranean refugees were adjusting to their new homeworld. Her report was encouraging and the two hit it off surprisingly well. Dox was returning from their date when his ship came under attack by Starro's agent, Smite, who incapacitated Tribulus. Storm-Daughter abducted Dox and took him before Starro on the newly conquered homeworld of the Psions.

Meanwhile, Lobo was teasing Captain Comet over his feelings for Starfire when he caught the scent of Czarnian pheromones nearby. Believing that he killed every member of his race, he confronted her but the woman turned out to be Starro's agent, Storm-Daughter. She had sprayed herself with pheromones and she easily distracted Lobo with a kiss. It created the opportunity for her to drug him so she could absorb his energy and use it to restore Starro's strength.

Lobo recovered and reported the incident to Adam Strange, who was gathering everyone for a mission to retrieve Dox. Lobo refused to wait for them and charged ahead to find Storm-Daughter because he had her scent. Fortunately, Wildstar could track Lobo, which would help them in locating Dox, but Lyrl was left behind in hope that he could save Tribulus. 

Friday, December 24, 2021

Tis The Season To Be Freezin' - Polar Boy in "Snow Date"



Title: Snow Date

Writer: Rich Bernatovech

Penciller: Travis Mercer

Inker: Norm Rapmund

Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Editor: Michael McCalister

The Legion's pretty much been absent this past year while Brian Bendis worked on Justice League, Checkmate, and, I-I dunno, whatever else he's wasting time on. I don't think about him if I can help it.

Imagine how delighted I was to learn my friend Rich Bernatovech was not only writing for DC's holiday anthology - he was submitting a Legion story!

AND IT'S GOOD, YOU GUYS. LIKE SO GOOD. THE BEST THE LEGION'S BEEN IN AGES.

After interviewing Rich in my previous post, I'm now submitting a review of the story in question featuring the return of Polar Boy, Comet Queen, and the debut of a new Legion villain.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

R.E.B.E.L.S #25

R.E.B.E.L.S. #25 (April 2011)
title: Starstruck, Part 2
writer: Tony Bedard
penciller: Claude St. Aubin
inker: Scott Hanna
colors: Tanya Horie; Richard Horie
letters: Travis Lanham
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Aaron Lopresti

Recap: Dox asked Blackfire Komand'r to join him for dinner to learn how the Tamaranean refugees were adjusting to their new homeworld. Her report was encouraging and the two hit it off surprisingly well. Dox was returning from their date when his ship came under attack by Starro's agent, Smite.

Meanwhile, Lobo was teasing Comet over his feelings for Starfire when he caught the scent of Czarnian pheromones nearby. Believing that he killed every member of his race, he confronted her but she easily distracted him with a kiss. It created the opportunity for her to drug him so she could absorb his energy and use it to restore Starro's strength.

Monday, December 20, 2021

Rich Bernatovech Talks Polar Boy

I was delighted when I saw my friend Rich Bernatovech's name among the creators who worked on DC's 2021 holiday anthology, 'Tis The Season To Be Freezin'. My delight grew when Rich informed me he was submitting a Legion story to the mix, featuring the debut of a new version of Polar Boy.


Discussing it with Rich via Facebook and at New York Comic Con, I set up the chance to interview him for Super-Bloggers. I apologize for my lack of content this past year, so I was happy for the chance to submit something really special.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 (March 2011)
title: Starstruck, Part 1
writer: Tony Bedard
penciller: Claude St. Aubin
inker: Scott Hanna
colors: Tanya Horie; Richard Horie
letters: Travis Lanham
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Francis Portela & Javier Mena

Recap: Adam Strange and other L.E.G.I.O.N. top brass gathered to welcome dignitaries from the Green Lantern Corps, including Jon Stewart of Earth. While they met with Vril Dox, they received notice that the terrorist group known as the Citadel Liberation Front was about to collapse the Vegan sun, which would mean the end of 14 inhabited worlds.

Stewart sent Green Lantern Corps members Altin Admos and Gorius Karkum to deal with the problem. Dox was skeptical of their abilities, since the L.E.G.I.O.N. had recently had encounters with both Lanterns that left the Guardians displeased with their performance. But the duo were able to penetrate the Front's ship and disable their weapon. Dox was caught off guard by their success but reluctantly congratulated them. It was later revealed that the Front's actions were a plot by Dox, who had his son create the weapon. Dox had expected the Corps to fail and planned for the L.E.G.I.O.N. to swoop in and claim success.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Valor #21

 Valor #21 (July 1994)

title: "Sudden Death Overtime part 2: Two Minute Warning"
writer: Kurt Busiek special thanks to Mark Waid
penciller: Colleen Doran
inker: Dave Cooper
letterer: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Dave Grafe
associate editor: Mike McAvennie
editor: KC Carlson
cover: Stuart Immonen & Karl Kesel (signed)

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage 

Guest-Star(s):
Wave Rider, The Linear Men

Opponent(s):
time paradoxes, Glorith

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

R.E.B.E.L.S. #23

R.E.B.E.L.S. #23 (February 2011)
title: "To Be a R.E.B.E.L., Conclusion"
writer: Tony Bedard
penciller: Claude St. Aubin; Kevin Sharpe
inker: Scott Hanna
colors: Tanya Horie; Richard Horie
letters: Travis Lanham
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Francis Portela & Javier Mena

Recap: Just as their battle with Brainiac ended, Vril Dox and his son, Lyrl, were confronted by two members of the Green Lantern Corps, Altin Admos and Gorius Karkum. Dox had Lobo attack them, but Admos was hesitant to fight at first because his people held Lobo in such high esteem as a warrior. He soon overcame his reluctance and saw this as a chance to prove himself. Neither Admos nor Karkum were able to get the upper hand, but Admos' pride kept him from calling the Corps for assistance. Their fight was eventually interrupted by the arrival of a L.E.G.I.O.N. armada and a large contingent of the press. Dox broadcast a message portraying L.E.G.I.O.N. as bringing order and prosperity to their member words, and Green Lanterns as a rogue organization imposing the laws of Oa with no regard for local statutes. 

Karkum noticed Starfire among them, a being who always fascinated her. She later encountered Starfire on the planet Norvath, and explained that they suffered a similar fate at the hands of her people, the Psions. They travelled to a prison on Psion, where Karkum explained that most of the women of her race are killed at birth and the remainder used as breeding stock. They battled the guards, but the Psions eventually blew up the prison, killing both the prisoners and guards. Starfire returned to Dox to confront him over their contract with the Psions, and in response, he nullified it. The Guardians were very displeased with the actions of both Admos and Karkum during these events.

Monday, December 6, 2021

Krypton Girl and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Title: Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #47 - "The Super-Life of Lois Lane!"

Creators: Kurt Schaffenberger and Mort Weisinger

Imaginary stories were a frequent idea for DC during the Silver Age. Predating Elseworlds and the overall Multiverse theme, they were stories characters thought up in-universe about what might've been or could've been. Largely, the concept was used to tell tales about who Superman or Batman might marry.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #47 gave us a typical Imaginary Story operating on the role reversal concept. It also gave us a short appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes. This particular Imaginary Story is one of my favorites, and served as the basis for an alternate Earth concept I've worked on for several years.

This gave us an idea of how things might go if Lois Lane was the hero, but also gave us a sneak peek at Lois Lane as a Legionnaire. It's minor, but manages to stand out due to Lois not having much interaction with the Legionnaires despite them being good friends of Clark.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

R.E.B.E.L.S. #22

R.E.B.E.L.S. #22 (January 2011)
title: "To Be a R.E.B.E.L., Part 1"
writer: Tony Bedard
penciller: Claude St. Aubin; Kevin Sharpe
inker: Bob Wiacek
colors: Tanya Horie; Richard Horie
letters: Travis Lanham
editor: Brian Cunningham
cover: Francis Portela & Javier Mena

Reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Recap: Just as their battle with Brainiac ended, Vril Dox and his son, Lyrl, were confronted by two members of the Green Lantern Corps, Altin Admos and Gorius Karkum. Dox had Lobo attack them, but Admos was hesitant to fight at first because his people held Lobo in such high esteem as a warrior. He soon overcame his reluctance and saw this as a chance to prove himself. Neither Admos nor Karkum were able to get the upper hand, but Admos' pride kept him from calling the Corps for assistance. Their fight was eventually interrupted by the arrival of a L.E.G.I.O.N. armada and a large contingent of the press. Dox broadcast a message portraying L.E.G.I.O.N. as bringing order and prosperity to their member words, and Green Lanterns as a rogue organization imposing the laws of Oa with no regard for local statutes. His speech worked, and the Guardians called both Admos and Karkum before them to explain their reckless actions.