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.

Blackfire Komand'r is joining Vril Dox for dinner so he may learn more of how the Tamaranean refugees are settling into their new homeworld. She tells him that there are days when she still gets angry thinking of what her people went through, but then she looks up at the stars and sees the same ones she used to stare at when she was a little girl.

The two are hitting it off well, although Komand'r is a bit taken aback by Dox's giant bodyguard, Tribulus. He assures her that he did not bring the beast along for protection, but only because it has a mind like a child and he feels bad when he leaves it alone.

In Ranagar City, Adam Strange spends time with his wife and daughter, happy to be with them without having to worry about the Zeta beam pulling him back to Earth. Alana is concerned about Captain Comet and his attraction to Starfire, who Adam suspects does not reciprocate the feeling. At the same time, Comet is drowning his sorrows at a bar in downtown Ranagar when Lobo approaches. Lobo teases Comet about his feelings for Starfire, but soon notices something more interesting across the bar.

Lobo is well known for having killed every other member of his race, which is why he is surprised to catch the scent of another Czarnian. He follows and we discover that the being is Storm Daughter, servant of Starro. He demands to know who she is but she distracts him with a kiss. Lobo gets...well, excited, and assumes that she is trying to seduce him, but his excitement is soon tempered when he starts to feel a sensation similar to being drunk.

Meanwhile, Dox is approaching downtown Ranagar while speaking to Adam Strange on screen about his "date."

Dox orders Strange to go to red alert because he is under attack. Strange is confused but Starfire is close enough to Dox's ship to see what is transpiring. Starro is speeding towards the craft and bursts through the hull.

Yes! Finally, we get an issue that gives some attention to several members of our team at one time. I realize that a recent issue focused on Starfire, but my main complaint over the last few is how focused things have been on Dox to the expense of everyone else.

Not to beat a dead horse, but one of my favorite aspects of the original L.E.G.I.O.N. series was that it kept several subplots going on at one time, which allowed us to explore the secondary characters more. Yes, the series still had a tendency to lean into Dox a bit too much, but we usually got to check in with other storylines and characters at least a bit in most issues. 

Ideally, I would have loved to see more of Amon or the Dominator or some of the more unique members of L.E.G.I.O.N. But I understand that Adam Strange, Lobo, and Comet are more well known, and at this time had appeared in more significant DC Comics of the recent past. And that's fine, I was still pleased to see this issue take some time and check in on each of them. I hope to see more of that in the final issues of this series.

Thankfully, none of this took away from this issue having its own dose of action and suspense. Storm Daughter has been an intriguing villain throughout this run, so I welcomed the return of her and her master. Lobo is often a mixed bag for me, but emphasizing her Czarnian heritage raises her threat level.

This issue was essentially exactly what I want from a L.E.G.I.O.N.-centric comic. Various alien races of the DC universe interacting, a healthy dose of politics, some wonderful character moments with our main cast, and some fun comic punchy-punchy at the end. Please check back with me next week to see if Part 2 is just as much fun!