REBELS #25

Well, that was fun while it lasted. I just read a rumor that REBELS is getting cancelled in anticipation of the glut of Flashpoint series on the way this summer. I'm sure Tony Bedard will be writing one or two of them, and to be honest, who thought that a sequel to the 90's series LEGION would ever last this long? In any case, I'm going to enjoy this series while I can.

Bedard's focus on the core cast is doing a lot for this title, but having Starro back is helping even more. Not only does the series' main villain return, but he also drops a couple lines of dialogue that basically reinstates the old JLA Starro as a villain on his own. So now we can enjoy both.

I like how quickly Vril Dox has been taken off the board too, when these two forces first clashed, it was Vril vs. Starro. This time it might be the other heroes of LEGION having to step up. And having Lobo this time could make a huge difference.

Claude St. Aubin has been consistently turning in solid pencils for months, and this is no different. A few faces look a bit weird (mostly Vril Dox), but overall, the book looks fine.

Good

REBELS #18

This is still one of the most fun comics DC is putting out. We actually get a few lines from some of the core REBELS themselves. Ciji, Amon Hakk, and Wildstar all get a few comments in before the plot moves us along to the new stars of the title. Captain Comet and Starfire quickly take their relationship to the next level, there are some great moments as Comet shows that he is a child of the 1950s. His morals and expectations are not quite in line with the type of physical interaction Starfire enjoys. It's an amusing moment, although seeing just how hurt Starfire is by Dick Grayson is a bit sad.

Vril Dox and Lyrl Dox are both enjoying themselves. I guess Vril must have gotten involved in the Super-books, because he returns Brainiac to Colu to be imprisoned. Bad timing, though, Lyrl has just built Solaris, the Anti-Sun, and they're attacking Colu at the same time. To further complicate things (and to no one's surprise) Brainiac isn't out of the picture either. All these Brainiacs are fun to read about, but my favorite bit is that Solaris' first act upon achieving sentience is to try to destroy his creator. Good thing Lyrl is a planner.

Claude St. Aubin is back, so everyone looks just right again. Starfire is hot, Comet looks heroic, and Solaris looks awesome, like usual.

Good

REBELS #17

My daughter is a huge Starfire fan, so naturally one of her favorite bad guys (mostly from Tiny Titans) is Blackfire. I actually had to read her part of this issue because Tony Bedard did such a fantastic job fleshing out Starfire's bad sister.

From start to finish, this story is told from Blackfire's point of view, and frankly, she comes across as almost reasonable. She's clearly coloring things in her best interests, but man, I think it is possible to explain away some of what she's done over the years. (Especially now that Hawkwoman is back alive anyway.)

There isn't a lot of screen time for the early stars of this series, I think this book is sort of letting the big names rise to the top. Dox, Captain Comet, Adam Strange, and Starfire are the real names now. In fact, I can't say that the two new GL's have even captured my interest that much, so I'd be fine with the limited core cast, occasionally spotlighting Amon Hakk, Wildstar, and the rest.

Sergio Arino does a good job keeping things looking fairly consistent, but I'm a fan of Claude St. Aubin, so I hope he comes back next month. His Adam Strange armor looks tougher and his Starfire is hotter.

Good

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

It is great to be the target audience for a comic. Tony Bedard continues rolling out one of the best sci-fi comics I've ever read. The book opens up with the amusing return of JLA-villain Despero. I figured there was no way Bedard would really try to kill off such a big character, even if it was to establish the new Starro as a big player. Despero is awesome. He's just playing dead with his head on a spike, and he's annoyed when Vril Dox shows up to add him to the R.E.B.E.L. alliance (like that?).

Everyone is out to betray everyone else in this book. Lyrl Dox wants to betray Starro. Smite wants to betray Starro. Vril Dox wants to betray Adam Strange. And you know Kanjar Ro, the Dominator, and Despero will betray everyone else as soon as they can. It's such a fun dynamic with all these villains trying to mix onto a team with a bunch of straight-shooters like Captain Comet and Adam Strange. Great stuff. And how great is it that Vril Dox wants is in a rush to beat Starro so that he can get the credit. He doesn't want those glory-hound superheroes from Earth to win.

Claude St. Aubin has done a wonderful job picking up the style established by Scott Clark for this book. The details look wonderful and you can read everyone's intentions on their well-drawn faces. Great stuff.

Good

R.E.B.E.L.S. #9

This really isn't fair. Tony Bedard had me liking his space opera. While I had no real favorites in the cast, I loved the expansive look at space in the DCU and adding in the threat of a Starro horde just added to the fun. Then he started adding cast members. Old L.E.G.I.O.N. members like Garv and Amon Hakk showed up. Then Lyrl Dox joined up. Now Bedard is adding even more great characters to this huge cast. With like 10 characters I love showing up, I'm like a fish in a barrel for this series.

This issue has Adam Strange and Captain Comet joining up, as well as Kanjar Ro. What's so great about Comet and Strange's arrival is that they were safe outside the sealed off galaxy where the Starro battle had started. They just joined in because it was the right thing to do. They are great heroes and I'm really hoping that Bedard writes Comet closer to his old L.E.G.I.O.N. persona than his more cynical recent incarnation. Having the Dominion Admiral and Kanjar Ro join as more, ah, suspect members of the team is welcome too. The only problem is that I don't think Bedard has enough pages to give panels to everyone. Heck, he's giving the Omega Men 5 or 6 pages every month too!

He's doing a great job with what he's got though, since the plot keeps trucking along here. I like the idea that Garv and Strata would ditch Dox after all his shenanigans, but the untimely arrival of a Starro super-team may make that departure difficult. I really wish more people would check out this book. Any fan of 90s DC needs to be reading this book.

Claude St. Aubin continues to fill in admirably for Andy Clarke. The art is very much in the same style and everyone looks on-model. I'm looking forward to seeing more energy weapons from Adam Strange since they look so darn cool.

Good

Secret Society of Super-Villains #1-8 (1976)

I think I may have short-changed 70s DC books. I always thought Bill Mantlo and his cohorts made Marvel the place to be in the 70s, but after reading the first few issues of this series, I think I need to check out more of the work of Gerry Conway, Bob Rozakis, and company at the distinguished competition. There were many pleasant surprises as I work my way through this series. First of all, Captain Comet is a really neat character, I love how he becomes a hated foe of the Society for no real reason, he just dedicates his time on Earth to stopping them. I like this guy a lot more than the smug hero for hire that DC is currently publishing. This guy feels more like the hero I remember from LEGION and REBELS from the 90s...

The core villains are a lot of fun too, with Gorilla Grodd standing out as always. The Grodd vs. Kalibak fight was tremendous with a spectacular finish that doesn't really demean either character. I like the use of Sinestro and the Wizard as aloof villains with few attachments to Earth-1 too. I will admit I'm still confused by the apparent ease of travel between Earths, but I can't hold it against this series. I'm also thrilled that Darkseid and his 4th World cronies (and Funky Flashman!) are so important to this series, I never guessed that would be the case.

Another outstanding part of the series is the rotating cast of heroes that show up to assist Comet. Kid Flash is around for awhile and suffers from some hero-worship (that must have been his thing). The best is how the writers brought in Black Canary and Hawkgirl. Canary tags along with Comet because Green Arrow wants to watch a football game. Hawkgirl heads out on a mission while Hawkman is cooking a fancy alien dinner for their guest. That's just awesome!

Rich Buckler, Pablo Marcos, and Ernie Chan all have a great DC house style. Grodd isn't quite as horrific as I'm used to, but I love the Star Sapphire design. Can anyone recommend more 70s DC with this feel? I always figured pre-Crisis DC was over-the-top madness like Haunted Tank and inconsistent characterization, I want more like this!

Good

Strange Adventures #1

Jim Starlin picks up right after Holy War, showing us how the cast from that series is doing. I really liked the methold of recap for this first issue. We have Sardath and other leaders of Rann debating the legality of Adam Strange's actions that banished his people to "New Rann" in Holy War. It was a great way to do an info dump that didn't feel like one. I don't really care for Prince Gavyn or Adam Strange when Starlin writes them. Gavyn is a generic energy caster with little to no personality (again, I thought he was a reincarnated Will Payton!) Strange is a kind of generic space hero who doesn't seem to have the bravado that I remember liking about the character. Starlin does a good job handling Hard Core Station and Captain Comet though. He's created a Star Wars-cantina like atmosphere where the cynical Comet is a great narrator. He's a fun character who has morals, but wishes he didn't. The Station-based parts of the book are definitely the highlight.

There is some sort of backup featuring Bizarro but I had no clue what was happening. I don't know who had taken Superman's form (Synnar?) and I don't understand what happened to Hawkman. Has he been removed from continuity or something? I find the whole concept of the Aberrant Six kind of threatening to some characters I used to enjoy.

Manuel Garcia supposedly did all the pencils in the lead story, but many of the pages really looked like inker Al Milgrom did the heavy lifting. They seemed to vary by locale though, so the effect wasn't too jarring. Starlin's pencils in the backup were fine, but I had more problems with the story than the art.

Average