Post by Zoom on Feb 9, 2011 14:37:15 GMT -5
R.E.B.E.L.S. 1-5
Tony Bedard
Green Lantern is not the cosmic DC story. Green Lantern is a story of a bunch of aliens with the exact same power lead by the most bland of them all. One of the central concepts behind REBELS is that the GLs don’t do a very good job of protecting the entire universe (what with their rainbow war and all). So who’s left to do their job? The LEGION.
Now, I’ve never read LEGION and my experience with the Omega Men and even the Legion of Superheroes is pretty limited so if there are continuity problems I miss or continuity porn I don’t catch, you’ll just have to forgive me. From what I understand, LEGION is a peacekeeping force run by Vril Dox aka Brainiac 2 and has sported many famous members such as Lobo and…other people. Only now Starro has taken over the LEGION, enslaving all planets under their protection and leaving Vril Dox and a number of ex LEGION members and assorted recruits to try to save the day. Unlike Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, REBELS doesn’t add new characters by drawing something goofy and tossing a ring on it. Almost all REBELS characters are from other books. You’ve got Tamaranians (like Starfire and Blackfire from New Titans), Durlans (those creepy shape changers from Invasion: Flash), Khunds (also from Invasion), Dominators (again, Invasion), Starhaven…ers (like Dawnstar of the Legion of Superheroes), Starro, etc. The series takes established races with established histories and draws on them and gives them realistic personalities rather than just being like “lookit this weird looking guy. He’s an alien.” This isn’t to say Tony Benard isn’t making up planets but his planets seem to have multiple inhabitants on them. There are politics and stereotypes to throw away or live up to. It feels a lot less lazy than the alien GLs who are almost all essentially funny looking humans.
The best part about REBELS isn’t that it’s a more believable space drama than GL. The best part is Vril Dox. Vril Dox is a hero, one of the greatest heroes of all. Scores of planets were under his protection and he is out to stop LEGION because he feels he owes it to their inhabitants. However, Vril Dox is a huge jerk. I don’t mean he’s a jerky hero like Wolverine, who will growl at you and maybe blow cigar smoke in your face. He’s the kind of jerk who will perform genetic experimentation on you without asking first. When a brave group of survivors sends a distress call and nobody else is around and the odds of rescue look damn near impossible, just about every hero will man up and either come up with some great plan or just give it their all to save those survivors and barely manage to come out on top. Not Vril Dox. He’ll leave them to die, knowing that chances are, there is nothing he could possibly do to save them and he’ll instead concentrate on doing something else to save the day…granted, someone else’s day. This is what makes the character fun. He’s a hero with a supervillain mentality. Priority one is self preservation. There are no moral rules to follow if they will prevent you from achieving your goal. And yet, even with this supervillain attitude, Dox manages to be a big damn hero. Plus, he’s a total genius, rivaling Brainiac 5. Starro wants him purely for his intellectual value. That’s pretty neat when an alien starfish is specifically after your brain.
Overall, the story is great. Twists and turns abound and I can’t wait for the next issue. The only problem I have so far is that Starro looks too…medieval. I always loved that he looked absolutely ridiculous but was one of the universe’s biggest threats. I don’t particularly like him as a chainmail clad, axe wielding black knight. Ah well. Maybe Benard will change my mind.
3.5/5
Tony Bedard
Green Lantern is not the cosmic DC story. Green Lantern is a story of a bunch of aliens with the exact same power lead by the most bland of them all. One of the central concepts behind REBELS is that the GLs don’t do a very good job of protecting the entire universe (what with their rainbow war and all). So who’s left to do their job? The LEGION.
Now, I’ve never read LEGION and my experience with the Omega Men and even the Legion of Superheroes is pretty limited so if there are continuity problems I miss or continuity porn I don’t catch, you’ll just have to forgive me. From what I understand, LEGION is a peacekeeping force run by Vril Dox aka Brainiac 2 and has sported many famous members such as Lobo and…other people. Only now Starro has taken over the LEGION, enslaving all planets under their protection and leaving Vril Dox and a number of ex LEGION members and assorted recruits to try to save the day. Unlike Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, REBELS doesn’t add new characters by drawing something goofy and tossing a ring on it. Almost all REBELS characters are from other books. You’ve got Tamaranians (like Starfire and Blackfire from New Titans), Durlans (those creepy shape changers from Invasion: Flash), Khunds (also from Invasion), Dominators (again, Invasion), Starhaven…ers (like Dawnstar of the Legion of Superheroes), Starro, etc. The series takes established races with established histories and draws on them and gives them realistic personalities rather than just being like “lookit this weird looking guy. He’s an alien.” This isn’t to say Tony Benard isn’t making up planets but his planets seem to have multiple inhabitants on them. There are politics and stereotypes to throw away or live up to. It feels a lot less lazy than the alien GLs who are almost all essentially funny looking humans.
The best part about REBELS isn’t that it’s a more believable space drama than GL. The best part is Vril Dox. Vril Dox is a hero, one of the greatest heroes of all. Scores of planets were under his protection and he is out to stop LEGION because he feels he owes it to their inhabitants. However, Vril Dox is a huge jerk. I don’t mean he’s a jerky hero like Wolverine, who will growl at you and maybe blow cigar smoke in your face. He’s the kind of jerk who will perform genetic experimentation on you without asking first. When a brave group of survivors sends a distress call and nobody else is around and the odds of rescue look damn near impossible, just about every hero will man up and either come up with some great plan or just give it their all to save those survivors and barely manage to come out on top. Not Vril Dox. He’ll leave them to die, knowing that chances are, there is nothing he could possibly do to save them and he’ll instead concentrate on doing something else to save the day…granted, someone else’s day. This is what makes the character fun. He’s a hero with a supervillain mentality. Priority one is self preservation. There are no moral rules to follow if they will prevent you from achieving your goal. And yet, even with this supervillain attitude, Dox manages to be a big damn hero. Plus, he’s a total genius, rivaling Brainiac 5. Starro wants him purely for his intellectual value. That’s pretty neat when an alien starfish is specifically after your brain.
Overall, the story is great. Twists and turns abound and I can’t wait for the next issue. The only problem I have so far is that Starro looks too…medieval. I always loved that he looked absolutely ridiculous but was one of the universe’s biggest threats. I don’t particularly like him as a chainmail clad, axe wielding black knight. Ah well. Maybe Benard will change my mind.
3.5/5