Picto-Review: REBELS #19

REBELS #19: Writer:Tony Bedard. Pencils: Claude St. Aubin.

We kick things off with my hero, Vril Dox(Brainiac 2)running the hell away from his recently escaped, and extremely angry father, Brainiac.


Meanwhile, Dox's son Lyrl(Brainiac 3)decimates the defensive systems of the planet Colu, and demands they surrender the data-core of Colu to him, which would grant him control of the entire planet. Lyrl's appearance to frighten the populace of Colu also alerts Dox to his presence, as well as putting him on Brainiac's radar.


Now in full panic mode, the ruling council of Colu break out a four stooges act. Luckily for them, Dox shows up to restore some order to the situation.


Dox eventually convinces the council to destroy the data-core, which would deny Lyrl what he wanted most from Colu, so they initiate the self destruct protocol. However, the data-core doesn't explode as expected. Why is that?


Because Brainiac had managed to take control of the data-core first, and as such is now in control of the every system on Colu, including the weapon's systems. In control of Colu's arsenal of weapons, and tiring of Dox, Brainiac launches several thermo-nuclear bombs at the ruling council tower, hoping to obliterate his “son”, Dox.


Thanks to his force field(and a little help from Lyrl), Dox survives the nuclear blast and Dox and Lyrl decide to put aside their differences to defeat the elder Brainiac. Dox tells Lyrl to keep Brainiac occupied so he could get off-world to get a secret weapon of his own.


And what is Dox's secret weapon? None other then Lobo!!!

What I Thought: So last issue I gave this comic a perfect score, and looking back, it sure as hell deserved that score. This issue? It was even better! Wow. Where do I start? There was some great humor, with Dox(after being called fearless on the previous page)running away from his “father” as fast as he could, as well as the comical antics of the Colu ruling council. On top of that, the story itself is multi-faceted, but still easy to follow. Lyrl wanted to take over Colu, and gain control of the data-core, which contains 300 years of Coluian knowledge, as well as control over all of the planet's systems, while Brainiac had pretty much the same plans. As for Dox, he's stuck in the middle, and is now forced to make a deal with the lesser of the two evils, his son, even though there's NO doubt that Lyrl would stab Dox in the back at the first available opportunity. And the ending? All I can say is that's it's about time Lobo popped up in this series. Lobo was an integral part of the first LEGION/REBELS series, so getting to read about him and Dox together again is pretty much a dream come true for me. Oh, and check out the chain around Lobo's neck on that last pic I posted. Pretty cool, no? Anyway, if you're a comic fan, and you're not reading this comic, you are making a BIG mistake. The last two issues have been amazing, and more then any other monthly title(and I read A LOT of new books every month), this is the book I'll be most looking forward to next month.

Score: 10 out of 10. That's two straight perfect score. Will next month herald a third? Only time will tell.