Legion Of Super-Heroes #12
Warning, Spoilers Ahead…
Legion of Super-Heroes #12, “Rebirth”, by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon.
The previous issue saw Roxxas ambush and decimate the newly-reunited Legion.
The Medi-Center of the Lightning Ring Plantation, Winath:
Brainiac 5 ruminates at Celeste’s bedside: “In a way, life makes perfect sense. We open our hearts to the muses. We follow our souls, find our own paths. We respect the paths of others. We celebrate their diversity. It’s all so simple. Life is good. Life works. Yessir, Mr. Dox. You’ve got life all figured out. So how come you don’t have a clue about death? Why does Celeste Rockfish have to die? Why did Jo have to die? How does any of this fit your neat little equation of life? How can you apply a 12th-level intelligence for all these years…and still be so utterly incapable of dealing with death?”
Sorry, Brainy, death will remain the eternal mystery of life.
We see “Possibility of mystic treatment? Powers of available mystics inadequate.”
Brainy’s grasping for straws if he’s willing to consult mystics. I don’t think Mysa (the closest mystic) would be “inadequate” power-wise but she’s clearly unable to summon the mental focus a healing spell would require.
Brainy leaves the medi-center as a ball of green energy streaks downward.
Reep, clothed in the traditional Durlan robes, bemoans the Roxxas attack, believing it dooms the reformation of the Legion: “We just let him do it, we just let Roxxas waltz onto the plantation and slaughter us…we were so pumped up about staring down Mordru, we just lost our heads…we forgot that Legionnaires never stop being targets…now we’ll never get this damn group together.”
Rokk calmly interrupts Reep’s recriminations: “Listen, Cham, while you were under, we had to put together a plan of action so I split the team into two squads. Most of us will protect the plantation. Here’s the squad that’s gone after Roxxas (Ayla, Vi, Jan)”.
Reep is flabbergasted: “Bloody nass! You sent them on a mission and they all went?”
“Absolutely. We’re back, Cham. The Legion is back.”
I’m going to put Cham’s defeatist attitude toward the physical traumua and extensive recovery ahead that he – and others - suffered at the hands of Roxxas – when has the Legion ever backed down from a challenge or given up after a defeat?
A comatose Celeste undergoes a few flashbacks. It’s revealed Celeste is a cousin of Leland McCauley – she left the family and assumed the Rockfish identity because “we’re just not the same, Daddy…just can’t let money rule my life – like it has for you and Leland”.
Celeste went to an isolated planet after leaving the family. A meteor, “or something”, hits the planet. Celeste discovers an alien corpse with a familiar ring: “Some kind of weird ring…that glow…what’s happening to me?”
We switch to Kono and Devlin.
Devlin is under doctor’s orders to “lie low” until the allergic reaction subsides: “Those rose honey-bees pack a wallop, y’know.”
An impatient Kono wants Devlin to help find the missing Furball.
Devlin mentions the presumed deceased Ultra Boy.
Kono: “Jo? Dead? Nah. Couldn’t be. If he were gonna die, he’d a’ told me first.”
The green light flares through the building – heading towards Celeste’s room.
Kono and Brainy race to Celeste’s room.
Garth arrives and questions Devlin. Devlin informs Garth that Brainy has gone ahead to investigate.
Garth: “Well, then, we might as well just wait here. If anybody can puzzle it out, it’s Brainy.”
The green light dims and Brainy and Kono encounter a healed Celeste.
The location changes to the far side of the plantation. We see Furball for the first time in his human form: Brin Londo! The writers dropped hints in earlier issues but it is now confirmed.
Brin: “What is it…the phases of the moon…or what? Why does this happen to me? Ha! Some big mystery – the Zuunium. Dad had to play around with that damn Zunnium, had to use me as his guinea pig…Jo’s kept my secret this long. I’m not going to let them know now that their big, stupid Furball is really Brin Londo, the great Timber Wolf of the Legion of Super-Heroes! I don’t need their pity…don’t want to be another Legion tragedy. I just want Ayla to remember me the way I was…They don’t need any help, not from their pet.”
Jan, Ayla, and Vi, along with the Science Police, are searching the Bloomfield District of Winath for Roxxas.
Vi finds Roxxas beside a pile of burning corpses. Roxxas’s face is sporting a “Harvey Dent” appearance after his encounter with Jo at the plantation.
Roxxas faints at the sight of the Legionnaires.
Jan: “Wow. Jo must have really pounded him.”
Ayla: “You know, if we don’t do something, he’s going to die right there.”
Vi: “After what he did to Blok and Jo, I really don’t think I give a damn.”
Ayla: “It is better than he deserves.”
Jan: “No. This isn’t about him, or his atrocities. Or even justice. It’s about us and how much of us would die in this room with him.”
Jan is too good for this universe. The intense discipline it must take not to murder Roxxas on sight! Roxxas is not only responsible for Blok’s murder and the Legion ambush – he massacred Jan’s entire race!
The missing Jo has realized he’s not on Winath anymore: “Vegetation’s all wrong…Constellations are out of whack…the moons are out of place.”
Jo discovers a vehicle: “Bloody grief! A Khundish 306 transport! I’ve only seen fossils of this baby! Must be a mockup…”
Jo encounters the owner of the vehicle: “Hmm…some kind of Khundish dialect. And those ears – maybe I’m on a Khundish outpost or something!”
Jo needs answers: “What the grief. Take me to your leader.”
The 5YL series does a great job of establishing Joe’s cunning and intelligence. Before this series, Jo was considered a powerful but not so bright hunk.
The news of Roxxas’s capture makes the interstellar news. Much to the dismay of the Dominators: “You – you and your discrete agent!”
Cham, on the other hand, has a much different reaction: “We did it, by damn!”
Cham congratulates Rokk: “Yeah, I gotta hand it to you, Rokk. You knew what you were talking about. We just picked up right where we left off.”
Cham shows Rokk the new uniforms he had Marla design.
Rokk: “These are not bad at all, Cham, but do you really think we’re gonna get anybody to wear ‘em?”
Cham: “Listen, Rokk, if you wear yours, they’ll wear theirs.”
The writers’ establishment of Rokk as the backbone of the Legion would carry on into the next three reboots.
Quarantine: The Persuader is attacking the lower levels. The Science Police hope the “ex-Legionnaire” can stop him.
The readers are introduced to Richard Kent Shakespeare, a.k.a. DC’s original Impulse. Kent and Bart debuted very close within a year or so of each other. Kent pretty much never used his code name.
Kent has a super-strength, heightened durability, and regenerative healing powerset. He’s also a medical doctor.
The Persuader asks Kent to step aside: “I’m not after the Ranzz kid”.
Kent: “You know I can’t let you hurt anyone else, not as long as I’m still standing.”
Captain Gim “Hands On” Allon of the Science Police, aka Colossal Boy, arrives on the scene. Science Police Command isn’t thrilled when Gim goes all “Colossal Boy” during cases but he insists he’s “permitted a little discretion”.
Gim started out as a recruit for the Science Police. It makes sense he returns to the Science Police after the Legion disbanded.
The issue ends with the Persuader poised to behead Kent: “Give my regards to all the heroes on Shanghalla.”
The ending pages are a memo between Marla Latham and Murphy Caldwell – the production manager of the company that produced the new Legion uniforms. Cham’s notes are highlighted on the memo. Bottom line: “Just tell them to do it the way we told them to do it.”
The final page is an all points bulletin on Nyuen Chun Ti a.k.a. the Persuader.
Highlights of the A.P.B.:
The Persuader is the prime suspect in the murder of Char Burrane (a.ka. Starfinger II).
Underworld contacts have contracted the Persuader Char Burrane Jr, the son of the second Starfinger. Char Jr. is currently an inmate at the Luc & Perla Ranzz Memorial Clinic on Quarantine.
The Science Police suspect, but can’t prove, that Molock Hansom, the third Starfinger, is the individual who ordered the hits on the Burranes.
Burrane Sr. is believed to be behind the murder of Lars Hanscom, the original Starfinger.
This is a lot of death and vendetta for the lame moniker of “Starfinger”. It’s not even a good name.
Burrane Jr is believed to have a ring that contains the weaponry and data storage of the Burrane Family Crime Empire.
The Science Police believe the Burrane family has connections to the “Black Dawn” case on earth.
The Persuader is considered “extremely dangerous”. He has been convicted for “murder, extortion, racketeering, and other felonies”.
The Persuader obtained the Atomic Axe in mid 2960s at Minerstown settelement in the Rimborian asteroid belt. The Persauder killed Wolf Benback, the previous owner of the axe.
The Persuader became a mob enforcer and later joined the Fatal Five.
The Science Police state the Persuader stayed loyal to the Fatal Five due to his feelings for Sarya of Venegar, aka the Emerald Empress: “Suspect’s actions are more irrational and sadistic since the death of Sarya in 2989.”
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Who
Wants
Some
Starfinger 🌟
Headcannons?
Me. That’s who.
Transgender male, and Pansexual, although he tends to gravitate more towards men, but he'd party down with who/what ever will take him.
He's a Martian (DC has never really said 100% where he's from, but they heavily hint at Mars in the comics, so…). He was born there, but only one of his parents was a full on DC Comics Martian.
That being said, he can not shapeshift. He does have minor telepathy, but he never fully learned how to control it, he'll sometimes hear snippets of other people's thoughts, but he passes those off as auditory hallucinations.
Being a weird alien man, his blood is the color white.
He was orphaned at a young age, and grew up on the streets, which in turn lead him to a life of crime.
He was a lonely child, and often looked to the stars when he was alone, they made him feel less alone somehow, as if they were his friends…
He's used to warm weather, being from Mars and all, so that force field he has around his head isn't only for normal protection, it helps him regulate his body temperature, and it also helps protect him from telepaths.
BIG fan of 20th century (80's) glam metal, mostly KISS.
Pretty great a dancing, and can do almost any dance (future and present ones) almost perfectly.
He also did gymnastics at one point, which explains how he can do the splits so easily.
He was once a hand model for a small period of time, it really helped boost his already huge ego.
He has a fear of dying alone. (See #6)
His favorite color is red. Whether it be in clothes, food, the blood of his enemies, or even in hair, he loves it all.
He has a ring, that he created, that when worn, will give each of his fingers a different power. He can also use it to hide his costume in (something similar to how the Flash does it) thanks to "bullshit-future-science". The ring also controls when his head force field is up.
He's older than most of the Legion members, as in they are around 16-18, while I see Star as 19-21.
He is Canonically 5'8", but I like to think that's him with out the boots, with the boots he's more like 6'2".
He eventually reforms, and tries to join the Legion, whether he succeeds has yet to be figured out, chances are low though...
🌟
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