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Info:

• Title: R.E.B.E.L.S. #10
• Written by: Tony Bedard
• Art by: Andy Clarke
• Published by: DC Comics
• Price: $3.99
• Series: R.E.B.E.L.S.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 Review

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 Review
© Mania

As Blackest Night continues to engulf the DC Universe, Vril Dox meets with Adam Strange and Captain Comet about another threat that is sweeping the galaxy: Starro The Conqueror. As the leader of his own private peacekeeping force, The L.E.G.I.O.N., Dox is quickly brought up to speed by the two space-faring Earthmen about the war between the power rings. Dealing with two seperate attacks simultaneously puts him in a complicated position. Starro is going after his son Lyrl, whose intelligence level is so great, that Vril (who is the son of Braniac) had to previously lobotomize him in order to keep control of his team. If Starro can restore Lyrl's stunted intelligence then that may spell the end of the L.E.G.I.O.N. and Starro's control over more of the galaxy will be assured. This fight leads them into the midst of the second attack by Vril's dead wife who has been reborn as a Black Lantern. Throw in some Yellow Lanterns battling against the evil tide as well and you get an ending that you'll never see coming!

The Good

Everything about this issue is completely rock solid! Even if you're not familiar with anyone in this book, Tony Bedard does nothing short of a perfect job in giving the reader what they need to know; all while delivering an exciting story that you're easily caught up in. Other writers should take note of Bedard's skill with this as he, quite frankly, embarrasses all of the people who have tried to do this very feat before him. Instead of just using the pages as a bio for the title, with nothing of merit mixed in, Bedard and artist Andy Clarke rope the reader in, get them involved in what's happening and also manage to give you some great thrills at the same time.

The Bad

That it took DC using a gimmick to get attention onto a title that we probably should have been paying attention to from the start. Shame on us!

Cover art to R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 by Kalman Andrasofszky

The Bottom Line

Let's be honest here...the only reason this issue/title is getting the attention is because buyers get a plastic promo power ring when the purchase it. It's a great promotion DC has going; take some lesser known books, tie them in to their huge Blackest Night event and bait people in with cool swag to check it out. Well the rings have been cool, but the issues haven't. With "stories" that consist of long winded bios on what the book is about, DC isn't fooling anybody by loosely throwing in a Black Lantern to say that it crosses over. For the most part, these are 3rd tier books with 3rd tier characters and it's probably not going to add any new readers to the fold for Booster Gold or the Doom Patrol. Please believe me when I say that this does NOT apply to R.E.B.E.L.S.! This creative team has taken the opportunity of so many new readers for a moment and they've ran like hell with it! Comparatively speaking, it handles itself way better than a few other "high profile" books released this week, so I'm going to grade it at an A- with the discovery of some talent that's probably been overlooked by most of us (myself included). I'll be checking this book out past this issue and I encourage the rest of you to do the same.

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