Official REBELS thread

[TheCorpulent1]

Hahaha yes. That was good.

"Do you like my new badge that is placed over my crotch?"

Starfire is such a tease.

Vril Dox has a good (but very brief) cameo in Adventure comics this week with Brainiac 5, I'd love for them to be written together more.

They were hilarious in the first arc of REBELS.

Is Adventure out today? I'll have to take a look at it in the shop.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Preview of REBELS #17

 

[NightBeetle]

R.E.B.E.L.S. #18 Preview

R.E.B.E.L.S #18
On sale JULY 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by CLAUDE ST. AUBIN & SCOTT HANNA
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
“The Sons of Brainiac” story begins here! At long last, series star Vril Dox confronts his father, the Superman villain Brainiac! To make matters worse, Vril must also stop his own son Lyrl from destroying their home planet of Colu!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Really looking forward to this. I'm glad someone's finding ways to integrate the new Brainiac into the DC universe beyond just having him hijack the "real" Kandor. Nice to see St. Aubin back, too. The fill-in last month lacked St. Aubin's (and Clarke's, before him) delicate touch. I really like how St. Aubin does such intricate linework. It gives the series a really elegant look.

 

[NightBeetle]

'Writer TAKES R.E.B.E.L.S. Toward DC'S Next Space 'Event'

Nrama: Tony, what's it been like delving into the history of the Brainiac family and the Coluans? What's it like writing these odd characters?


Bedard: I've been fascinated by Brainiac ever since I first saw him on that old Superman cartoon show from the 1960s, and I've been wanting to do a Brainiac vs. Vril Dox story since we launched R.E.B.E.L.S. So I'm having great fun with Colu and the whole Brainiac family (including Brainy's grandson Lyrl and Lyrl's newest creation, Pulsar Stargrave). In fact, one of the most fun aspects of writing R.E.B.E.L.S. is the chance to flesh out all these great locations across the DC Universe. I had fun with the Vega Sector and with the Gil Dsh'pan, and there are more bizarre places and races to come!


Nrama: What are the main differences between Brainiac, Vril and Lyrl? And how did they get to this point — is it just part of being who they are?


Bedard: Brainiac is pure evil — like a serial killer, he is completely self-absorbed and thinks nothing of the suffering of others. All that matters to him is his quest for knowledge to be shared with no one. In fact, once he extracts the data from a world he destroys it so that the stolen information is his alone. I love what Geoff Johns did in revamping that character. Imagine having a monster like that for a father!
Vril Dox is the result of Brainiac's cruelty and utter emotional detachment. Vril might have turned out as bad as his father, except for his need to prove that he is the opposite of his father, to avenge his awful childhood. In a way, every good deed Vril Dox accomplishes springs not from his good nature, but from his hatred of his father.
As for Lyrl, he was totally unplanned — his mother raped Vril Dox, after all. Lyrl was also born smarter than his father and even as a baby he stole control of L.E.G.I.O.N. from his father. Now he's trying to prove himself in his father's eyes. There are plenty of daddy issues to go around in this family.


Nrama: Will we see any of the other characters visiting their home worlds or encountering their families soon?


Bedard: We're actually going to learn more about the two new rookie Green Lanterns assigned to the Vega Sector and pay a visit to the Psion homeworld, where we'll learn more about that race. We'll also explore the fate of Tamaran some more, now that both Starfire and Blackfire have become players in the series.


Nrama: What can you tell us about what's coming up for the Brainiac family?


Bedard: Actually, I'm only handling Brainiac for the 3-parter we're doing right now. What lies in his future is up to the Superman guys. But we'll see more developments in the very difficult relationship between Vril and Lyrl.


Nrama: We've seen a little of Lobo recently in the GL universe. What's he like now that he's returned to his old teammates?


Bedard: He's the same old hell-raiser we all know and love. In fact, I'd like to play him a little straighter than he'd been in his old solo series (which I edited for a while). But he still gets laughs, mostly for being so over-the-top. We'll learn that Lobo ran up a mountain of debt when he was an archbishop in the Church of the Triple-Fish God, and that he's now working with Dox to pay off that debt. But his presence on the team will definitely shake things up.


Nrama: Is he part of the team going forward?


Bedard: I'll keep Lobo as long as they let me have him! I love that guy!

Nrama: Will we continue to see this Solaris-style Pulsar Stargrave? Is there anything you can tell us about what's coming up for the character?

Bedard: The fate of Stargrave is going to be open-ended after the "Sons of Brainiac" story arc, but I would like to do more with him. I just love the look of the guy, with his single eyeball. He's kinda cute. I want a Solaris or Stargrave toy to hang off my rear-view mirror.


Nrama: This storyline has also explored some developing relationships elsewhere on the team. What's the status of the team members as we move toward the next storyline?


Bedard: The cast has grown pretty large, so there's quite a bit going on relationship-wise. Look for interesting developments between Captain Comet and Starfire, between Vril Dox and Blackfire, and others to be revealed.


Nrama: Issue #21 begins a new storyline, "To Be a R.E.B.E.L.," that incorporates the Green Lantern Corps. How do the R.E.B.E.L.S. come across the Corps? Will this be a friendly team-up or something else?


Bedard: This storyline will actually define the fundamental difference between the R.E.B.E.L.S. and the Green Lantern Corps. Or...more like Dox will do his best to define the Corps as untrustworthy, out-of-touch, elitist interlopers who come to force the laws of Oa upon everyone, regardless of whether or not they were invited.


Dox's organization, on the other hand, enforces local laws and can be fired if the client is unhappy with their work. Basically, Dox wants to undermine the goodwill and acceptance that the Green Lanterns have enjoyed for so long...and Dox's argument will find some traction across the galaxy. In fact, Dox will officially rename his organization from L.E.G.I.O.N. to R.E.B.E.L.S., which stands for Regional Enforcement Bureau Ending Lantern Supremacy.

Nrama: Will the title have a synergy with Green Lantern Corps going forward, or is it just for this storyline? Will the two titles cross over?


Bedard: I don't think we'll cross over, although R.E.B.E.L.S. will probably play along in the next big cosmic Event for the DC Universe. But I do think there will be synergy here, as the Rebels must compete with the Corps as interstellar peacekeepers.


Nrama: You seem to feel very comfortable writing all the various races you have to juggle in this title. Do you feel like it's one of your strengths as a writer, to deal with this variety and a wide variety of characters?


Bedard: I've always loved the variety and endless possibility of the DC Universe. In fact, the thing I love most about groups like the Green Lantern Corps and the Legion of Super-Heroes is the incredible variety. there's always more to learn and discover. So it never seems like a challenge or a problem to work with such a big cast. It's always an opportunity to go to cool new places and reveal interesting new things about these characters.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

In fact, Dox will officially rename his organization from L.E.G.I.O.N. to R.E.B.E.L.S., which stands for Regional Enforcement Bureau Ending Lantern Supremacy.

I honestly don't know how anyone could not love this series.

 

[Mystirious]

I honestly don't know how anyone could not love this series.

I am going to pick up this arc and give it a try

 

[NightBeetle]

Bedard Leads the "R.E.B.E.L.S"

"'R.E.B.E.L.S.' has been one of the best gigs I've ever had," Bedard exlaimed to CBR News. "It's a book I wanted to do since I started writing for DC, and I'm grateful I was given the opportunity. I was a big fan of the original 'L.E.G.I.O.N.' series and of Vril Dox in particular, so it's been a joy to play up the non-Green Lantern cosmic characters in the DC Universe."

Bedard further admitted to wanting to take a crack at a Brainiac-related character for some time. The writer first discovered the super-smart super villain as a child while watching the 1960s Filmation Superman cartoon - back when the character looked for knowledge but should have quested for a much-needed pair of pants. "This was the old-school, bare-legged Brainiac, and it freaked me out when Superman couldn't punch through his invisible force field. But the current update of Brainiac is the best version yet," he said. "He's a villain of the first order - the worst mass-murderer in the history of the Milky Way. He's on a quest for knowledge, but once he acquires it he kills whoever he stole it from because he won't share with anyone. He's freaking scary."


Conversely, the villain's son Vril Dox seems much more stable, despite his own megalomania. And like many children, Vril certainly doesn't want to grow up and become his dad. "Vril Dox, a.k.a. Brainiac 2, is on a personal quest to counterbalance all the harm his father has done. He's less concerned with doing what's right than he is with erasing the stain of Brainiac from his family name," explained Bedard. "But he's also a crappy father, so his son Lyrl, aka Brainiac 3, has his own vendetta against Vril.

Lyrl is kind of tragic because he was born with his 12th-Level Intelligence in full effect. He never had the chance to develop the judgment and personal character that tempers our actions, so that terrible intellect led Lyrl to take over L.E.G.I.O.N. and attempt to kill his father. All this when he was still in diapers. With a start like that, Lyrl is pretty much destined for trouble."

To counter the massive amount of brain on hand, Bedard is bringing in the brawn with issue #20. "I've wanted Lobo on the team from the start, because he was one of my favorite things from the original 'L.E.G.I.O.N.' series, but other plans for the character meant I had to wait," revealed the writer. "Lobo's the perfect counterpoint to Dox: brawn versus brains. The first time he worked with Dox, it was because Dox had tricked him into a promise of service. Now, he's back because he's in cosmic-sized debt and Dox is waving a paycheck at him. But having Lobo on your team is like having a tiger by the tail."


Bedard edited the old monthly "Lobo" series previously, which allowed for a little familiarity with the character. The writer said he sees the character as virtually pure Id, with no real moral conscious to keep him in check. However, Bedard does believe there is a strange purity to the character that he finds appealing as a writer. As mentioned, the character becomes a new member of the team moving forward and Bedard told us he really looks forward to exploring how the other team members react to the force of nature presence of the character, beginning in the title's next arc "To Be a R.E.B.E.L." which features the Green Lantern Corps.

"This story arc will see the Vega Sector's rookie lanterns either earn their badges or get drummed out of the corps," said Bedard. "It also sets up a battle for the hearts and minds of the galaxy as Vril Dox puts out the viewpoint that the Green Lantern Corps are unwanted interlopers, imposing the laws of Oa upon the universe. It's a sort of State's Rights versus Big Government argument, but it proves persuasive to more people than the Guardians of the Universe would like."

Although the two teams share certain similarities in that they both are law enforcement agencies, Bedard said there are certain fundamental differences between the ring-slinging Corps and Vril's group that puts them in direct opposition, especially when the question of jurisdiction comes into play.

"It makes sense that we should define the relationship between L.E.G.I.O.N. and the Green Lantern Corps, since they both carry out similar functions, but in completely different ways. L.E.G.I.O.N. is justice-for-profit. They're the Blackwater of outer space, whereas the Green Lanterns are a more altruistic operation," he explained. "Also, most of the action in 'R.E.B.E.L.S.' is centered on the Vega Sector, which was recently reopened to the Green Lantern Corps, so a confrontation between these two sides is sort of inevitable."


"I think the Green Lantern view of L.E.G.I.O.N. is a pretty dim one, mostly because the guy leading L.E.G.I.O.N. is all but a villain himself," Bedard added. "Dox's crew, on the other hand, is composed of vastly different personalities, so they all have their own take. Adam Strange has a much more positive view of the Green Lanterns than does Amon Hakk, the Khund mercenary."


Bedard also plans to explore those "vastly different personalities" of Vril's crew in upcoming issues, with the writer hinting that sometimes, opposing personalities actually attract. "R.E.B.E.L.S. has a sprawling cast meant to reflect the endless variety of races populating the DC Universe," he said. "I have big developments in mind for planet Rann, which was recently zeta-beamed into the Vega System. This impacts on the life of Adam Strange, Starfire and her evil sister Darkfire, who is a more complex character than her sister thinks. And I want to explore some romantic possibilities among the cast."


Although the October-launching arc does feature the Green Lantern Corps, Bedard admitted that he doesn't have any real crossover plans between the two titles at the moment despite scripting them both. However, he teased that both series would be playing a part in DC's next cosmic-level event - something Bedard greatly looks forward to as a fan of everything space-based.


"I've always loved science fiction. I remember the moon landings from when I was a toddler, and that was probably the start of it. I loved 'Ultraman' and 'Star Trek' as a kid. Then came 'Star Wars' when I was 10, and that was all she wrote," said Bedard. "I actually wanted to be an astronaut when I went to college, but I quickly realized what I liked better was telling stories about the final frontier. Space does offer limitless possibilities, and you can play with the physics, too."


"R.E.B.E.L.S" issues #20 hits stores Sept 1 with issue #21 following a month later on October 6.

 

[yenaled]

Still one of the best series DC is doing, it's fun every month.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Absolutely. I don't know how it's survived this long, but I'm very happy it'll be continuing for the foreseeable future. Can't wait for Lobo to rejoin.

 

[Mystirious]

The sons of Braniac arc looks fun

Glad Bedard has plans for Blackfire in this series I her

 

[CConn]

It's odd, I loved the first TPB, but once I jumped onto the single issues, I started enjoying it less and less. I dunno, it seems like it's more enjoyable as multiple issue collections, then a monthly read for me.

 

[Mystirious]

I find that a lot of comics read better in a collected format rather than monthly installments

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The arc before "The Sons of Brainiac" wasn't that great. Starro's finale wasn't among its best, either. I actually think the cast has been hurt a bit by dispensing with some of the earlier characters. Strata in particular was a lot of fun, but she's gone now.

Starfire and Adam Strange aren't suitable replacements. They're all right, but they're too big. It gives the series a different tone than this band of random nobodies who hate each other and Dox most of all. Hopefully, Lobo will bring some more fun interpersonal conflicts back to the series.

 

[Mystirious]

Lobo is usually good for some fun stories when he is well written

Looking forward to him showing up

 

[SpideyInATree]

A friend of mine down the street hooked me up with the first volume of this series. It's awesome. I had been hearing from a lot of fans about how great this book is and it's one of DC's most underrated books. I totally am agreeing. I just saw the second volume came out this week, or next week? Well, I will definitely be picking that up so I can get a little more caught up.

 

[NightBeetle]

R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 Preview

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hehehehehe, this is gonna be great.

 

[NightBeetle]

R.E.B.E.L.S #23
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by CLAUDE ST. AUBIN & SCOTT HANNA
Cover by FRANCIS PORTELA
In “To Be a R.E.B.E.L.,” part 3, Adam Strange plays peacemaker between Vril Dox’s band of rebellious space cops and the entire Green Lantern Corps – and negotiations aren’t going well at all. Let’s hope Lobo can stay on his best behavior . . .yeah, right!
Guest-starring Green Lantern John Stewart!
On sale DECEMBER 8 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Awesome. This series is really pulling itself back up to the level it started at. I still hate that most of the original cast is being pushed aside for bigger names like Starfire and Adam Strange, but bringing Brainiac and now the GLC into the mix has given Bedard some great stuff to work with.

 

[yenaled]

I love that cover.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's pretty solid. I could do without having to see glowing versions of the Lanterns' symbol all the time, though.

 

[yenaled]

Haha, I didn't even notice that, must have got so used to it.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It just looks awkward sometimes, like on that cover, where the glowing version is floating directly over the normal version anyway.

 

[NightBeetle]

R.E.B.E.L.S. #22 Preview