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

I'm not sure what happened but originally Starfire was supposed to be on Robinsons' Justice League book. Plans fell through and she ended up in R.E.B.E.L.S. instead. I'm not exactly thrilled with everything that was done with the character in this series. This issue however stood out because it dealt with her past, had her doing something about an injustice she saw and had one of the greatest moments with Vril Dox I've ever seen. That said it does deal with the issue of sexual abuse against women so be warned.

This is actually in the middle of an arc that deals with newbie trainee Green Lanterns that thanks to their encounters with R.E.B.E.L.S. are already in trouble with the Oans. This part has them asking Karkum, the female Psion, to explain herself after her actions on her homeworld. Karkum was drawn to Starfire as she knows her history with the Psions. Naturally Kory isn't thrilled to see a Psion after what they did to her world and to her personally. The rookie Green Lantern informs the princess that it's the male Psions that are to blame as they violate the female Psions as they do with their own prisoners (i.e. Kory.) While she doesn't entirely believe it Kory goes along with her curious to see where this is going.

It turns out Karkum IS telling the truth and the conditions the female Psions suffer are horrible. The level of misogyny is certainly uncomfortable to read. Their only kept alive for breeding purposes and the GL ring chose Karkum because she never let it break her spirit. Dox actually has a contract with the Psions to provide them with R.E.B.E.L.S. protection. Kory naturally doesn't give a damn because she's going to do what she believes is right. They kill as many males as they can until one of them triggers an explosion that kills all the female slaves in the breeding cells. Upset Kory heads back to see Dox who is in the middle of talking to the Psions about the incident. Breaking through his wall Kory asks if he knew what the Psions did to their women. Dox prepares for his usual spiel only to look at her face then swiftly cancel his contract with the Psions. There's also a plot about the Psions cloning Lobo but that's just teased,

Overall: While the subject matter is a grim one I like that Kory did what she believed was right despite being a member of R.E.B.E.L.S. Her moment with Dox is brief but my favorite moment in the series. Vril Dox is in charge most of the time which makes his reaction all the more sweeter. He's not one to break contracts and was going to use the incident to help smear the Green Lanterns. One look at Kory scares the crap out of him and he's smart enough to realize not to piss her off further. I wouldn't recommend this if the subject matter upsets you. In truth what I enjoyed about this was Kory tearing down people who deserved it and proving why she's a force to be reckoned with. Never tick the princess off because her anger is brutal.

Did You Notice?: Karkum attempting to not call attention to herself by wearing a hooded robe is pretty funny. Why? Because she does it around races that she can't blend into.