View source for L.E.G.I.O.N.

{{short description|Group of fictional characters}}
{{about|the DC Comics property|other uses|legion (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox comics organization
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->

|image = Legion90.png
|imagesize =
|caption = Cover of ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '90'' #11 (January 1990), art by [[Kevin Maguire (artist)|Kevin Maguire]].
|publisher = [[DC Comics]]
|debut = ''[[Invasion! (DC Comics)|Invasion!]]'' #1<br>(December [[1988 in comics|1988]])
|creators = [[Keith Giffen]] (writer & artist)<br>[[Bill Mantlo]] (writer)<br>[[Todd McFarlane]] (artist)
|base = Planet Cairn
|members = [[Vril Dox]]<br>[[Strata (comics)|Strata]]<br>Tribulus<br>Wildstar<br>[[Garryn Bek]]
|fullroster = 
|cat = teams
|subcat = DC Comics
|hero = y
|villain =
|sortkey = L.E.G.I.O.N.
}}
'''''L.E.G.I.O.N.''''' is a [[science fiction]] [[comic book]] created by [[Keith Giffen]], [[Bill Mantlo]] and [[Todd McFarlane]] and published by [[DC Comics]]. The principal subject of the comic book is a team of fictional extraterrestrial superheroes. The characters first appeared in ''[[Invasion! (DC Comics)|Invasion!]]'' #1 (December [[1988 in comics|1988]]). The original series chronicled the formation and activity of an [[wikt:interplanetary|interplanetary]] [[police force]] whose mission was to act as a peace-keeping force in their galaxy.

==Publication history==
===''Invasion!''===
The characters who went on to form L.E.G.I.O.N. were first introduced in the three-part miniseries ''[[Invasion! (DC Comics)|Invasion!]]''

Vril Dox, Garryn Bek, Strata, Lyrissa Mallor, and the Durlan appeared as prisoners of the Alien Alliance who helped stage a breakout from the Starlag, a prison spacecraft overseen by the alien race known as the Citadel.

===''L.E.G.I.O.N.''===
''L.E.G.I.O.N. '89'' debuted in [[1989 in comics|1989]] (as indicated by the title) and reached issue #70 (as ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '94'' in [[1994 in comics|1994]]).  L.E.G.I.O.N. stands for '''L'''icensed '''E'''xtra-'''G'''overnmental '''I'''nterstellar '''O'''peratives '''N'''etwork.<ref name=Guide>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Korte |first3=Steve |last4=Manning |first4=Matt |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |last6=Wilson |first6=Sven |title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe |date=2016 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-5357-0 |page=173}}</ref>

This series followed the adventures of [[Vril Dox]] and his allies after their escape from the Starlag in ''Invasion!''. Dox takes his companions to Colu, where they overthrow the Computer Tyrants running the planet. They encounter the bounty hunter [[Lobo (DC Comics)|Lobo]], who had been tracking Bek to exact revenge on him for having accidentally killed one of Lobo's treasured space dolphins. Dox smoothly and swiftly turns Lobo into a valued ally. With this group, Dox decides to form an interplanetary police force. He bases his operation on the planet Cairn after a difficult and bloody coup against Cairn's ruler, Bek's father-in-law, whom Dox shoots point blank. The series follows the rise, heyday, and fall of this police force.

===''R.E.B.E.L.S.''===
{{main|R.E.B.E.L.S.}}
As a consequence of the ''[[Zero Hour: Crisis in Time|Zero Hour]]'' event, the original title was replaced by ''R.E.B.E.L.S. '94'' ('''R'''evolutionary '''E'''lite '''B'''rigade to '''E'''radicate '''L'''.E.G.I.O.N. '''S'''upremacy) (beginning with issue #0), continuing the same storyline with basically the same characters.  ''R.E.B.E.L.S. '96'' #17 was the last issue.

When L.E.G.I.O.N. is usurped by Vril Dox's son [[Brainiac 3|Lyrl Dox]] (who went by the name of Brainiac 3), Dox and those members who remain loyal to him (Lobo, Phase, Strata, Stealth, and Borb) are forced to flee in a mysterious new ship in order to regroup and regain control of L.E.G.I.O.N. Telepath comes along unwillingly. Garv, Strata's husband, unbalanced by not understanding recent events, becomes involved in a desire to get Strata back. Borb (who is in love with Stealth) sacrifices his life in order to protect his friends from an other-dimensional army of brain-stealing entities; the very ones that had created the ship they had been fleeing in.  They soon name the ship the 'Di'ib', after an old L.E.G.I.O.N. hero.

The team has to fight old friends, such as Zena Moonstruk, Gigantus and Davroth. Behind the scenes help comes from old ally Marij'n and [[Captain Comet]]. The group also encounters the demonic entity [[Neron (DC Comics)|Neron]], who plays a critical role in the resolution of the main storyline providing the means to defeating Lyrl in exchange for the soul of a future generation of the Dox line.

The heroes regain control in the last issue, with Vril using the knowledge given to him by Neron to find a way to lobotomize his son, stripping him of his super-intelligence. Dox and Stealth retire to take care of Lyrl, whose brain has been reduced to that of a normal one-year-old, while Captain Comet is placed in charge of L.E.G.I.O.N.

===Post-series appearances===
In the [[2004 in comics|2004]] ''[[Adam Strange]]'' (issues #5-8) and the later ''[[Rann/Thanagar War]]'' series (issues #1–6 and the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' special), Vril Dox has resumed control of L.E.G.I.O.N. and is using droids as officers. Adam Strange is pursued by the group in the pages of his own series, framed for the seeming destruction of Rann. Former L.E.G.I.O.N. members have been referred to in the subsequent ''Infinite Crisis'' series, and many make a cameo appearance in one panel of ''Infinite Crisis'' #1, although the lineup appears to be out of date (in addition to Darius' appearance on one of the screens, Bertron Diib is visible between several of the dialogue balloons). L.E.G.I.O.N. and Vril Dox are mentioned several times, although not shown, in ''[[Mystery in Space]]'' ([[2006 in comics|2006]]) featuring [[Captain Comet]].  Dox plays a major role in the six-part ''[[Omega Men]]'' [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]] (2006-[[2007 in comics|2007]]).

===''R.E.B.E.L.S.'' (second series)===
{{main|R.E.B.E.L.S.}}
In 2009, ''R.E.B.E.L.S.'' returned as an ongoing series. According to writer [[Tony Bedard]] he originally "pitched it as ''L.E.G.I.O.N.'' and then the Legion of Super-Heroes exploded.... We needed a title to emphasize that, despite the distant connection to the Legion, this is its own book. We didn't have to look far".<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18891 Tony Bedard Cries a R.E.B.E.L.S. Yell], [[Comic Book Resources]], November 20, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20002 REFLECTIONS: Tony Bedard], [[Comic Book Resources]], February 10, 2009</ref>

The new series opens with Dox a wanted criminal on the run from a L.E.G.I.O.N. made up of robotic constructs controlled by Silica, a living computer Dox had designed. While a robot-based, computer-controlled L.E.G.I.O.N. had made it easier for Dox to control the behavior of his police force throughout the 80 worlds under their protection (a common complaint of his in the first series), it also enabled the Star Conqueror (a.k.a. [[Starro]]) to wrest control of L.E.G.I.O.N. from Dox and make himself the de facto ruler of all the client worlds just by corrupting Silica. The first issues show Dox building his team based on instructions smuggled to him by Brainiac Five, a team that will be the prototype of the future Legion of Super-Heroes.

===''The New 52''===
In ''[[The New 52]]'' reboot of DC's continuity, L.E.G.I.O.N. still exists, but is unclear how much of its history remains intact. L.E.G.I.O.N. officers make a brief appearance in the [[Larfleeze]] backup story in ''[[Threshold (DC Comics)|Threshold]]'' #3. Stealth, a L.E.G.I.O.N. member in previous continuity, also appears in the main storyline of ''Threshold'', although she is not affiliated with the organization.

==List of characters==
===Founding members===
* [[Vril Dox II]] (genius Coluan; founder and team leader; clone of Vril Dox, the original [[Brainiac (character)|Brainiac]])
* [[R. J. Brande|The Durlan]] (nameless shapeshifting alien from the planet Durla, old friend of Dox; later revealed to be Legion of Super-Heroes benefactor [[R. J. Brande]])
* Strata (powerful crystalline female from the planet Dryad)
* Stealth (female alien from Gryx)
* [[Garryn Bek]] (ex-policeman from Cairn)
* Lyrissa Mallor (champion of Talok VIII, ancestor of [[Shadow Lass]])

===Later members===
* [[Lobo (DC Comics)|Lobo]] (Czarnian bounty-hunter)
* [[Phantom Girl|Phase]] (mysterious female from 30th century with power to "phase" through solid objects; originally, she was [[Phantom Girl]] of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes]]; after ''[[Zero Hour (comics)|Zero Hour]]'', [[retcon]]ned to be [[Phantom Girl|Apparition]]'s second self; status unknown in current continuity)
* [[Lar Gand]] (Daxamite who later becomes known as Valor)
* [[Lady Quark]] (co-ruler and lone survivor of Earth-Six which was destroyed during the [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|Crisis]])
* [[Captain Comet]] (mutant metahuman with advanced powers)
* Telepath (last survivor of a hive-dwelling race from the planet Zsiglon; aka Qi'Qi)
* Marij'n Bek (Cairnian wife of Garryn Bek)
* Garv (powerful male alien, becomes Strata's lover)
* Amon Hakk ([[Khundian]] recruit)
* Bertron Diib (impervious alien recruit from Diibworld)
* Borb Borbb (alien recruit with teleportation powers)
* Darius (android recruit created on Acheron)
* Zena Moonstruk (shy alien recruit with the power to absorb light and emit it as energy blasts)
* Ig'nea (female recruit with pyrotechnic powers)
* Lydea Mallor (Lyrissa Mallor's daughter)
* Davroth Catto (arrogant recruit from the planet Oziman with power of flight)
* Layla (female humanoid who acquires powers in the ''Bloodlines'' crossover)
* Gigantus (diminutive champion of Motus)
* [[Brainiac 3|Lyrl Dox]] (super-intelligent son of Vril Dox and Stealth; also known as Brainiac 3)
* Taptree (plantlike alien)

===Deceased members===
* Lyrissa Mallor
* Bertron Diib
* Ig'nea

===Current members===
* [[Vril Dox]]
* Tribulus
* Bounder
* Ciji
* [[Wildstar (DC Comics)|Wildstar]]
* Amon Hakk
* Garv
* [[Adam Strange]]
* [[Captain Comet]]
* Xylon

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=rebels DCU Guide: R.E.B.E.L.S.]
* {{comicbookdb|type=team|id=28|title=L.E.G.I.O.N.}}

{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}

[[Category:1989 comics debuts]]
[[Category:DC Comics titles]]
[[Category:Legion of Super-Heroes]]
[[Category:Characters created by Bill Mantlo]]
[[Category:Characters created by Keith Giffen]]
[[Category:Characters created by Todd McFarlane]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1989]]