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50-785: The characters who went on to form L.E.G.I.O.N. were first introduced in the three-part miniseries 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. '89 debuted in 1989 (as indicated by the title) and reached issue #70 (as L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 in 1994 ). L.E.G.I.O.N. stands for L icensed E xtra- G overnmental I nterstellar O peratives N etwork. This series followed

100-535: A Durlan before seeing the invasion fleet, and Suicide Squad #22 has Amanda Waller mentioning she must attend a special council with regard to Invasion. Animal Man #7 is not officially tied to Invasion! , but like the other aftermath titles, ends with the explosion of the gene bomb. Swamp Thing #96-98 features a visit to Hell , in which the afterlives of many of the slain Invasion forces are seen. The 2008 trade paperback collection of Invasion! (containing only

150-722: A coma. Since the point of the invasion was to harness these beings, not eradicate them, the Dominator is imprisoned by his own government. A group of heroes unaffected by the Gene Bomb, led by the Martian Manhunter , manage to take information from the Dominator's mind crucial to reversing the effects of the Gene Bomb and restore the affected metahumans to health. "Invasion!" was DC's line-wide crossover event for 1988. It crossed over into 30 other DC comics and also featured guest appearances from other DC Universe staples such as Adam Strange ,

200-471: A conflict between aquatic and terrestrial creatures. Despite the efforts of the Zoo Crew, Starro floods the planet and defeats the heroes, who are then magically transported to safety with other surviving refugees by another animal team, Just'a Lotta Animals . Zoo Crew member Pig Iron battles Starro underwater, sacrificing himself as the rest of the heroes escape. In R.E.B.E.L.S. , a new incarnation of Starro

250-400: 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

300-793: A farmer), a few in the Outsiders #44, and a cameo in a prison break in Flash . Also, a Dominator appeared in Joker: Last Laugh #3. A Khund was also killed by Mongul during a prison break in Green Lantern . The greatest impact of Invasion was its introduction of the metagene as the explanation within the DC Universe as to how some people gain superhuman abilities. The Flash's father, Rudolph West (a Manhunter agent) appears to die in an explosion in Cuba , defending

350-456: A fictional version of Western Europe. Controlling the minds and bodies of thousands of humans, Starro seizes power, with several members of Justice League Europe opposing the alien. Starro is finally defeated when the Justice League member Ice freezes the original Starro. During JLA and referring to itself only as It , another member of Starro's species takes control of the Flash and

400-718: A great many plotlines from various Giffen-created DC series, including Omega Men , Justice League International , and Legion of Super-Heroes . A trade paperback collection of the three issues was released on September 3, 2008. The series was scripted by Bill Mantlo ; it was his first work for DC after a long career at Marvel Comics . Pencils were by Todd McFarlane , Bart Sears , and Giffen himself; inks were by Joe Rubinstein, P. Craig Russell , Tom Christopher, Dick Giordano and Al Gordon . All three covers were pencilled by Bart Sears , including issue #1, contrary to DC's credits listing. The alien coalition consisted of several disparate races; several had only appeared before with

450-730: A homeless man resisting the entity's control, the heroes free mankind from the alien's influence. Dream captures the Star Conqueror and stores the entity with his other keepsakes. In the DC/ Marvel Comics crossover JLA/Avengers , Starro battles the alternate universe superhero team the Avengers . In the 2005–2006 " Infinite Crisis " storyline Starro appears as a member of Alexander Luthor, Jr 's Secret Society of Super Villains . Starro eventually returns to Captain Carrot's universe to spark

500-473: A major role in the six-part Omega Men limited series (2006- 2007 ). 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". The new series opens with Dox

550-467: A new version called Genetically Modified Starro appeared in New Super-Man #4 (2016). Starro is a highly advanced starfish -like alien with a single central eye and prehensile extremities. The entity visits Earth and empowers three starfish; the creatures begin wreaking havoc, such as exploding an atomic bomb and absorbing its energy, kidnapping scientists and absorbing their brain power and placing

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600-567: A normal one-year-old, while Captain Comet is placed in charge of L.E.G.I.O.N. In the 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

650-558: A quick collapse for the Alliance and individual surrenders by each former member. However, a young Dominator, aspiring to prominence among his people, manages to isolate the "metagene" in humans that enables a person to develop superhuman powers. On his own initiative, he develops and deploys the Gene Bomb, a device that bathes the Earth in an energy that affects every metahuman exposed to it, causing them to lose control of their powers and fall into

700-464: A small fleet of troop transports arrive and demand that the Alliance withdraw from Earth. The Dominators decide to ignore them, unaware of the effect a yellow sun has on Daxamites, until the fleet deploys several thousand soldiers into space as a near invincible attack force. This, combined with key defeats in various theaters, and a full-scale and uncontrollable riot aboard the Alliance Gulag, leads to

750-642: A two-part story in Justice League of America #189–190 (April–May 1981), then again a year after that in an alternate universe story in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #1 (March 1982), and it appeared briefly in Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 (December 1985). In post– Crisis on Infinite Earths DC comics, Starro appeared in a five-part story in Justice League Europe #25–28 (March–July 1991) and

800-470: 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

850-438: Is able to assume its former proportions. Being able to reproduce asexually , Starro creates millions of miniature duplicates of itself, which the authors called spores. These spores attach to the faces of the entire population of New York, allowing Starro to control their minds with its own. The creature uses these spores to control several members of the Justice League until it is defeated by extreme cold. Later, after Superman

900-479: Is accidentally transported to an alternate universe, Starro is again defeated by Superman alongside Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew . Superman then takes the defeated Starro back to his universe. Starro later convinces Justice League Europe that it is dying and wishes to return to space. Aided by former Green Lantern Kilowog , Starro returns to his original spaceship and tricks the heroes by programming it to explode. It then releases thousands of spores over

950-645: Is introduced. This version is Cobi , a Hatorei alien from the planet of the same name. After the Star Conquerors invaded his planet, Cobi fell under their control and worked with them to expand their empire. During New 52 , Starro is still linked with the Justice League via historian David Graves' book making sporadic appearances throughout. Starro is an alien conqueror with a humanoid central mind commanding spores that resemble either giant or small Terran starfish. An asexual creature, Starro's spores are capable of generating clones that act in accordance with

1000-509: The Larfleeze backup story in 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. Invasion! (DC Comics) Invasion! was a three-issue comic book limited series and crossover event published in 1988 by DC Comics . It was plotted by Keith Giffen , and ties up

1050-652: The Legion of Super-Heroes one thousand years in the future. Assembling this alliance was a major diplomatic victory for the Dominators , considering the animosities many of the members shared for one another (particularly the three races of the Vega system). As it worked out, the Dominators provided the overall strategy for the invasion, with input from each member world while the Khunds acted as

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1100-479: The #2 list): Invasion! #3: DC also released a special edition of the Daily Planet as a tie-in to the storyline (the front page of which appears on the last page of Invasion! #1). Spun off from Invasion! were Blasters Special #1 and L.E.G.I.O.N. #1, the latter of which depicted an aftermath. All tie-in issues between #2 and #3 ended with the gene bomb being detonated in Earth's atmosphere, so that

1150-598: The Bold #28 (March 1960) in the story "Starro the Conqueror", which was also the first appearance of the Justice League of America . According to editor Julius Schwartz, the title "Starro the Conqueror" was inspired by a Ray Cummings story, "Tarrano the Conqueror". The second appearance of Starro was 17 years later in an 11-page Aquaman story in Adventure Comics #451 (May–June 1977). It appeared again only four years later in

1200-596: The Bomb she got powers similar to Marvel Comics 's Human Torch . One of the Dominators ended up under the control of the Queen Bee, ruler of the fictional country of Bialya. Though he did not long survive her anger, the technology he introduced was used against the Justice League multiple times. Several other Dominators were left on Earth for years and appeared in various comics (usually briefly) including one in Captain Atom (became

1250-522: The Lords of Chaos from intervening on behalf of the invaders and escalating the conflict into a cataclysm that would mean the destruction of everyone involved. The Alliance tenders an offer to spare the human race provided that the world's governments surrender their metahumans, but the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly rejects this offer. Superman leads a counterattack against

1300-611: The Psions were charged with (or left alone to) conducting biological research on humans; and the Daxamites were largely an observer group, providing medical and scientific assistance to the Alliance. The emotionless, calculating Dominators have put together an Alliance to invade Earth and eliminate the threat posed by their unpredictable "metahumans". After purging the galaxy of numerous potential threats to their plan - securing Darkseid 's non-interference by assuring him that they would not destroy

1350-613: 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 , 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

1400-501: The character of Vril Dox II and the organization called L.E.G.I.O.N. , which received its own title soon after Invasion! ended. The Gene Bomb was also responsible for giving powers of mind control to Maxwell Lord , but such powers were mostly unused. Another character from the Justice League International whose power was improved was Fire . Initially, she could only exhale bursts of fire, but after being affected by

1450-693: The coloring of the artwork is flipped to a photo negative. A number of stories make oblique or explicit reference to Invasion! without being explicitly tied-in via their covers, including Wonder Woman (vol. 2) Annual #1 and Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #24 (in which Major George Baines and Etta Candy track the invasion from the South Pacific), Swamp Thing #80 (in which the Dominators send Swamp Thing's essence back through time), The Spectre #22 (in which Jim Corrigan's team investigates cattle mutilations and continues directly into Invasion! #1), while The Flash (vol. 2) #20 has Wally West and Pied Piper shot by

1500-420: 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. 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

1550-554: The entity while Batman disables it with extreme cold. This version of Starro returns and is revealed to be a scout for a much larger member of the species called the "Star Conqueror". Covering Europe with its body, the entity gains control of the minds of most humans while they sleep. Dream of the Endless aids the JLA in battling the entity psychically in a shared dream; simultaneously, a small team of heroes attacks its physical form. Assisted by

L.E.G.I.O.N. - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-511: The land during Invasion #2. His subsequent returns would plague the Flash and his mother multiple times. Unusual for the time, the three issues were published as perfect-bound comics, each the length of three usual comics - a throwback to the "80-page giants" of the Silver Age . In the reading order presented in the back of each main issue: Invasion! #1: Invasion! #2: Others (omitted from

1650-463: The main Alliance base. The counterattack is temporarily disrupted by the Daxamite observers, who become the equal of Superman and temporarily defeat him, but fall prey to Earth's atmospheric differences from their own world and how it affected their extreme and lethal sensitivity to lead poisoning . After Superman helps save them, they decide to withdraw from the Alliance and help defend Earth. To that end,

1700-537: The original Star Conquerors possessed psychic abilities powerful enough to overwhelm and circumvent the willpower of Hal Jordan to prevent access to his Lantern Ring's abilities. Their size can also vary from being as big as city blocks to larger than a small planetary ocean body, in which case said Starro probe can radically alter the very climate, topography, and geography within its vicinity akin to terraforming . A future Starr Conqueror spore eventually came to weaponize five Qwardian power rings on its pointed tentacles;

1750-401: The original's will. The clones are parasites by nature and can attach themselves to a humanoid's face, and subsequently take control of the host's central nervous system , thereby controlling the host. Control of the host is lost once removed from the victim. Originally the first Starro could transform two Earth starfish into duplicates of itself equal to it in size and power. Both variants of

1800-437: The parasite are capable of energy absorption/projection, flight , changing color and self-regeneration, while the larger ones have a high degree of invulnerability as well as telepathy ; the giant Starro possessing much more potent mental capabilities is able to indirectly influence the minds of a potential host race, capable of lulling countless people into an induced slumber and accessing their thoughts via dreams. Another of

1850-458: 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. As a consequence of the 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

1900-500: The planet Thanagar, and one-time Justice League of America sidekick Snapper Carr and his team the Blasters . The Blasters would make several more appearances, fighting further alien threats to Earth. The invasion of Earth and the Gene Bomb had some long-lasting effects on the DC Universe. In particular, the recently relaunched Doom Patrol , a combination of the '60s, '70s, and brand new members, lost two team members and fell apart. This

1950-718: The planet and thwart his quest for the Anti-Life Equation , assassinating many former members of the disbanded Green Lantern Corps , and attacking the Omega Men - the Alliance launches a massive attack on Earth, overrunning Australia and establishing a base there from which to conquer the rest of the planet. Meanwhile, the Spectre appeals to the Lords of Order to allow Earth's magicians to join in Earth's defense, only to be told that he must instead ensure their neutrality for fear of provoking

2000-495: The population of the fictional Blue Valley using spores. Although the JLA intend to intervene, they are advised against doing so by the Spectre , who reveals the alien's intention is to capture and control the heroes and use their special abilities to conquer the galaxy. The JLA requests the Spectre to temporarily remove their powers, thus eliminating the potential threat they may have posed otherwise. This tactic allows them to distract

2050-503: The residents of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, under mental control. Eventually, they are stopped by the superheroes Aquaman , the Flash , Green Lantern , Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman . The heroes defeat Starro by coating it with quicklime , which nullifies its abilities. A segment of Starro survives and regenerates into a complete creature, but is stopped by Aquaman before being able to renew its plan of conquest. Starro eventually reappears and forces humans to nurture it until it

L.E.G.I.O.N. - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-517: The rings could create objects based on the wielder's thoughts, but only those fueled by fear instead of willpower. Given the difficulty in their usage, Starro's capacity to use five at once indicated a mastery of the fear element and its usage in battle, as shown when it went up against multiple iterations of Titans all at once. The latest version of the Star Conqueror shows how it uses its parthenogenesic capabilities to breed microscopic clones of itself, which can be inhaled by potential victims, serving as

2150-507: 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 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

2200-595: The scenes help comes from old ally Marij'n and Captain Comet . The group also encounters the demonic entity 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

2250-445: The shock troops for the first wave of attack that overran Australia. Each member world was then tasked with invading or subverting a particular sphere of influence: Additionally, some members of the Alliance were tasked with specific areas of responsibility and played little part in the military operations side. The Citadelians were given charge of administering the Alliance's vast Gulag of potential opponents and experimental subjects;

2300-524: 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 ) featuring Captain Comet . Dox plays

2350-575: The three core issues) includes cover copy stating "Secret No More!" ISBN   978-1401220662 . A new edition was released in April 2016. Starro (Giant versions) : (Humanoid/Jarro version) : Starro (also known as Starro the Conqueror ) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960), and

2400-484: Was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky . Starro is the first villain to face the original Justice League of America . Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books , the character has appeared in both comic books and other DC Comics–related products, such as animated television series , video games , and the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad (2021). The character debuted in The Brave and

2450-621: Was done to give new writer Grant Morrison a clean slate to revamp the book, including the addition of new metahumans having powers awakened by the Gene Bomb. They started with Crawling From the Wreckage storyline starting in Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #19. Morrison used the Invasion fallout for a pair of Animal Man stories, including the acclaimed "The Death of the Red Mask". Also, the Gulag storyline introduced

2500-781: Was revamped and reintroduced in JLA Secret Files #1 (September 1997) and JLA #22–23 (September–October 1998). Another version of the character featured in the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers #1–4 (September 2003 – May 2004); Teen Titans (vol. 3) #51–54 (November 2007 – February 2008); Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1 (February 2008) and Booster Gold (vol. 2) #13–14 (December 2008 – January 2009). Its post– Infinite Crisis appearances include R.E.B.E.L.S. (vol. 2) #1–13 (April 2009 – April 2010) and R.E.B.E.L.S (vol. 2) Annual #1 (December 2009). Another version appears in Forever Evil #1 (November 2013), and

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