From: pstrem@the-flea.East.Sun.COM (Paul Strem)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: LoBo Article (LONG!)
Date: 5 Nov 1992 18:42:26 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: pstrem@the-flea.East.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: the-flea.east.sun.com

In article GzH@news.cso.uiuc.edu, pmm34393@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Dr. Vincent Vaugn ) writes:
 
-- What exactly is Lobo's origin? The only thing I know is that he killed 
-- off everyone on his home planet--anyone got any details?

	This was originally published in The Flea's Second issue, August 
1991.  I hope it doesn't seem too dated....

			The Ultimate in Attitude
				Copyright 1991 by Paul Strem

(Please contact the author if you wish to place this material on any other forum.)  

	Lobo, assassin to royalty and scourge of the stars.  The villian 
I would have voted least likely to turn hero is now a good guy (of sorts).  
While not exactly the ideal role-model for younger readers, Lobo is great 
fun to watch in action.  However, as far as ethics go, he makes Wolverine 
look like Mr. Rogers.

What more can be said about a character who wiped out the entire population 
of his home planet just to make himself stand out in a crowd?  A character 
who took on the Man of Steel and basically wiped the floor with him in 
Superman's own book?  A man whose longest standing relationship was with 
a rare species of flying porpoises?

	In "Omega Men" #3 a pair of bounty hunters are contracted by the 
Citadel to capture Kalista, Queen of Euphorix and beloved wife of Primus, 
the leader of the Omega Men.  This marks the first appearance Lobo, who 
wagers with his partner to split the bounty, two-thirds for the first to 
reach Kalista and the remainder going to the one with the highest body 
count.  Lobo, of course, gets all the reward; although his partner Bedlam 
does get to keep a pair of wings ripped of the back of an Omega as a trophy.

	In issue #10, Lobo teams up with the embattled Omega Men because 
of a previous transgression of the Citadel.  It is in this issue that a 
peculiar fact of Lobo's physiology is first revealed; Lobo is grabbed by 
a Branx warrior and as the creature is about to kill him, Lobo reminds him 
that his race has the peculiar ability to multiply through any spilled 
blood or tissue.  When the Branx tries to back off, Lobo attempts to blow 
them both to bits and pieces.  Primus saves his life, responding to the 
other Omegan's complaints that he didn't like the idea of a million 
psychopathic lunatics running loose.  After all, who would?

	The answer to this question would come about five years later in 
another series, Legion '89.  This is where Lobo's reputation really took 
off, with him taking on the entire Legion in issue #4 and trashing the 
lot of them (including a particularly gruesome confrontation with Stealth).  
Vril Dox, the son of Brainiac, arrives to restore order by offering Lobo 
a position in the Legion with steady pay and protection for his dolphins.  
Dox keeps the rest of the Legion in the dark about his intentions, which 
remain mysterious until issue #7.

	Dox utilizes Lobo's peculiar method of reproduction to create a 
veritable army of Lobo's to fight off a planetary armada of gangsters and 
drug dealers.  This battalion of Lobo's wipes out the invading fleet in a 
series of suicide attacks that quickly wipe out both factions in a remarkably 
short time, but I can't help but wonder if one of these clones may have 
survived (perhaps setting the scene for a future Lobo vs. Lobo battle!).  
Unknown to Lobo, however, Dox had engineered this stunt to be the last time 
Lobo would ever be able to replicate, thus setting the stage for one of 
the most memorable Lobo battles of all time!

	Legion '89 #10 has Lobo rip Dox from a machine that was in the 
process of genetically creating a new body to replace the one Stealth had 
torn to shreds (It's a long story).  Dox had manipulated the machine to 
increase his own physical powers, but Lobo had no way of knowing this.  
Even with his powers augmented, I didn't think he had a chance against the 
enraged Czarnian (Ya can do what ya like to your enemies, but ya don't go 
neuterin' your friends!).  It came as a major surprise to Dox himself when 
he actually fought Lobo to a standstill.

	For those of you who may have missed the exceptional Lobo-Demon 
team-up, read them if you get the chance.  Full of dark humor and violence, 
it is a chance to see Lobo at his best.  One of the most surprising of the 
recent Lobo appearances is "The Quiet Darkness Saga" currently running in 
Legion of Super Heroes.  One thousand years in the future, Darkseid exists 
on a world of ecological devastation, a post-apocalyptic police state.  
Darkseid is huntiong the sister of a young boy he holds prisoner.  He hires 
a bounty hunter (Lobo) to return the sister to him, not knowing the girl 
has befriended a member of the Legion.  Don't miss the team-up of two of 
the Darkest forces in the DC Universe of the 30th Century!

-----------
A Lobo Checklist...
Omega Men 3,5,9,10,19,20,37
Legion 3-19, 26,27,29-31,Ann.1,Ann.2
Action 650, Superman 41, Adventures of Superman 464
Adventures of Superman Annual 2
Justice League Intenational 18-21
Mister Miracle 13,14
Demon 11-15
Legion of SuperHeroes 21-24


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