Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 6 #11 pg 19

A ComicLink win from a little while ago, and let me tell you, I was beyond thrilled to snag this one! It's one of those pages where every time I would re-read the issue it's from, I'd say "this is a page I'd like to own the OA for, someday". It features one of the best lines Paul Levitz has ever written for Brainiac 5, and focuses on Brainy's relationship with Dream Girl, which Levitz had been expertly crafting since the early eighties.

The context here is that Dream Girl has braved a trip back in time to rescue her lover, Star Boy, whose sanity has been affected by a variety of factors, and who has been living in the past as the hero Starman. Dream Girl all but orders Brainy to get to work curing Star Boy's condition, which he sets to with no small amount of complaining, considering the numerous other threats the Legion is dealing with at the time.

There's some excellent character work on this page, showcasing both Levitz's incredible understanding of these characters, and HDR's expressive artwork. Dream Girl is normally very composed and almost unflappable, using her sense of humour and flirtatious personality to deflect during a crisis. It really speaks to how much she loves Thom that she's so completely distressed here. The real standout of this page, though, is how it explores her relationship with Brainy, which is one of my favourites throughout Legion history. Levitz has always kept things nebulous with how he writes them, leaving it up to the reader to decide if there's some unresolved romantic tension there, or if Nura just likes to have her fun flirting with Brainy the same way she does most other men who cross her path. I tend to favour the former, but I might just be sentimental like that. What's not up for debate is the fact that their friendship is a strong one, based around the way they understand each other better than most other Legionnaires understand either of them. The absolute best part of the page for me - and the reason why I sort of wish the art was from a time before digital lettering - is Brainy's response to Nura in the final panel, when he reminds her that he wouldn't be with the Legion at all if he didn't value them all as his friends, and then immediately follows it up with "stop sniffling". Paul Levitz at his absolute best, if you ask me.

HDR's art here is just gorgeous, too. He's got a great handle on how both Brainy and Dream Girl should look, even when they're in an emotional situation that's not very typical for either of them. I also really like his approach to drawing all of the futuristic medical equipment we see throughout the page, and the technique he used to show how Brainy's hands are slightly obscured by the transparent screens he's using.