Green Lantern #49 – Review

By Geoff Johns (writer), Ed Benes & Marcos Marz (artists), Ed Benes & Luciana Del Negro (inkers

The Story: John Stewart guest stars in Hal’s book this month to single handedly take on the Black Lantern planet Xanshi.

The Good: Wow. I love, love, love it when a comic can get me to re-examine characters I thought I knew. It’s not that I never liked John Stewart, but I will admit it was always hard to view him as being anything other than Hal’s wingman. With this issue, my respect for Stewart and his abilities has gone through the roof, and if DC ever wises up and gives Stewart his own monthly series, I’ll be the first in line to pick it up, this issue was that damn good. Under Johns’ guidance, Stewart is the eternal soldier: stoic, taciturn, and utterly dedicated to achieving the mission at hand. When that mission turns out to be taking on an entire Black Lantern planet, conventional wisdom would tell most people to wait for some back up. But not John Stewart, oh no. In the greatest and best-drawn moment of the comic, Stewart…well, let’s just say he calls on a different Corps to help him kick ass and take names. I was initially disappointed when I saw that Doug Mahnke wouldn’t be drawing this issue, but after reading it I have to say Benes was the perfect choice to bring Stewart’s tale to life.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 – Review

By Tony Bedard (writer), Andy Clark (artist), Jose Villarrubia (colorist)

Okay, let me see a show of hands: How many of you have been taking advantage of DC’s “Blackest Night” ring promotion?  Me, I’ve been loving the hell out of it.  Reminds me of the days when I used to get excited over the toys that came in the bottoms of cereal boxes.  It’s an awesome bit of marketing and I’m only too happy to give DC my money for the chance to geek out and possess all of the rings (huh, what a greedy thing to say.  Shit, that would make me an Orange Lantern, wouldn’t it?)  Now let me ask you this: how many of you have been reading and enjoying the obligatory comics you have to buy in order to get those rings?  That experience for me has been less than successful, ever since I was tempted to use Doom Patrol #4 as toilet paper after reading it.  Frankly, I didn’t even bother reading Booster Gold and was tempted to throw out R.E.B.E.L.S., but I didn’t, and I am glad I didn’t because this turned out to be one hell of a good story!

Now you have to understand that I’ve never touched this comic before now.  I’m not familiar with the cast or the title’s continuity, and only came into this issue knowing that it had something to do with “Blackest Night”. That said, within three pages Bedard skillfully managed to get me up to speed on the story and its characters so that I never felt like I didn’t know what was happening.  Bedard seamlessly combines his ongoing plot about Starro the Conqueror with “Blackest Night” and gives them equal weight.  You read this issue and feel like Vril Dox and his team are in the middle of an especially nasty shitstorm that just took a turn for the worse.  Dox is a fascinating character and a delight to read; fans of the TV show “House” I think will find much to like in Dox, an equally genius bastard who’s not afraid to pursue some highly unorthodox methods in order to get what he wants.  Nowhere was this more apparent than in the final pages of the story, which genuinely shocked and impressed me even though I was a new reader.

As for Andy Clark, wow, where the hell did this guy come from, and why didn’t anyone tell me he’s such an excellent artist?  Clark’s style is clean and finely detailed and is an utter delight to look at on the page.  When it comes to comics, I appreciate anybody who can offer me something different, something I’ve never seen before, and Clark’s art falls into that category.  Although his backgrounds and environments are a bit sparse, he populates them with fully believable characters that do a solid job of carrying the story.

I’ve got to hand it to DC, this ring promotion of theirs is a complete success.  Want to know how I know this?  Because I’ve resolved to go back and buy the last nine issues of R.E.B.E.L.S., and after I’ve done that, I’m going to begin collecting this comic on a regular basis.

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke

 

Green Lantern #46 – Review

By Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (artist), Christian Alamy (inker), Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb (colorists)

The Story: Hal and Indigo-1 begin their quest to unify the disparate factions of light by approaching Carol and the Star Sapphires even as the Black Lanterns attack Zamaron.  Meanwhile, Mongul and Sinestro discuss executive management opportunities within the Sinestro Corps.

The Good:  When it comes to truly epic storyteling, nothing quite satisfies like a Green Lantern story from Johns and Mahnke. Following the theoretically simple, yet rarely practiced, precept of delivering strong stories and dynamic art, they are constantly making Green Lantern a must read title for me. With this issue, I feel like “Blackest Night” has officially moved into its next phase of storytelling, as the emphasis seems to have shifted from revealing the magnitude of the threat posed by the Black Lanterns to uniting the various Lantern Corps against them. Johns is so incredibly successful at forging the Black Lantern Corps into a relentless, seemingly unstoppable danger that, as you read this issue, it’s hard to believe that Hal Jordan is going to make it out of this one alive. But that’s good!  That, my friends, is storytelling at its finest, and Johns has proven himself a Jedi Master in this particular department. But hell, I could just as easily say the same for Mahnke, whose art only gets better every month. Powerful, detailed, and at times deeply haunting, his art perfectly compliments both the superhero and supernatural qualities of this story.  In fact, Mahnke’s double splash page of Sinestro, uh, coming to a decision regarding Mongul’s promotion is easily worth the $3 I paid for this comic.  Just take a look at it and tell me that isn’t the coolest thing you’ve seen all month.  Moments like that remind me why comics are Great.

The Not So Good: I was surprised that Green Lantern was basically a guest star in his own comic.  Despite flying into scenes for brief exchanges with Carol, Sinestro, and Indigo-1, Hal’s presence was barely felt, whose was largely eclipsed by Sinestro. On the upside though, Sinestro stole every scene he was in and was a wicked delight to read. Oddly enough, and I can’t stress this enough, my biggest gripe was with Carol and whatever idiot at DC thought it was a good idea to make her look like a cheap Vegas whore.  I’m as much of a red-blooded, healthy young man as the next guy, but I was looking at Carol and her implants in utter disbelief that the Star Sapphires approved slut couture for their agents.  At least Johns had the common sense to poke some fun at the absurdity of her wardrobe.

Conclusion: Green Lantern is a fantastic comic gripped in the middle of the greatest storyline of the year. There might be better ways to spend your hard-earned Yanqui dollars, but crack is evil and prostitution is only legal in Vegas, so why not try this comic instead?

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke