Batgirl #25 – Review

By: Marguerite Bennett (writer), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Blond (colors)

The Story: You may:

1. attempt to ford the city
2. caulk batmobile and float it across
3. wait to see if conditions improve
4. get more information

The Review: I’m going to say this up front: I kind of hate a poorly written Barbara Gordon.

Especially without the development she gained as Oracle, Barbara’s talents can run the risk of becoming an informed ability. After all, Tim Drake, Cass Cain, Stephanie Brown, all needed extensive training with Batman before they were good enough to be heroes, but Barbara stepped out of the library ready to go toe to toe with the world’s greatest acrobat. So especially in a story where there aren’t super villains or costumed alter egos, it will be essential for this story to define our young heroine.

Luckily, it seems that Marguerite Bennett knows Barbara Gordon. I don’t say writes a fine Barbara Gordon or shows a firm handle on Barbara’s character; she knows her. While I’m sure she made a conscious process of it, Bennett’s take on the future Batgirl has a depth and flow that’s so natural that one could easily believe that the story wrote itself.

Batgirl #21 – Review

By: Gail Simone (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Blond (colors)

The Story: Babs proves that you don’t need a Bat on your chest to be a hero in Gotham.

The Review: Together again.  Though it happens rarely, it’s not unprecedented for me to pick up a title again after it’s been Dropped.  Simone and I went through a pretty tragic parting of the ways on Batgirl, but my recent pick-up of The Movement made me curious as to the state of by far her most popular series.  We may have had our differences, but the fact remains that I still respect Simone, enough to give Batgirl another shot.

I confess I was also heartened by the issue’s opening conversation between Babs and Dick.  It’s natural and familiar and full of warmth and heart, qualities that Batgirl has been missing for a long time.  Granted, Simone’s not really the most effusive of writers—if her works say anything about her outlook on life, it’s that she may need some therapy—and even here, there’s a bittersweetness to the exchange that’s a little bit stronger on the bitter than the sweet.

Green Lantern Corps #20 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Guy experiences his most excruciating trial yet—a sabbatical.

The Review: In addition to the anomaly that was Aquaman #19 amidst its #20 brethren, we have another bit of scheduling weirdness that resulted in the epilogue of Wrath of the First Lantern released before its final chapter.  I don’t begin to understand how or why this happened.  My best guess is that since Geoff Johns is the undisputed architect of this current era of Green Lantern stories, DC felt he should have the last word rather than Tomasi, his right-hand man.

This does result, however, in a few significant spoilers (alert), though probably none you couldn’t have predicted: Guy and Kilowog belching blood under Red Lantern influence, the appearance of Black Lanterns, and Sinestro in some slick armor killing one of the Guardians (it’s unclear whether it’s Ganthet or not).  Thankfully, Tomasi refrains from any hard information, and we know nothing of the First Lantern’s fate at all.

Green Lantern Corps #19 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: It would be embarrassing to lose a battle to yourself, wouldn’t it?

The Review: I might have said this before at some point—in fact, I’m sure I have—but when a comic basically boils down to all action and little plot, that gives a reviewer very little material to work with, no?  You can’t very well analyze a battle sequence for deep meaning or symbolism, nor can you offer much more of an evaluation other than it’s simply good or bad, which is more of a reflection on the art than the story.

This issue is essentially all action, and little plot—or at least plot that makes much sense.  As we get closer and closer to the final battle with the First Lantern, it becomes clearer that the central players are going to be Hal, Sinestro, and possibly Simon, while the rest of the Corps once again get relegated to important but minor back-up status.  Guy and John will no doubt carry out some crucial task along the way, and their fans can take solace in that, but the fact that neither of them have every been the ultimate hero in a Green Lantern crossover speaks volumes about their actual place in that franchise.

Green Lantern Corps #16 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Can a jailbird, a felon on the run, and an alien marsupial save the day?

The Review: You know, with Hal Jordan out of commission and a new guy in his place over in Green Lantern, that leaves his usually second-banana pals to deal with the Guardians’ crazy plan on the living side of things.  My hope is that Tomasi and Tony Bedard use this opportunity to show that Lanterns like Guy, John, and Kyle are just as crucial to the mythos, that they’re not just the dudes clearing the way for Hal to steal all the thunder in the end.

At least the Guardians see Guy as a major threat nearly on par with Hal.  If their current shenanigans don’t make them seem malevolent enough, they underscore their malice even more by continuing to target Guy even after they succeeded in taking everything away from him.  “It seems his tribulations continue unabated,” one Guardian muses.  “Guy Gardner’s fall is complete.”  And then to seal the deal, they send the Third Army after him specifically.

Green Lantern Corps #15 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: America just added one more to its unemployed statistics.

The Review: You know what I’ve realized from all this drama around Guy leaving the Corps?  Green Lanterns don’t really retire, do they?  The closest they ever get, going from events of the last year or so, is either outright dismissal or resignation (which is still dismissal, but sneakier).  That means the Lantern survival rate is effectively zero; once the ring comes to you, prepare for an early death, and probable a pretty horrible one at that.

So maybe Guy should be thanking his lucky stars that he got out when he did.  Resigning in disgrace doesn’t seem half as bad as, say, getting assimilated by a mouthless creature in the dead of space.  But that’s just me being a total wuss.  Guy is a cop without fear, not to mention something of a thrill-seeker with a lot of unaddressed anger issues; he lives to put these kinds of threats in their place.  Without that channel for his energies, retirement means death for him.

Green Lantern Corps #14 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Of all the days for Guy to not have access to his own bar.

The Review: It’s easy to fixate on Guy’s anger issues and in-your-face attitude, but one should never overlook his incredible sense of dedication.  While Hal Jordan’s clearly the golden boy of the Green Lantern mythos, I actually don’t think anyone has as much loyalty to the Corps as our Guy.  He probably has tighter bonds with more of his fellow Lanterns than any of the human ring-bearers, and I daresay even the Guardians probably prefer dealing with him than Hal.

But that could just be the their preference for folks they can manipulate.  Guy’s bristling personality aside, he is, as the Guardians observed last issue, amazingly predictable.  If you know the right buttons to push, you can get whatever response out of him you want, and that makes him easy to control.  No wonder the Guardians let Ganthet call the shots on their plan to oust Guy (and John).  Even stripped of his emotions, he still knows how these humans tick.

Green Lantern Corps #0 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna & Marc Deering (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: When being an interstellar space hero still leaves you the family disappointment.

The Review: What I’ve appreciated thus far from the #0 issues is they’ve avoided retelling the same old origin story of characters you’ve heard a dozen times before.  There’s no point seeing again Batman’s parents getting shot, Superman arriving on Earth in a rocket, the Flash cooking in lightning and chemicals, or Green Lantern coming upon a dying alien with a ring.  If anyone’s origins are ripe for revisiting, it would be those of the “other” Green Lanterns in the DCU.

Tomasi only gives you one of them.  No doubt the choice was made out of economy and to deliver a meatier story, but I still raise my eyebrow at the focus on Guy instead of John.  I suppose there’s an argument to be made that of the two, Guy has the edge in popularity, but stacked against John’s five years as primo Green Lantern on the animated Justice League series (and big cameos on Young Justice), I wonder at the truth of that.

Green Lantern Corps #12 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Mark my words, heads are going to roll from all this chaos.

The Review: By now, the Green Lanterns have become such an established and important part of the DCU that we just take it for granted they deserve to be there.  Now before you get your mob on, I’m not suggesting they don’t; I’m just saying it’s been a long time since we considered for what purpose the Lanterns were originally created.  To merely police the universe?  To be symbols of hope?  To ultimately bring peace and order to all sentient creatures?

The question seems particularly relevant for this issue, what with the Corps falling apart at the seams and veteran corpsmen questioning themselves.  Granted, the Alphas were never the most popular force even from their introduction, but their total, tyrannical meltdown has to be somewhat disillusioning for the other Lanterns, not to mention the broken justice system we all had to witness with our very eyes.  In these circumstances, how can anyone have confidence, then, that their goals are just?

Green Lantern Corps #11 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Apparently, some people do escape the Alpha Lanterns.

The Review: If you’ve never had a violent quitting experience in your life, let me just say I recommend it.  It’s actually one of the more satisfying and empowering moments you’ll ever have.  Besides giving you the opportunity to stand up for yourself, which requires you to summon up some necessary-for-life backbone, it also scratches every itch you ever had to stick it to your overbearing, crazy-pants boss.

Totally different context, but that’s the general sense of satisfaction and empowerment you get out of watching the day-to-day Green Lanterns rebel against the increasingly brittle Alphas.  Even Salaak, of all corpsmen, gets in on the game.  At first he uses a pretense of regulation to disobey Boodika’s orders, not even flinching when she threatens dismissal and incarceration, then he goes beyond passive resistance, downright ordering other Lanterns to “Engage Alpha Lanterns!”  And when Salaak gets uppity with you, you have to be on the wrong side.

Green Lantern Corps #8 – Review

hh

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: This promotion better come with some cosmic benefits—health and dental!

Thgge Review: Guy Gardner reminds me a lot of a certain type of dude I used to know back as an undergrad: loud, strident, and not afraid to voice half-formed opinions and act on impulse.  They were some of the most irritating human beings I have ever known in real life, but they were also some of the most big-hearted as well.  You could always count on them to injure themselves to help you out—mostly because the risk of injury never occurred to them in the first place

Perhaps that’s the nature of Guy’s appeal.  Even when he flies off the handle and does something crazy, he always has your back, and since he lacks any skill with tact, you can always rely on him to be straight with you.  As a consequence, he reveals underneath all that noise and erratic behavior, there’s a very strict code of honor he adheres to.  For anyone else, refusing to let the Yellow Lantern battery to even be buried standing would be a pointless act of symbolism; Guy’s violence and conviction make it clear even his most symbolic acts make a worthy point.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Guardians choose to honor him as they do in this issue.  They certainly make the accurate observation that for all of Guy’s spitting in the face of authority, he never threatened the “emotional and physical fabric of the corps” the way Hal Jordan does on a constant basis.  The evidence speaks for itself within the scene; Guy may not think much of the Guardians’ discipline (“—here are my wrists—slap away.”), but far from undermining it, he voluntarily submits to it.

Green Lantern Corps #6 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist), Scott Hana (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: Admit it, Guy—you’ve always dreamed of a Rambo moment like this.

The Review: I’m no historian, so I don’t know when comic book writers started doing this kind of thing, but nowadays, it’s common practice for them to have a long-term plot in place for their series.  While each arc stands on its own to some degree, they tend to serve some other plot down the line.  You often get that feeling on Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern; no matter how major the outcome of one story, you always feel like it’s setup for the next.

Of course, that’s not really a bad thing, although it does kind of steal the savor of satisfaction you get at the end of an arc.  Not so here; while Tomasi may very well have big plans to use this issue’s aftermath for some purpose in the future, he doesn’t make it obvious.  By the time you reach the last page, you can close the book, sit back, and happily mull over the resolution.  It’s the feeling you get when you can finally close the door and shut out the draft of loose ends.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, talking about the ending when this review has only just started.  Let’s talk about John Stewart, instead.  Since his frequent companion Guy comes off so frenetic and boisterous, you sometimes get misled into thinking John’s somehow less of a warrior.  Here, John’s will proves the equal of Guy’s, only whereas Guy seems to practically leak his will all over the place, John’s feels more contained and centered—to a degree (in response to a Keeper saying he’ll break sooner or later, John screams, “I’d say later you son of a bitch!”).

Left behind as a hostage in enemy territory, John must rely on that will to make some fairly sticky decisions.  As veteran Lantern, he has a duty to look out for the greenhorns under his wing, but he also has to think of the big picture and do what’s necessary to keep that picture from spoiling.  In this case, it means John takes a leaf out of Wonder Woman’s past-universe book and chooses the lesser of two evils.  Despite Vandor’s reassurances that he did the right thing, his actions will undoubtedly haunt John very personally in the near future.

Green Lantern Corps #5 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: For fast, easy disposal of mortal enemies, send ‘em to the Mean Machine!

The Review: The best part about a piece of serial fiction, one that can go on indefinitely, is the opportunity to build and flesh out a world, letting it grow into something you can become nearly as intimate with as the life you live.  So it’s amazing how many comic book series I’ve read where a whole year passes and, aside from the random villains who wander in and occupy the hero for an issue or so, the writer does little to expand the title beyond its star.

Tomasi does not do this.  His opening story arc stretches across the vast playing field of the Green Lantern universe, involving handfuls of planets, a variety of organizations and races, and an ever-growing roster of characters.  It takes a deft hand to manage all these elements and integrates them into a cohesive story, one where each of them gets an important role, but Tomasi juggles them all, rarely missing a beat.

As if the pretty sizable cast isn’t enough, Tomasi brings in a fair number of beloved featured players, all of whom he writes as credibly as the leads.  Former regular Kilowog gets a brief yet fun appearance (him yelling at new recruits never gets old), and Salaak once again plays the crusty downer, hassling Guy for breaking protocols as he attempts to spirit away several Sinestro Corpsmen for his master plan to defeat the Keepers.

In this case, it doesn’t take too long for Guy to appeal to Salaak’s better self, since he brings up a topic the four-armed alien easily bristles at nowadays: the treachery of the Guardians.  In the last five years or so, we’ve learned about one dark secret of theirs after another, and now we have yet another one involving the Keepers, who devoted their lives under the Guardians’ employ for the sake of attaining prosperity for their homeworld, only to have it wrenched away for no apparent reason.  Seems like a pretty good reason for resentment to me.

That gives them no excuse for taking revenge on the Corps, however, particularly by torturing John Stewart and the other captive Lanterns for information to break through Oa’s defenses.  Guy has asserted himself so much into the story that it’s it’s nice to see him being a hero in his own, tight-jawed way.  Plus, the fact he and the other Lanterns withstand the Keepers’ torture so valiantly is a nice parallel to Guy’s futile attempts to make his own prisoner Keeper talk.

Green Lantern Corps #4 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: Wanted: a suitable candidate to be good cop to Guy Gardner’s bad cop.

The Review: With all these different teams and organizations and forces running around the DCU, with all their various agendas and missions, you’d expect there to be a tremendous about of overlap among them, so it’s kind of a wonder that crossovers don’t happen more often in these comics.  It’s understandable, though; writers don’t always want to interfere with their peers’ projects or establish things their fellows will have to be responsible for.

But when a writer does make an effort to enforce a shared universe, the results can be quite thrilling, like Tomasi’s use of Martian Manhunter in this issue.  The green man’s appearance can’t come at a better time, as Guy Gardner makes little headway in interrogating his captive.  Even after stripping the enemy’s armor and getting some face-time, Guy and Salaak’s “good cop, bad cop routine” goes nowhere, as even the Guardians have zero data on their prisoner.

We don’t get to see how Guy plans to execute on that threat, but we do get the entrance of J’onn J’onzz instead.  Interestingly, Guy and J’onn act as strangers to each other (making you wonder what this means for J’onn’s League membership, as hinted in Stormwatch #1), and there’s even a simmering hostility between them.  Tomasi makes logical sense out this, however, as he has J’onn express his particular grudge against Green Lanterns.  Guy scoffs, “No one’s from Mars.”  J’onn replies, “It was not always that way.  Where was your…Corps when Mars needed you?”

Green Lantern Corps #2 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: Here’s a natural resources shortage solution for you: just steal ‘em.

The Review: While the main Green Lantern title offers an epic scope to its tales, Green Lantern Corps shows how even the nitty-gritty grind of a Lantern’s daily routine can have an excitement all its own.  These cops stretch their beat across an entire sector of the universe.  When they get called to duty, it usually means a pretty major threat is going down compared to the, say, grim but still small-scale skirmishes between Batman and his rogue-of-the-night.

So how exactly does a Lantern, or even a group of Lanterns, handle a force that can plunder an entire world of its most precious resource?  Well, they don’t do it by being wimps, that’s for sure.  While our human corpsmen have received the lion’s share of attention, this issue shows just how competent and hardcore any of the alien Lanterns can be.

If you want to make a guess on who’ll break out as a star in this series, I suggest you place your bet on raptor Lantern Isamot.  His rage upon finding two of his former comrades brutally murdered rivals that of Guy at his blood-spewing worst, but he doesn’t let it cloud his tactical choices in battle.  You’d think his first instinct would be to lay into the strike force of the same warriors who took down his friends, but Isamot has enough foresight to fly headfirst into the warp gate and detonate it, preventing others from coming through.

Another intriguing member of the team that accompanies John and Guy on their investigation is Sheriff Mardin, who, despite her rave ensemble, demonstrates a pragmatic, but nonetheless passionate sense of justice.  She may practice coolness in scoping her fallen peers’ bodies for evidence, but don’t take her for emotionless: “We should leave this horrific site as a reminder…so when we bring the bastards to justice we’ll make them do the burying.”

As much faith as want to place in this formidable party of space cops—Isamot loses all four of his limbs (“‘Tis but a scratch!”) and still comes flying by placing his ring on his extended tongue—don’t take the enemy lightly.  These guys can face the full brunt of Guy and John’s energy blast without flinching and, lest you forget, steal en masse an entire planet’s resource, be it fresh water or an entire race of aliens who can create a livable atmosphere with their breath.

Green Lantern Corps #1 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist), Scott Hana (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: Alright, who let all the water run out?

The Review: Don’t let Green Lantern’s title fool you; it may technically apply to any one of the 7,200 members of the universe’s primo space cowboys, but we all know the book’s interested in just one Lantern, Hal Jordan, and his personal dramas.  Those interested in the larger mythos lurking beyond the tunnel vision on Hal must turn to Green Lantern Corps, which has the advantage of 7,199 or so characters to choose from, and the entire universe as their playground.

But of course, even the best ensembles have their first bananas, and for GLC, those bananas are Guy Gardner and John Stewart—the “other” Lanterns of Earth.  Interestingly, in this issue both men face nearly the same question as their more famous compatriot in his solo title: how does a cosmically-empowered cop make a life for himself in civilized society, particularly if the whole world knows he’s a cosmically-empowered cop?  Guy and John’s attempts to recapture some normality offer very strong, character-defining scenes, which Tomasi clearly excels at.

Contrary to the loud, raucous antics he puts on in costume, civilian Guy comes across stable, even inclusive, answering the curiosity of multiple city folk with remarkable self-restraint (“I like that other Lantern from Coast City the best…  Didn’t he get a power ring before you?”  “That’s right, I’m number 2 on the lineup card, and maybe you should move to Coast City yourself.”).  You can tell he had high hopes for the high school coaching job he interviews for, but not too long into the chat, he quietly realizes how impossible that dream really is now.

And in brilliant contrast, the usually centered John reacts to his crushed expectations with a tightly controlled tantrum.  He has good reason to take offense to his potential employers’ tunnel vision on their bottom line, but at the same time, we all can admit their concerns aren’t entirely motivated by greed.  John has a Marine’s code of honor, and his powers allow him to follow it in situations which normal people would find highly impractical.  It may be his awareness of this gaping difference between him and his fellow humans that makes him act out so dramatically.

Emerald Warriors #9 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist), Cam Smith (inker), Gabe Eltiab (colorist)

The Story: War of the Green Lanterns, Part Six: Mogo, the Green Lantern who also happens to be a planet, has a lot of fire power to unload on the last four free Green Lanterns, who, to avoid the corrupting effects of Krona in their green rings, have donned red, yellow, blue and indigo rings. Adventure follows.

The Review: Okay. Gotta say, this was pure fun. Emerald Warriors #9 offered no pretenses of literary greatness or deep human revelation. But in terms of old school adventure, danger, spills and thrills, this book had what I wanted. Each of our four favorite lanterns is wearing a ring from one of the other corps, and making their way with the different powers and motivations as best they can. To turn up the heat, Tomasi and the art team throw the entire GL corps at them, as well as Mogo, the lanterns’ heavy artillery (remember that Mogo is the same Green Lantern that swallowed up a thousand Black Lanterns during Blackest Night). So this sounds great, right? But was it my favorite part of the issue? Not by a long shot! I am a sucker for ancient mysteries and Tomasi takes us on a trip through the Oan equivalent of Gandalf’s basement. Pretty cool ancient mysteries abound, more than enough to suck me in.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5

by Peter Tomasi (Writer), Fernando Pasarin (Penciller)

The Story: Our Emerald Warriors clash with a group of mentally-controlled GL rookies convinced that they’re Sinestro Corps members.  After narrowly escaping the battle and suffering a shocking loss, Gardner’s secret pact with Atrocitus comes to light and we’re shown exactly what has driven him to make such a deal.

What’s Good: Fernando Pasarin delivers a strong body of work within these pages and does a great job of reminding me why I’ve always been a fan of his pencils in the first place.  Not only does he come through with some solid storytelling, but there are plenty of awesome visuals to be found here.  The Green Lantern symbol-inspired constructs the rookies use to imprison our heroes is wonderful little treat that I’m surprised I don’t remember seeing before.  Also, The final image with Gardner’s visions painted on the wall in blood is also an effective visual, although most of the characters are simply faceless figures.  That might be intentional, though, so I’m not going to complain about it too much.  The interesting and frankly, gross, way that Atrocitus communicates with Gardner is yet another inspired choice and makes for another nice visual.   On the scrip end, the villain’s forcing the rookies to commit suicide was suitably harsh and shocking and I could believe the reaction it elicited in Kilowog, he having been their drill sergeant.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #4 – Review

by Pete Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (penciller)

The Story: The Emerald Warriors gang make a pit stop on Daxam to check on the status of Sodam Yat, but are unsuccessful.  Moving on to Rakk, they free some slaves and kick a little ass in the process.  Meanwhile, the missing Yat organizes his own brand of uprising amongst his fellow Daxamites.

What’s Good: Tomasi smartly grabbed the most interesting batch of characters when he left the Green Lantern Corps title for Emerald Warriors.  The threesome of Guy Gardner, Arisia and Kilowog are full of such rich personalities that even reading about them simply flying through outer space is more entertaining than most other comics.  You throw in a wild card like Red Lantern Bleez and you have the recipe for something special, if handled correctly.  And Tomasi’s script and Pasarin’s pencils are certainly handling them correctly.  To add to the winning combination of characters, Sodam Yat is a welcome bonus.  The ongoing plot concerning Yat’s xenophobic planet, led by his mad father, has been one of the more interesting ones.  Despite the fact that it seemed to be somewhat forgotten during the Blackest Night event, it’s nice to see that it hasn’t been and I’m genuinely curious to see where it goes from here.  (Although, Yat’s “Peace Corps” branding is a bit too Woodstock for me.)

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (artist)

The Story: Green Lantern Guy Gardner convinces the Guardians of the Universe to assign him the task of exploring the Unknown Sectors of the Universe, while at the same time, the cantankerous space cop must also deal with a clandestine partnership he’s formed with former Guardian Ganthet and Red Lantern Atrocitus.

What’s Good: Tomasi’s script is a solid one.  There are many engaging story threads to be enjoyed here as we follow Guy Gardner, who heads into the DC Universe post-Blackest Night.    Guy Gardner is a likable protagonist, and while the first thought that came to mind when hearing about this title’s launch was of the horrible Guy Gardner: Warrior series form the 90’s,  his attitude and machismo have been toned down enough that the character is relatable.  I’m glad that Tomasi has given the title a reason to exist, as well.  With the main Green Lantern series covering a GL on Earth, and the GL Corps title concentrating on the Corps guarding the rest of the universe, Emerald Warriors really needed a mission statement to make it stand out from the pack.  Having Gardner tasked with exploring the Unknown Sectors fits that bill nicely, and also opens up this series to an infinite number of story avenues.  This is also a fair explanation as to Gardner’s absence from the GL Corps title, which has been his home for the last few years.  The inclusion of Atrocitus and his fellow Red Lantern Bleez and new GL Ganthet to the cast promises some interesting interactions in the future.  Speaking of the future, Tomasi also drops some tidbits for future stories, ranging from Gardner’s secret pact with Ganthet and Atrocitus to Sodam Yat’s return to the possibility that something of the Red Lantern still exists within Gardner.  I can’t wait.

Brightest Day #0 – Review

By: Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi (writers), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Fernando Pasarin, John Dell, Cam Smith, Prentis Rollins, Dexter Vines and Art Thibert (inkers)

The Story: In Blackest Night #8, Aquaman, the Reverse-Flash, Captain Boomerang, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman and others (12 in all) were resurrected. They were resurrected for a reason. The mystery of Brightest Day starts now.

What’s Good: First of all, the art was great. The images are crisp, clear and the story, even in its most crowded moments, is propelled by the art. Pasarin and his army of inkers have chosen dramatic camera angles and found the dynamism in each of the characters, even when they are standing still. Some particular points that really drove this home for me was the dead bird sequence on the first page, Boston Brand’s shattering of the gravestone, the juxtaposition of Ronnie and Jason at the funeral, and the incredible eyecandy of the green lanterns’ trip to Mars. Last bit on the art: I *loved* the appearance of the Flash and the image of him walking through a wall! The artists have created a textured world that makes you want to pore over the art again and again.

Johns and Tomasi have also delivered some poignant writing. They have made a mood come to life with the dead bird sequence, Boston Brand’s miserable musings, Captain Boomerang’s conversation with the Flash and especially the moments between Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the eternal lovers. This book is filled with moments of deep emotion: gratitude, love, guilt and pain.

Outsiders #24 – Review

by Pete Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin, Jay Leisten (art)

The Story: Yup, it’s another Blackest Night crossover as super-villainess Terra drops by Outsiders HQ to visit her half-brother, Geo-Force.  Meanwhile, Katana is confronted with the family she lost years ago to tragedy.

What’s Good: Like most comic fans, when I heard a few months ago that DC’s Blackest Night event would be crossing over into several of their ongoing series that didn’t have “green” in the title, I was wary.  We’ve all had the unfortunate experience of picking up a book we normally wouldn’t even glance at because it crossed over into some larger story-line that did interest us, only to discover that we’d been hoodwinked.  Not only did the comic in question, well, suck, but it also had only the most tangential connection to the main uber-plot.  Well, with their fair share of ups (Civil War) and downs (Final Crisis), the Big Two have mostly figured out how to handle the blockbuster events and their effects on individual series.  Despite an iffy initial entry (Yes, I’m looking at you Doom Patrol #4), DC continues to demonstrate this with this latest installment of the Outsiders.

Much like last week’s Booster Gold and R.E.B.E.L.S, Outsiders #24 manages to smoothly move forward the ongoing story-lines of the title, while still servicing the needs of those readers just dropping by because of Blackest Night.  Tomasi gives you all the super-zombies you’d expect, but also gives you good reasons to want to come back beyond this particular tie-in.  While mainly concentrating on Geo-Force and Katana, he injects just the right amount of personality into the other members of the team to make them feel just as fully-formed and real as the leads.  Whether it be Looker wanting to ride shotgun instead of fly because of her feeling bad for the bugs who are slamming into her at 70 miles per hour or Owl-Man’s wise detachment at Terra’s sudden resurrection and the implications of her arrival, Tomasi expertly conveys who these people are and why you should care about them.

Extra kudos go to the writer for a wonderfully engaging re-introduction to the Terra character.  While her appearance here continues directly from Blackest Night Titans, I thought this issue served as a much more successful taste of what she is capable of, what she’s about, and more importantly, why she’s this way.  In three pages, we’re shown the highlights of her history, while also getting a very clear picture of the kind of person Terra has always been and continues to be in death.  And it’s not pleasant.  Not one bit.

Fernando Pasarin is probably not a name that you’re familiar with.  He’s been an under-the-radar mainstay of DC for the past couple of years and it’s always a pleasure to see his name in the credits when I open up a comic book.  He falls into that category of artists that I am extremely fond of and vocal about: the dependable, solid storytellers.  He makes Tomasi’s story here work quite well, and keeps the eye moving down the page with ease.  In an issue that is heavy on the talking heads, especially in the first half, the artist keeps the visuals interesting, which is not always easy to do.  The fact that he does this while also communicating the strong emotions present in the characters is impressive.  In a story that depends so much on the reader sympathizing with the heroes’ emotional reactions to their deceased loved ones return, it’s imperative to get that across in the visuals.  Pasarin accomplishes that feat nicely.

What’s Not So Good: Tomasi, from the outset, sells this as a Terra story.  I mean, she’s even on the cover.  However, the character only shows up for eleven of the thirty pages, and that’s including the three-page history lesson at the beginning.  If anything, the real action and focus is on the Black Lanterns connected to Katana.  While that confrontation is interesting and full of emotional punch, I found I was disappointed.  I’m sure it was more about my expectations of the story than it was about anything lacking in the story itself, but it still stung a bit.  Also, Tomasi very clearly has Terra state that she has nefarious purposes in the opening of the issue, but then spends the next several pages trying to convince us that she’s got nothing but the best intentions instead.  It was a minor problem, but the disconnect still bothered me somewhat.

Conclusion: DC’s continues to land the majority of their Blackest Night crossovers in the win column.  Tomasi and Pasarin not only deliver a solid story that entertains plot-wise, but it also looks great.

Grade: B

-Joe Lopez

 

Outsiders #19 – Review

By Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin & Jeremy Haun (artist), Prentis Rollins & Wayne Faucher & Jeremy Haun (inker)

The Story: A mysterious group of near-immortal acolytes starts the book off by pulling together enough pieces of an ancient immortality-granting meteorite to be able to gather the remaining pieces and thereby renew themselves. Switch then to the Outsiders trying to take down Deathstroke. This takes a lot of the book to resolve, but the fight takes an effective break to see Vandal Savage as he closes in on the acolytes.

What’s Good: There’s a lot of tension in this book: scheming immortals, a relentless Vandal Savage, a major fight scene and competing factions. It’s fast-paced and constantly building.

The large art team delivers visuals that really drive the book along. The attractor machine plowing energy into molten earth was awesome, as were explosions and light effects throughout the book. And the walk of Vandal Savage, through desert, seashore, forest and snow-capped mountains showed a tireless, approaching menace. The level of detail in the people, especially in the faces (hair and teeth) was also great, even though I found some expressions and poses slightly awkward, in a Paul Gulacy sort of way. The colors suit the scenes perfectly and on many pages, panels had different, but logical color dominances and the effect on the page as a whole made it a delight for the eyes.

What’s Not So Good: Although the readers haven’t been let into the nature of the approaching menace, I’m ready to wait another issue for it. On the flip side, I think there are some serious problems around the credibility of the story in the writing.

Firstly, the acolytes especially are guilty of a lot of talking-head exposition, which is telling each other things that they already know, for the sole purpose of letting the reader know something. There are lots of ways to do exposition. A text box may seem old-fashioned, but it is still a useful tool and would have made the characters more believable by (a) giving them less dialogue and (b) making the dialogue more natural.

Secondly, nobody in the DC universe seems to understand teamwork. Deathstroke is holding a blade to Alfred’s neck. Fine. Five Outsiders (three of whom shoot some type of energy blast) stand still. Katana comes from behind. The hostage is out of the way. Do the other Outsiders help Katana? No. What about when Deathstroke runs for the bodies? No, although Geo-Force does tell Rex to get the body out of the way. It would have been faster to tell Rex to get Deathstroke. It also would have been faster for any of them to have blasted Deathstroke in the back, since he was right there with his back turned. The whole Deathtrap story in the Titans was full of ineffective superheroing like this, and I’m worried that I’m seeing more of the same in the Outsiders.

Lastly, some of the action makes me wonder about the age of the target audience of this book. On one hand, you’ve got Deathstroke cleaving a corpse in half, but at the same time, the whimsical, blasé way it was done really cheapens the effect and stains credibility (think B-movie Hollywood barbarians).

Conclusion: There’s great art here, but some pretty flawed story-telling that gets in the way of the story.

Grade: C-

-DS Arsenault

Justice Society of America – Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1 – Review

By Peter Tomasi and Geoff Johns (writers), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Kolins (art), Mick Gray (inks), Hi-Fi (colors)

I’ve been reading the Justice Society of America hardcover trades as they’ve been released so I’m not really up to speed with what’s been going on. Those books are just beginning to scratch the surface of the whole Kingdom Come epic, so I had hopes that I wouldn’t be completely lost with Magog’s storyline here.

I was wrong.

Sure, Peter Tomasi’s a good writer, but unlike Geoff Johns he lacks that rare skill of being able to make a comic accessible for a new reader — regardless of where the story may stand. From page one, I was lost and I hoped with due time I’d get more backstory. Instead I was given a series of horrific events that form the beginnings of who Magog is. Yes, the story told is quite good, but being stamped with a “#1” is very misleading. I’m hoping Geoff Johns’ installment next week will clear up a lot of my confusion, because there’s a lot here that went unanswered. Speaking of Johns, he does a nice little Starman story, which, truth be told, is almost better than the main feature.

If you’re current with the JSA storyline, you’ll probably find little faults with this issue. But if you’re a casual reader or just picking up this book out of curiosity, I urge you to approach with caution.

Grade: B-

– J. Montes