Green Lantern #40 – Review

By Geoff Johns (writer), Philip Tan (artist), Jonathan Clapion (inks)

There is no doubt that the War of Light tales haven’t exactly been up to par with Rebirth or Sinestro Corps. Yet, in Johns’ second new corps story, the arc continues to fall. The second chapter to Agent Orange is no better than the first. Just like the previous issue, you have the same amount of easily forgettable scenes, where unimportant characters (in the previous issues it was the Controllers, in this issue it’s Fatality as a Violet Lantern) engage in dialogue that is lacking in the signature moral debate that we’re used to reading.  At this point, everything and everyone is just a plot device, used to fast forward this already fast-paced story. With the first two chapters absent of the deep context that we’re used to seeing in Johns’ works, Agent Orange is starting to read like a fast-paced 90’s space opera comic book.

What’s troubling about Agent Orange is that the villain is not quite established. Instead, this arc is packed with lots of subplots that are either being developed, or are finally being revealed. To make up the bulk of the story, new laws are added to the book of Oa (which we’ve seen before), and a new thread is introduced involving John Stewart (which is supposed to play some role later on, and not validate Fatality’s boring monologue in the beginning). But this isn’t what the fans were looking for. They wanted what they got in Sinestro Corps War, where Johns introduced a new color, and a new emotion. In a story that is supposed to introduce a new formidable opponent for the Green Lantern Corp, we are only getting a childish villain that seems to be making a cameo appearance. In a story that’s supposed to be rich in metaphors and overtones, we’re treated to fast-paced action sequences that are to be forgotten.

Grade: C

-Raymond Hilario