Green Lantern #53 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (penciller), Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin and Doug Mahnke (inkers), Randy Mayor (colorist)

The Story: Brightest Day, The New Guardians Chapter One: This story sweeps slowly and deliberately over a wide cast of characters, from locations as diverse as a New Orleans prison, the planet Ryut, Coast City, Metropolis, Ysmault and beyond. Each character is surveyed for how they have reacted to the end of Blackest Night and where they will fit into the puzzle of Brightest Day.

What’s Good: Wow. Johns delivered absolutely top notch work on this issue. The slow pacing was perfect for the slowly-unfolding mystery. We didn’t get details, but we were tantalized with the scope of what will come, where the battle lines will be drawn and where the tense alliances may form. But as this is Johns, he made sure to also throw in romantic tension, the seeds of betrayal and conflict, and the deep, ancient roots of the Green Lantern mythos that he seems to effortlessly expand with every issue.

Johns was well served by Mahnke, the inkers, and Mayor on colors. Pages two through seven (the planet Ryut) had me completely fascinated with the level of detail, the texture, the mood, and the impending horror of the setting and the little bits of symbolism. Bones, old ones, are everywhere, as the sky is cut by lightning of every color of the ring spectrum. The sequence of the ground swallowing the narrator was simply awesome and perfectly reflected the sparse, creepy monologue. Even deeper, the foreground and background of chains and skeletons and symbols was breathtaking. Carol Ferris was lovely and expressive, and the sequence with fighter planes was an excellent visual to accompany the reaching, straining, wary conversation that Hal and Carol had.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Batgirl #9 – Despite some strong competition, my surprise winner for pick of the week is Batgirl #9. This book is just plain fun, all the time. Solid craftsmanship on writing and art delivered speeding adventures, tense personal moments and lots of Batgirl’s self-deprecating one-liners.

Most Anticipated: Green Lantern #53 – a Brightest Day tie-in! Fresh off of Blackest Night, Brightest Day is the next big thing and Green Lantern is at the center. Watch this title this week and this year – lots of big things are happening as the DCU shakes off the effects of Blackest Night.

Other Top Picks: Justice League of America #44, Guardians of the Galaxy #25, X-Men Legacy #235 (Second Coming, Chapter 4), Power Girl #11, Avengers vs Agents of Atlas #4.

Joe’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Siege: Loki #1 – While far from essential to the overall Siege storyline, this one-shot from Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie really blew me away.  Pitch-perfect artwork supported by a script that made the decades-old character of Loki seem fresh pushed this one to the top of the pile for me.

Most Anticipated: The Amazing Spider-Man #628 – There’s lots of comics being released this week that I’m eager to flip open, but the last issue of ASM surprised me by entertaining me from front to back, so this one jumps to the head of the line.  Juggernaut, Spidey, Lee Weeks, and Roger Stern?  I am so there.

Other Picks: X-Men:Legacy #235, Green Lantern #53, Dark Wolverine #85, Doomwar #3, Marvelous Land of Oz #5, Supergirl #52, Blackest Night Director’s Cut #1, Guardians of the Galaxy #25

Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Unwritten #12 -Great artwork is only the icing on the cake for one of the funniest things I’ve read this year thus far.  Of course, it’s not all obscenities and jokes, as also get yet another theme of literary interpretation.  There is no limit when it comes to the awesomeness of this book.

Most Anticipated: Green Lantern #53 -This is my only pull for the week.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a week more dead.  So Green Lantern wins by default, though I’m sure it’ll be another solid outing for Johns.

Dean’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Unwritten #12 – Learning that “real people” could be forced into stories was a pretty neat reveal, but the magic of this issue came from the foul-mouthed cartoon rabbit as he tried to escape story-hell.

Most Anticipated: Guardians of the Galaxy #25 – After last month’s cliffhanger I’m really excited to see how this leads into the Thanos Imperative.

Other Top Picks: American Vampire #2, Elephantmen #25, Amazing Spider-Man #628, X-Men Legacy #235