Green Lantern #7 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (penciller), Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: Nok nok.  Who’s there?  Indigo.  Indigo who?  Indigo home!  Like E.T., get it?

The Review: As my last few reviews show, Johns has fallen into something of a slump on Justice League, where characters rarely venture beyond a string of clichés and catchphrases, while the plot simply clunks along.  Aquaman is something of an improvement, but its mythos is still undeveloped, and Johns has less material to draw from.  It is in Green Lantern that the acclaimed Johns of old still lives and breathes, and this issue is a good reminder of that.

Take any issue of Justice League, set it beside the story here, and you can see the difference, clear as day.  The cast in this title have been so well established that they have nothing to prove anymore, meaning they spend less time trying to come up with smart remarks, witty comebacks, or melodramatic speeches and actually act like credible human beings—or credible alien beings, whatever the case may be.

Unlike the comically showy beats of malice Desaad and Co. went through last issue, the Guardians reveal theirs even without talk.  Newly imprisoned Lyssa Drak, under the silent stares of Ganthet and his lady-companions, demands, “What?  What are you staring at?  What do you WANT?”  Her increasing tension reflects the dark aura of the Guardians even before they start idly discussing the merits of killing her.  “Lantern Voz will ask too many questions,” Ganthet says.  “Then we will eliminate Lantern Voz,” his companion replies matter-of-factly.

While it’s pretty clear the little blue immortals have pretty much given up even a pretense of benevolence, there’s reason to hope of the possibility, however slight, that one of them hasn’t completely fallen to the Dark Side, to use another sci-fi epic’s terminology.  The fact that Ganthet stays his fellows’ hands from coolly offing both a prisoner and prison warden may be a sign that our former pony-tailed Guardian may not be totally gone after all.

The writing feels especially natural when it comes to our principals, Hal, Sinestro, and Carol.  Unlike the eye-rollers we frequently got from Hal and the Flash (see Justice League #3), the jokes here are in tune to the script’s context, and don’t feel forced.  Hal tells Sinestro defiantly, “I’m never working for anyone again.”  “Not including me,” Carol corrects me.  “Not including her,” Hal agrees.  Beyond the humor of the bit, Hal may also be making a statement about his future as a Green Lantern; not that he’s ever been the Guardians’ lapdog, but it seems like even if goes back to cosmic policing full-time, he won’t be following their agenda anymore.

Green Lantern #67 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (penciller), Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen, Mark Irwin (inkers), Gabe Eltaeb & Randy Mayor (colorists)

The Story: This makes me want to break out into a chorus of, “Feelings…woah, woah, woah…”

The Review: With all this Flashpoint business going on, War of the Green Lanterns has gotten kind of lost in the shuffle (we haven’t seen an episode for over a month).  You have to question the wisdom of DC’s editors for allowing a company-wide crossover and a major franchise crossover to compete with each other for attention, but never mind.  Since Johns is crafting both, he has the luxury of accommodating the fallout from both into the new DCU in September.

So let’s turn our attention briefly away from altered Earth to the center of the normal universe, shall we?  Last we left our Lanterns, Hal and Guy were well on their way to becoming immortal blue midgets, and Kyle and John had just blown up a planet.  Thanks to crossover shenanigans, some major developments took place without my knowledge and so we fade in to see the Corps, free of Krona’s influence and led by the Earth Lanterns, ready to rumble with the Guardians.

Not to imply that Johns’ whole theme about the value of emotion is irrelevant, but when you have several thousand Lanterns giving the beatdown to their former employers, all that touchy-feely stuff really falls by the wayside.  Blame Johns for simply being too good at delivering high-quality action; he has a knack for setting up expectations then pulling them out from under you moments later.  You’d think return of all the other Corps ringleaders (yup, that’s a pun) to the fray would seal the deal, but no—Krona just uses them to his advantage and we’re off again.

Green Lantern #66 – Review

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

The Story: Little blue midgets have never seemed so frightening.  No, not the Smurfs.

The Review: The Guardians of the Universe have had a large role in the Green Lantern mythos since the Silver Age, and plenty of the great stories of the series involved them in some way or another.  And yet, despite all the past history about them that has come to light in recent years, they remain rather enigmatic, their motivations unclear.  Perhaps it’s their disavowal of emotion (other than utter condescension, that is), but their goals always seem a bit obscure or suspect.

If nothing else, War of the Green Lanterns, by having Krona as a lead character, has cleared up some of the whys and wherefores of the Guardians became hobbit-sized, emotionless men and women.  Certainly, the unbalanced behavior of the possessed Guardians in this issue give weight to the idea that maybe it’s not such a good idea to have our universe’s watchers be too emotional (they definitely don’t know how to flirt: “Come closer.  Let me care for you.”).

But in a way, their inscrutable natures are precisely what make Krona a compelling villain for this storyline.  Once you look past his seemingly ruthless actions, his intentions have even a kind of pureness to them.  You don’t usually expect the typical villain to tell someone, “You will is strong…your heart is not.”  Actually, his philosophy of melding emotion with willpower makes him much more relatable than the Guardians he overthrows, and you can’t call him a dictator out for power when he’s so willing to share universal power with our very own heroes.

You also get some interesting revelations from Sinestro’s sojourn in the Book of the Black, where in his attempts to escape he encounters a crazed, semi-hysterical Indigo.  But then, Indigo isn’t really her name, and considering the major alteration in her previously evenhanded attitude, this seems to indicate she may have had a shadier past before being forced into the Indigo Tribe the way she did to William Hand, just as Hal suspected before.  It’s also notable that all the other trapped Lanterns are accounted for except Carol, implying she has a part left to play in this arc.

But mostly this issue gives you a brawl-fest pitting Yellow Lantern Hal and Red Lantern Guy versus the emotional entity-driven Guardians, which is pretty fun.  One thing Johns always does well, no matter what you may say about his overall storytelling, is deliver gripping action.  He never allows a moment for the characters to take a breather; they no sooner escape one scrape before another overtakes them.

Blackest Night #7 – Review

by Geoff Johns (writer), Ivan Reis (pencils), Oclair Albert & Joe Prado (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors), and Nick J. Napolitano (letters)

The Story: The nature of the white light of creation stands revealed.

What’s Good: How high can a single cliffhanger ending raise the overall experience of an entire issue?  That’s often a question I wonder when I write my reviews, but in the case of a comic like Blackest Night #7, the answer is “very, very high.”

The last few pages are guaranteed to make your jaw hit the floor.  This is, barring any sudden reversals, the biggest single development that I’ve read in a comic since Captain America got himself shot.  What makes the surprise most effective is that it is very close to the conclusion most readers saw coming since the start of Blackest Night.  In fact, leading up to the book’s final page, Johns seems to gesture towards this expected conclusion and then, seemingly out of nowhere, he hits a hard left and essentially sucker-punches the audience who were sure they had it all figured out.  Johns shows himself to be a master of playing with our emotions, and the whole episode is executed in an epic fashion that gave me chills.

While the ending of this issue is what defines it, that’s not to say that the rest of the comic isn’t solid as well.  Some of the newly deputized lanterns are a lot of fun.  Scarecrow in particular is just awesome, his insanity bubbling over into a sort of glee that is so contrary to his surroundings that you can’t help but enjoy his raving.  Lex Luthor, meanwhile, boils over in explosive fashion as the orange ring ends up removing his restraint and fully unleashing his worst characteristics.

Between Scarecrow and Lex, there’s a whole lot of chaos and seeing Scarecrow fight Luthor and Black Hand for attention in a comic brimming with massive characters and developments is a laugh, as in a fit of self-awareness, he screams “this is my moment.”  It’s a clever little moment, as  Johns makes literal the battle for the spotlight that often plagues comics like Blackest Night.

As far as the artwork goes, Ivan Reis continues to stake his claim to being the best artist in DC’s stable.  The sheer number of characters he’s able to cram into the page without sacrificing detail is ridiculous. Everything continually gives off the feeling of being barely contained.  There are a couple splash pages that will definitely catch breath and give pause and Reis’ work with the White Light in particular is alien, creative, and creepy while still awe-inspiring.

Green Lantern Corps #42 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Rebecca Buchman & Tom Nguyen (inks), Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Along with their new Indigo ally, the Green Lantern Corps make their last stand defending the central power battery.

What’s Good: This is probably the best issue of Green Lantern Corps since Blackest Night began in earnest, and that’s largely due to all of the black lanterns coming together for one attack. The book has felt far too scattered and disparate over the last few months thanks to the black lanterns singling out characters and their change of tactic is welcome, as it brings all of our heroes together. This feels like a coherent narrative once again as opposed to a series of 3 pages vignettes.

As a result, our protagonists feel like a team and not simply a bunch of tangentially related people doing different things in different places. This helps foster some very strong character moments. The character death at the end of the book is certainly a gut-punch and it’s only the book’s newly regained cohesion that makes it possible.

Strangely though, my favourite scene involved Kilowog. The combination of rage, denial, and sadness was fantastically executed and oddly touching. It was a fantastic summation of the emotional reaction, and aftermath, that the black lanterns are capable of bringing forth. Kilowog’s tragic dialogue is only so effective because it hints at deeper, existential issues and personal pain that the character has harbored, and concealed, for a very long time.

Gleason’s art is more intelligible this month and also provides some really jaw-dropping moments, with some particularly awesome splashes and spreads. The size and scope of some of Gleason’s work here is astounding, daunting stuff. The character death at the end of the book is rendered beautifully and the mass black lantern assault is a sight to behold.

What’s Not So Good: While it’s much improved, Gleason’s art still isn’t without fault. The chaotic nature of the action still makes it occasionally difficult to decipher. The opening scenes were a bit hard-going at some points and the later sequence involving a released red lantern is nothing short of incomprehensible. Also, Gleason again shows himself to have some difficulty drawing Soranik’s face, which at times feels overly cartoony, even comical, with expressions that feel exaggerated, misplaced, or both.

What really disappoints about this issue, however, is Tomasi’s handling of the major character death.  Putting it simply, he dropped the ball.  It’s clearly the most important occurrence of the book and the most emotionally significant moment of the series for quite some time, but I just didn’t feel as though it was treated as such.    It comes off as random, rushed, and hence, underwhelming.  It takes just long enough that it isn’t shocking, but there’s also not enough build up for it to carry the emotional weight that it should.  It’s just about the most abrupt last stand and farewell that I’ve ever read.

A major character’s dying, especially in such heroic fashion, should garner more of a reaction from me.  Hell, Tomasi could very well have had me tearing up.  Instead, it doesn’t feel as significant or powerful as the character deserves and the fact that I bordered on feeling non-plussed is almost a travesty.

Conclusion: The best issue of GLC in a while, but I can’t help feeling a little soured by the missed opportunity.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans

 

Green Lantern Corps #41 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne & Tom Nguyen (inks), Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Soranik teams with Kyle to fight Jade, Arisia wrestles with her family, and Kilowog is forced to battle an old friend.

What’s Good: This is basically 22 pages of almost  non-stop Lantern-related violence.  The huge blasts, numbers, and scope of what’s going on is impressive, as is some of the gore, which at times pushes the boundary of what you’d expect out of a mainstream DCU comic.

What GLC has done best with Blackest Night, however, is fully convey the emotional impact made possible by having the dead rise.  In fact, I’d say that Jade has made the best of use of a black ring in this regard. She and her mind games are downright evil.  Seeing Soranik team up with Kyle against her is as fun as it is troubling.  Tomasi makes use of every opportunity that raising a dead character provides in this scene: the guilt, lingering emotion, and history all come into play and are manipulated perfectly.

Arisia and Kilowog also provide a nice juxtaposition, as Tomasi shows the nature of a battle with the Black Lanterns.  If you don’t believe them to be real representations of the bodies they inhabit, you’re fine.  But the minute you start to talk to them or treat them like they really are your loved ones, you’re done for.  Tomasi makes this line very clear.  It’s also nice to see someone making use of those  Tales of the Corps stories that came out a while ago.  Readers who picked those up will really dig these two scenes, Kilowog’s surprise opponent in particular.

What’s Not So Good: Though it’ s not as bad in this respect as last month’s issue, as there aren’t any truly detached scenes, the fast and frenetic pace of this book again makes it feel as though its spread a little thin at some points.  While it’s all centered around a battle at Oa, it’s hard not to feel like every scene is its own separate story, treating its own separate characters.  As a result, GLC feels somewhat scattered.  Characters are off doing their own thing, and Tomasi seems to feel obligated to give us monthly updates on all of them.  The fact that I’d totally forgotten the two characters in the book’s final scene is a bit indicative of the book’s current state.  It’s just a bit “all over the place.”  I’m still not sure how necessary Gardner’s scene was.

Similarly chaotic is the artwork, which at times, particularly in the smaller panels, borders on being an incomprehensible tangle of limbs and light.  Though it’s generally all right, at times, it’s a bit hard to piece together what’s going on.

Conclusion: A generally enjoyable 22 pages of chaos with a nice surprise ending.

Grade: B –

-Alex Evans

Green Lantern Corps #38 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Rebecca Buchman & Tom Nugyen (inks), and Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Things settle post-riot, and the Guardians reaffirm that they’re biggest little assholes in the DC Universe.

What’s Good: This is a really solid issue of Green Lantern Corps.  Clearly the core issue this month is the philosophical differences that Guy and Kyle see, opposing the Guardians.  On the surface, the disagreement seems to be merely a situation of yet another comic lamenting capital punishment.  However, what makes the conflict so engaging is not the topic itself, but rather how it defines the characters.  Kyle and Guy take the stance that we’d expect them to, but the Guardians once again show the failings of the emotional spectrum.

I really enjoyed this depiction of the Guardians’ rigid and single-minded dedication to Will and found it especially effective due to its sublety. In other words, Tomasi has the Guardians personify Will and carry the failings of single-minded dedication to one emotion without having them stomp about screaming asinine catch-phrases (Geoff Johns, take note).

The more this arc goes on, the more I truly begin to fear the Guardians. What they order in this comic is pretty damned brutal and their increased rendering of the Corps as an authoritarian construct is disturbing.  This is just one of those moments where you KNOW the bubble will burst.

As for Gleason and things down in his end, his work continues to serve the book well.  It balances a whimsical, Saturday Morning feel with the realism of a mainstream, modern blockbuster comic.  I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever regarding his work this month, as his storytelling feels fluid and effective.

What’s Not-So-Good: Aside from the philosophical conflict with the Guardians, this issue is more of a denouement and thus isn’t particularly action or development heavy, for the most part.  Oa is on clean-up duty, Soranik tries to remove Sinestro’s mark, Voz is rushed to sick-bay… It’s really just a lot of consolidation and tidying up before Blackest Night.  It’s necessary and it’s not bad, but it’s also not particularly edge-of-your-seat gripping, either.

Also, the last page of the comic really seems to come out of nowhere.  With most of the issue spent dealing with clean-up and the Guardians, the final page really felt a bit like Tomasi suddenly remembering that an event was coming up, and yelled “WHAM! BLACKEST NIGHT!” just before sending his script off.  It just felt pretty random.

Conclusion: A solid book that works well as a denouement for the last arc at the expense of leading into the next one.  That said, I’m sure this menacing portrayal of the Guardians will pay dividends during Blackest Night.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans