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 #3 – Review

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

The Story: With the Green Lantern Corps, you’ll learn all about the importance of teamwork!

The Review: While diversity is something we all like to promote in theory, the fact is anytime you have a lot of people with diverse backgrounds all together in the same place, you’re going to have conflict.  The Green Lantern Corps serves as a perfect example.  In the last five or so years alone this intergalactic police force has had major upsets within their system and plenty of strife among members and factions in between.

At the end of the day, though, the Corps stands together, and this issue displays that pretty positively.  When Guy Gardner calls in an S.O.S., good ol’ Salaak, despite his crusty devotion to protocol, sends over thirty Lanterns to their aid.  As he wisely notes, “If Gardner’s requesting assistance, the situation is dire.”

While all the Lanterns risk life and limb on this rescue mission, a few go above and beyond the call of duty.  Teleporting has always been one of the “advanced” skills in the green power ring set, and Lantern Porter manages to whisk himself but a whole cavalry of corpsmen across light-years—twice.  He pays a terrific price for the effort, however, and you can’t help feeling for the guy when he whispers exhaustedly, “Please…tell me the truth…is everyone all right…?”

It’s a credit to Tomasi’s character writing that he can get you to empathize so quickly with a brand-new character such that you actually miss him by the end of the issue.  But he really needs to focus that skill into building up a core cast we can really get attached to.  While he’s done an admirable job giving the non-human Lanterns some strong moments, they’ve still mostly acted in reaction to Guy and John, who continue to drive nearly all the important points of the plot.

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.

Green Lantern Corps #56 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Tyler Kirkham (penciller), Batt w/Rob Hunter (inkers), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: The showdown between the Sinestro Corps and the Qwardians commences, with the Green Lanterns caught in the middle.  One rule: no rings.

The Review: Considering the enormous scale of the Green Lantern universe, it makes sense to deliver a few titles under their banner, just to get some decent coverage of their stories.  The writers just have to make sure each title gets a distinct flavor, with a mission and character all its own.  While Hal Jordan romps around Earth in his own title, Green Lantern Corps dedicates itself to the actual policing efforts of his fellow Corpsmen across the universe.

Tony Bedard’s work on this series doesn’t have the nuance or sentiment of his predecessor, Peter Tomasi, but if anything, he delivers even more high-octane action.  From the beginning rally of the Sinestro Corps to the arrival of the armed and dangerous Qwardian backup at the end, this issue just gets you pumped for major space craziness going on.  The battle royale gets even wilder when out begrudging respect for the truce between Corps, the use of power rings gets restricted.  It’s a nice break from the slightly tedious, destiny-driven stuff happening in the other Green Lantern titles.

Still, you can’t help feeling that most of the action is a little brainless.  Not that you really expect much subtlety with these kinds of things, but a little attention to strategy and tactics would have elevated the creativity of the battle scenes some.  Perhaps it’s the recent drop in page count, but the pace is so electric that you never really get the sense that any of the Green Lanterns are in real danger.  It just seems like a missed opportunity to show off what they’re really made of in a fight, even without their rings.  Frankly, I expected more from the anticipated confrontation between Sinestro and the Weaponer, but the arc’s not over yet.

There isn’t much character work to speak of here, and the dialogue often comes off over-the-top.  Take one Yellow Lantern’s fightin’ words to Kyle Raynor and Natu: “Sinestro said the Weaponer is his alone.  I should let them shred you just for thinking of disobeying him.”  Even within the context of a sci-fi action comic, the line is pretty dumb—just one of many.  It just doesn’t feel like Bedard has much more than a shallow handle on these characters.  Their interaction feels less like actual personalities bouncing off each other, and more like clichés.  It’s not out-of-character or anything; it’s just not particularly inspired.

Green Lantern Corps #52 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Ardian Syaf (artist), Vicente Cifuentes (inker), Randy Mayor with Gabe Eltaeb (colorists)

The Story: Boodikka, the dying Alpha-Lantern, narrates the end of the Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns arc. Green Lanterns Ganthet, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Hannu and Soranik are in deep trouble against Cyborg-Superman and the army of Alpha-Lanterns on Grenda.

What’s Good: Cover to cover, Syaf, Cifuentes and Mayor/Eltaeb delivered the artistic goods in this emotional story. They picked the right camera angles, put emotions on the faces of heroes and villains alike, drew some spectacular aliens and created some action scenes that came pretty close to epic. Hannu in particular was textured and real, but the Alpha-Lantern batteries in people’s chest were also spooky. Boodikka’s face unmasked was reminiscent of some old sci-fi horror movies, while the color work on the batteries made the pages look like they were shining. The mid-book splash page with the hand is worth a long slow perusal as well.

The writing was a lot of fun and the sorts of emotions the issue inspired felt a lot like the tension release at the end of Lords of the Rings or Book Seven of the Harry Potter series. I’m not saying anything that big is going on, but Bedard hit almost all the right notes to make this a very heroic and dangerous ending for the arc, one that required so much from the heroes to ultimately put up the necessary fight. Another interesting choice for Bedard was having Boodikka narrate. I don’t know Boodikka from Adam, but I didn’t need to. Bedard correctly picked the character who (a) hurt the most, (b) had the most at stake and (c) underwent change. The choice worked for this book and added an emotional multiplier to the story.