Green Lantern/Red Lanterns #28 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: Hal Jordan and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

The Review: Things are a little complicated in Lanternland right now. With Hal and John finally working side by side, each Lantern’s title is spilling over into the other’s. For Hal, that means a set of surly new deputies, left over from Green Lantern Corps Annual #2. As Hal is forced to accept some unsavory help, dissention within the ranks is growing. Even so, all that will have to wait, as Kanjar-Ro is hardly the biggest guest star in this issue.

The issue does a fine job of expressing the constant pressure that Hal is under, even without any visible contribution from the Durlan resistance. The Corps never really recovered from the Guardian’s betrayal and “Lights Out” only made matters worse. If Venditti was looking to keep the Corps on their back foot, he’s succeeded, however series like Game of Thrones thrive on establishing comfortable status quos to be upset. The Corps disintegration is happening so slowly and so consistently that it can get a little sad, in more ways than one.

Of course, that’s not entirely this issue’s fault. It’s undeniable that this issue is strained by the pressures that other series are placing on it. Balancing tie-ins to three ongoing series is clearly taking a toll on Venditti’s pacing. Though he does the best with what he’s given, it never truly feels as though he justifies why things are quiet enough that this can be the primary concern. Perhaps GLC Annual answered that question, but last time I saw the Corps they had become galactic enemy #1, that’s not the sort of thing that you can brush under the rug.

Supergirl’s intrusion into the series is lengthy and predictable. The first five pages are visually engaging, but they end abruptly and serve little function, as they are fully recapped later. Likewise, Hal’s realizations are believable, but ultimately uninteresting. The story follows the track it’s supposed to take and Venditti seems unable to wrest control from the story he’s been handed.

Thankfully, the latter part of the issue feels less suffocated and more like the Green Lantern we’ve known in recent months.

Perhaps in homage to the sadly departed Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Venditti has struck up a delightful friendship between Mogo and Saint Walker, similarly ringless. While it’s a fairly obvious, and highly questionable, storytelling device to wound Walker’s faith Venditti does an admirable job of presenting a depowered Walker without drowning in angst. If he can continue to treat Saint Walker’s spiritual crisis with the respect it deserves, it could prove an engaging side-plot.

Failing to find answers with the last Blue Lantern, Hal turns to the Reds, leading into their crossover. Hal and his Corpsmen’s dialogue is much higher quality than in the pre-Walker sections and Venditti conveys a great balance of determination and uncertainty in Hal. The whole mess leads to an incredible cliffhanger that’s so brilliant in its simplicity that one has to wonder why its like has never been attempted before. Better still, you don’t have to wait a month for some resolution!

Billy Tan, Rob Hunter, and Alex Sinclair bring their distinct look to the title once again this issue and we’re all better for it. Though much of the issue is standard for the team, that’s hardly a slight and it does contain a couple of standout panels. A couple of shots of Lantern Lok in the opening scene and a wry look between Hal and Kilowog stand out as particularly lovely work. On the other hand, some characters, like Vath Sarn, remain unpleasantly stiff and lifeless.

The whole team, Sinclair especially, has benefitted greatly from the Corps’ relocation to Mogo. The entire issue is awash in beautiful color and lush backgrounds. Though Tan can’t provide an unreasonable amount of detail, he clearly gives it his all, reaching a crescendo during Hal’s discussion with Saint Walker.

The unique look of the series is also continued in Tan’s page arrangements. As ever, clever use of circular panels, gutters, and empty space define the issue’s look. It’s also worth mentioning how effectively Tan uses momentum, especially in the opening battle.

The Conclusion: Though the art is the standard high quality work that GL’s art team has provided, Green Lantern #28 never escapes the shadow of its multiple crossovers. Scenes tend to linger, giving the impression that the issue is merely treading water until its primary plotline can resume. Though the later portion of the issue bears a greater resemblance to Venditti’s output in previous months, it’s not quite enough. An earnest but, ultimately, tepid beginning to “Red Alert”.

Grade: C+

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Charles Soule (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: Zilius Zox refuses to accept that it’s hip to be square.

The Review: At the same time Guy Gardner is dealing with a situation on Earth while attempting to patch things up with Ice. I admit that I didn’t pick up Justice League of America #7.3 or The Savage Hawkman, but it is positively refreshing to see a Hawkman villain showing up in a Lantern title, especially considering that her archnemesis’ title has been canceled.

The Shadow Thief is more than a little shallow in characterization, but her over-the-top hatred and vitriol provides an amusing counterpoint as Guy, Zilius, and Skallox try to keep themselves under control.

Once again, Soule proves that humor may be the key to making this series work. The mindless fury of the original Red Lanterns soon proved insufficient to support an ongoing series, but it seems that a quiet anger, sometimes a passive-aggression, may be what it takes to elevate the series up to meet its Lantern brethren. Particularly as rendered by Alessandro Vitti, every blow thrown, every hit taken, and every retort fired contain a spark of anger.

There’s something cathartic about seeing anger unleashed, but Soule does a great job of reminding us that rage is scariest not when it’s constant, but when the threat of it is. In that, Guy’s dalliance on Earth becomes an impressive look at what it means for him to be a Red Lantern, rather than just a superhero romp around Paris.

While this could easily have sustained a full issue, Soule still has a crossover to handle and handle it he does. In half the pages, Soule delivers an equivalent experience to Venditti’s story and, in honesty, it proves quite a bit more gripping. Now that Green Lantern has set the stage Red Lanterns takes a moment to play with the toys it’s been given, and I assure you that getting Hal and Guy together is the equivalent of Christmas.

Their interactions actually remind quite a bit of Jason Aaron’s most recent Wolverine and the X-Men arc, and I mean that in the best possible way. Both Lanterns are given respect and consideration by the writer, each flawed and each fragile, and the attention paid to their complicated friendship is the core of what fans love about the Corps.

Meanwhile Atrocitus is none too pleased about that being killed and deposed business. Especially in Vitti’s toothy depiction, Atrocitus has returned to the terrifying threat that he started as. His new priestly persona can read a little forced, but his ever looming presence and ominous calm combine to create a legitimately intimidating character.

Vitti utilizes weaker inks and scratchier lines for the scenes on Groy, which contribute to a sense of immediacy and realism. It feels less like a style for the spandex-set and brings out the cosmic horror in characters like Bleez, Atrocitus, and Klarn

A much more sturdy style follows Guy and his troop around. As if representing the shift in leadership within the Red Lanterns, the scenes on Earth and Ysmault have the cartoon bounciness of a classic Superhero yarn. Vitti has a tendency to draw panels that resemble each other just a bit too much, but it’s a small price to pay for exciting and expressive compositions. I also have to say that he seems to have a thing for bangs and, seeing it, so do I. That said, his take on Guy’s mustache is either amazing or horrifying depending upon your position.

The Conclusion: This may not be the book that Charles Soule will make his name on, but this issue certainly proves how solid he can be in his delivery. While the initial slew of Red Lanterns stories were wordy musings on what it means to be angry, Soule presents a deeper, more familiar look while Alessandro Vitti provides forceful artwork that fleshes the ragtag corps out.

Despite a crossover reminiscent of a child’s toy box, Red Lanterns #28 feels like just another issue of the series, for better or worse. It’s a fine jumping-on point, if not one that feels like a must read.  Regardless, fewer responsibilities and a greater focus on character work make Red Lanterns #28 the superior brother in this strange but wonderful DC experiment.

Grade: B-

Some Thoughts:

• Charles Soule seems to come naturally to the kind of simple, brilliant world-building that I love. Little details like Klarn’s reaction to “the blood ritual” or Guy’s explanation of the Shadow Thief are absolute gold, wrapped up in a single word bubble.
• Much as I loved the way the team handled Tora in this issue, one particular panel of Bleez and Rankorr distressed me. The panel in question put the two of them looking deeply into each other’s eyes, inches apart. There’s nothing explicitly sexual or romantic about it, but it definitely recalls such scenarios. Given Bleez’ backstory, I’m oddly uncomfortable with the prospect of pairing her up with Rankorr. Obviously it’s not the most unsettling element of the character, but it doesn’t sit right with me. Did anybody else feel similarly?

– Noah Sharma

Justice League International #4 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: This is how the world ends—as a flashing, neon disco light before obliteration.

The Review: This issue picks up where we left off last time, with Booster Gold and Batman fending off a legion of golems as they attempt to prevent an alien mechanism threatening to destroy the planet.  Their struggle proves futile, as they get overwhelmed by drastically superior numbers and unthinking persistence from their foes.  As they succumb to the pressure, Booster cries, “This can’t be happening!  If we go down, who’s left to save the earth?”

He may not realize it, but his line has a lot of significance attached.  For one thing, the question is almost preposterously rhetorical.  I don’t know about you, but my first thought after reading it was, How about the actual Justice League?  Let’s face it: with the original League well in existence, made up of the most recognizable, beloved, and powerful heroes in DC canon, JLI is never going to be more than a paltry alternative, and a very redundant one at that.

Booster’s utterance of “This can’t be happening!” also exemplifies the largely generic and often melodramatic quality of dialogue Jurgens has brought to this series.  Very little of it comes with actual personality attached, making most of the lines interchangeable among the hefty cast.  Also irritating is their propensity for stating the obvious, a habit even Batman can’t get out of: “Some kind of animated dirt and rock creatures.”

Often, you get the sense Jurgens pens the script almost mechanically, with no true spark of imagination behind it.  Just last issue, while fighting the same “animated dirt and rock creatures,” Booster mentioned, “One of these guys latched on to a place you really don’t want anyone to latch onto, know what I’m sayin’?”  He redelivers essentially the same joke in the opening pages here: “…they keep grabbing me in the worst places.”

Jurgens demonstrates quite clearly that his humor leans mostly toward the penile.  I rolled my eyes at Godiva’s incessant come-ons for the past few issues, but she takes it to an even more shameless level here.  With the team trapped by golem goop, she uses her hair to probe through Batman’s gooky bonds to get the laser cutter out of his belt.  “Got it!” she exclaims.  “That is not my belt,” he informs her, unamused.  Considering she just groped Batman in the middle of a crisis, it’s safe to say her sexual freedom has gotten a bit out of control.

Justice League International #3 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Actually, I can believe it’s not the Justice League.

The Review: On the topic of super-teams that need to distinguish themselves from the Justice League, let’s turn our attention to one of the most obvious offenders.  We mustn’t forget that for a long time, JLI was the Justice League, one that some readers loved and still remember as their definitive version of the team.  Ever since Grant Morrison’s “pantheon” version of League, however, JLI has been relegated to running joke status, a rut that can be a challenge to get out of.

It looks like Jurgens wants to tackle the issue head-on, but at an angle.  Instead of setting up JLI as an actual joke (vis-à-vis Geoff Johns’ take on Aquaman #1), Jurgens establishes them from the start as more of a PR stunt, a band of heroes that excel more in political correctness than actual competence as a fighting unit (Godiva proves, once again, that she is nearly worthless in a crisis situation).  Think of Vatican City’s Swiss Guard, and you’ll get the general idea.

To get the group past that image, Jurgens throws in a global-scale threat, betting they have what it takes to beat the odds and actually use their multinational strength for global good.  Of course, you have to question why other, more practiced teams (say, Stormwatch, or, I dunno, the Justice League?) don’t step in to take care of things as they usually do, but let’s leave that matter aside.  After all, the JLI have to prove themselves useful at some point, right?

Unfortunately, they don’t do much of that in this issue.  Overall, the plot becomes your typical “split off the team and watch them fall apart, two-by-two,” which becomes a bit predictable after a while, especially since each unit has exactly the same mission (one distracts the giant, the other establishes access to the cavern underneath) and they wind up scrapping with the exact same enemies (earthen golems that chitter—“Chtk-chtk-chtk!”—in an increasingly annoying fashion).

Justice League International #2 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Well, it’s not “Hands Around the World,” but it’ll have to do.

The Review: With one Justice League already in existence, and with all the world’s biggest, brawniest, most recognizable heroes counted in the roster, it really puts all other teams to shame, doesn’t it?  Justice League Dark may have proven its value where purely mystical threats are concerned, and Stormwatch when it comes to covert planetary guardianship, but JLI has been a sanctioned imitation from the start, and will have to work that much harder to break out.

It’ll have a much harder time of it if Jurgens doesn’t figure out how to write any of the characters beyond their most basic conceptions.  Rocket Red and August General spend most of the issue taking digs at each other’s nationalistic pride (“To be saved by miracle of Russian technology is glorious for you!”  “Chinese science would have been faster and more efficient.”), which comes across embarrassingly clichéd and antiquated—what is this, the late seventies?

This lack of identity applies double to the women.  While Godiva has sort of found a voice for herself (and it is the voice of a randy lady), her fellow females all have a sameness to their dialogue, making them exceptionally interchangeable.  Here’s a sample of all four women talking at once (see if you can tell who’s who!): “Is he trying to tell Batman what to do?”  “You heard right.”  “This is about to get good.”  …”He’ll need the doctor more than me.”

Even with the most fully-formed personalities of the team, Jurgens seems in creative competition with others and himself.  Batman sounds as dour and commanding as ever, but certainly has none of the spark Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns, or Grant Morrison have given him.  Jurgens gives Guy a lot of sound and fury, but none of the wit and depth Peter Tomasi lends him in Green Lantern Corps.  And while Booster, as Jurgens’ specialty, comes across the most convincing of all the team, his agonizing self-doubt certainly makes him unrecognizable.

While shocking to see the team rank on Booster, just because he chooses to back off from a fight and see to his teammate’s injuries, it’s even more shocking to see Booster simply take their abuse so personally and without a peep.  The fact he even considers stepping down at this first sight of discontent already proves he doesn’t have the chops to lead, and ultimately, it’s the intercession of Batman and August General, not his own skills, which restores trust in him.

Green Lantern Corp #46 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (penciller), Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen (inkers)

The Story: The assembled ring corps are in the middle of a battle royale that has been going on for many issues. Guy Gardner adapts a Star Trek strategy to productive use, but both he and Kyle predictably face loved ones from their pasts in the forms of black lanterns. Interestingly, the Anti-Monitor has a role to play and his relation to the black lantern battery is revealed.

What’s Good: I enjoyed seeing the Anti-Monitor again and I liked how he fit into the black lantern mythos. It was something unexpected for me, and unexpected always means good. Gardner’s use of the Tholian web was also a cool, yet logical extension of how the corps of light have been working together to handle the black lanterns. Tomasi also included a gem of a character moment when Guy (as diplomatic as ever) is trying to get the other corps to work with him and says: “…but don’t ya wanna wipe these things out so we can get back to killing each other again?”

Broken Trinity: Aftermath – Review

“Paying Debts” – By Ron Marz (Writer), Jorge Lucas (Art), and Felix Serrano (Colors)

“Lessons” – By Bryan Edward Hill (Writer), Tyler Kirkham (Pencils), Sal Regla (Inks), and John Starr (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Broken Trinity, the action-packed event that promised to shake things up the Top Cow universe, proved to be a very solid piece of entertainment. While the storyline ultimately did little more than introduce two new characters and set the stage for an epic fight, the spectacular visuals by Stjepan Sejic made the event worth investing in. In addition, the new characters were interesting enough to be considered worthy additions to the Witchblade/Darkness mythos. I looked forward to seeing more of them. That’s where Broken Trinity: Aftermath comes in…

The Story: “Paying Debts” tells the story of Finn’s rescue of/ reunion with Jackie Estacado (The Darkness). It also sets Finn’s story truly in motion as he talks with Jackie about his newfound power and the information he’s learned. “Lessons” is about Glorianna’s situation following the Broken Trinity battle and what the future may hold for her and her power.

The Good and The Not So Good: As a whole, Broken Trinity: Aftermath works quite well. Short, but sweet, both stories in Aftermath do a nice job of better establishing the characters in charge of the recently introduced ice and fire artifacts. And really, that’s all they need to do. I really look forward to seeing more of the characters in the future (though I’m not sure how much more of Glorianna there is to show…I’ll get to that in a moment). Now, onto the technical stuff…

“Paying Debts” is the more enjoyable read of the two thanks to the way Ron Marz handles Finn. As he did during Broken Trinity, Finn comes across as an extremely likable guy who knows he’s in over his head but is more than willing to make the best of it. Heck, even when killing people as a ice giant, Finn’s personality manages to make an impact. If Finn’s story has a low point, it’s that the visual’s don’t really sync up all that well to the character. While the dark, gritty style works initially, it’s mostly unfit for handling Finn’s ice giant form. With the exception of a striking panel or two, the visuals of the ice giant disappoint.

“Lessons” is told almost entirely through the attractive visuals, but the dialogue that is there proves to be rather compelling in regards to Glorianna’s place in the Top Cow universe. Now as for those visuals…well they mostly involve Glorianna being naked. Before you roll your eyes, the nakedness does fit the story and contributes to one extremely impressive full page shot of her naked body in the center of a giant dragon outline in the melted snow to kick things off. That said, it still comes across as rather gratuitous.

Conclusion: Broken Trinity: Aftermath is a worthy addition to any Top Cow fan’s collection. While the stories included in the one-shot are short, they are each worth a look. Especially considering that Finn and Glorianna may be major players in the universe sooner rather than later.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny