Threshold #8 – Review

Keith Giffen (Writer), Tom Raney, Phil Winslade, Timothy Green II, Joseph Silver (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse, Hi-Fi (Colorists)

The Story: The Hunted is cancelled and most of the players have to deal with that, Caul included. In the backup, Star Hawkins discovers just who the first player is and why she’s still alive.

The Review: Well, this was different. With the way the story had been going on, I had no idea how Keith Giffen could actually conclude everything and how he would close this very title. I did not have much hope for this to be satisfying, yet there are actually some nice ideas in there that are actually fun.

Going meta-fictional in the very last issue, the show in which Jediah Caul and all the characters takes part is cancelled, which prompts a lot of meta-jokes from the cast and the book itself. Dealing with how the book tried very hard to put new stories and how it accommodated a lot of changes during its tenure, it’s hard not to chuckle a bit during some of the scenes of the book in which Giffen himself seems to admit that he cannot actually conclude this series on a high note and that some subplots will never be resolved. The Blue Beetle scene especially is hilarious, with the author explaining via his characters and the context of the cancelled show why he had been included to begin with.

However, as much as Giffen tries to combine the literal and figurative elements with a touch of metafiction, it does not make it a particularly satisfying ending. Those who had become invested in the actual conflict and the setting will not find a lot to like in this different portrayal found here. In the end, many of the characters developed and their situations don’t add up to much as the story instead focus on Caul and the ephemeral nature of entertainment and fiction.

Threshold #7 – Review

Keith Giffen (Writer), Phil Winslade, Tom Raney, Timothy Green II (Artists), Hi-Fi, Andrew Dalhouse (Colorists)

The Story: Jediah has to do his duty and tries to save the bottled city by getting it back to Tolerance as some of the players on the board make their move. In the backup, Star Hawkins get closer to the answer to the mystery of just who is the first player of ”The Hunted”.

The Review: I’m not exactly sure what to make of this comic. Is it a building story that unfortunately got cancelled and so need to rush things out? Was it just one with too many players in it, resulting in an unfocused story? Perhaps it merely was an experiment to see if Keith Giffen could revitalize the cosmic side of DC comics, diversifying from the Lantern focus it always had?

In a way, it seems like a little bit from all these options here, which is unfortunate, as there are several elements here that could very well be exploited in order to create something expansive and interesting. There are some characters that had some genuine growth during these seven issues, which had been due mostly to the fact that there was a spotlight on them. Jediah Caul is a perfect example of this, as he was first just some rogue trying to save his life, until we got some explanation why he was a Green Lantern, which made him immediately a much better character, as we had some more perspective on the character.

This makes it all the more unfortunate then that all those other characters just aren’t as interesting as Jediah. I have close to no idea why I should actually care about Stealth, Blue Beetle or Lonar, as we have only seen glimpses of them during all these issues. This feeds a bit the first theory written earlier that Threshold was supposed to be a longer ongoing, building on every issue in order to create familiarity with these characters in order for them to develop. Sure, we knew who Blue Beetle was and Captain K’Rot was mostly used as a comic relief, yet those characters never had an actual chance to shine and this issue is not different in any way. Basically, we are thrown a huge number of characters that we know close to nothing about, that each have their own plot going on with them, yet we can’t be sure if they will ever pass from the ”scenery decoration” state rather than become actually interesting characters with a past and proper motivations. Considering the fact that the next issue is the final one, it seems unlikely.

There is also another thing that is missing rather much and it would be the plot. Even though the exploration of the society living on Tolerance and how ”The Hunted” game compose their economy, the game itself never really connected itself to a coherent plot, merely serving as the setting. Sure, we had glimpses of some of the players trying to gather some of the key prisoners in order to forge a rebellion, yet like the cast itself, it never received enough of a focus to make it the main direction of the book.

Threshold #6 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Phil Winslade, Tom Raney, Timothy Green II (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse, Hi-Fi (Colorists)

The Story: Jediah Caul gets in serious lantern mode as some key players in The Hunted gather together. In the backup, Star Hawkins gets hired to find the elusive legend of the longest living Hunted player.

The Review: It’s always a nice thing to see a series get a bit better after a while, seeing just where some of its characters might go and the author get more comfortable with its setting. Progress in both the quality and the plot is something most readers are searching for and it’s good to witness such a thing occurring on a title that needed it so desperately.

Threshold #5 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Tom Raney, Phil Winslade, Scott Kolins (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse, John Kalisz (Colorists)

The Story: In The Hunted, Jediah Caul gets back his lantern battery as he prepares to save everyone from the situation they are in. In Larfleeze own backup, we get to see just how and why he has lost all of his stuff.

The Review: In a strange way, it is a good thing that I had decided not to review this title first, as I can now write it in knowledge that this title will meets its demise come August, in its 8th issue. While this does not influence the actual quality of this issue, it does mean that this kind-of transformed into an ongoing to a mini-series of some sort, as now Giffen will have to tie and conclude everything in three issues after this one.

Here, we get to see the fallout from what just happened to a good chunk of Tolerance, thanks to Brainiac. As the series had been built slowly in its inception, it has started to move much faster now, as we get to see bigger things happening, such as the death of certain characters and the accomplishment of certain goals first introduced a few issues earlier, one of them being the retrieval of Caul’s green lantern battery. It also has improved a bit in delivering the goods, so to speak, as we get plot advancement, twists, action and some actual goals for some characters. While it had been nice to see The Hunted and how it affects Tolerance as a game, the arrival of Brainiac did some good for this series.

Threshold #4 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Phil Winslade, Tom Raney, Scott Kolins (Artists), Chris Sotomayor, Andrew Dalhouse, John Kalisz (Colorists)

The Story: Jediah Caul and other players are moving toward the prized green lantern battery that belonged to him as a huge new player enters the story. On Larfleeze side, we get some more craziness with his simulacrum as we get to know who is behind this entire thievery.

The Review: With last month’s issue, I have to admit I had my doubts. While there were some new players introduced and some neat concepts being shown to us, it seemed like close to nothing was explained or moving in meaningful and interesting ways in the series so far after three issues. Having high hopes for this series, it seemed like my thirst for the cosmic excellence of Keith Giffen was never to be satiated with this latest effort on his part.

With this latest input in the more cosmic aspect of the DC universe, it seems like Giffen is going for surprises and further development, getting to a much more satisfying place in the span of an issue. Here, we get a bit more action and a newer mission statement for Caul, the main protagonist, one that is much more different than simply surviving in Tolerance for as long as he could. With the need to retrieve his confiscated lantern battery, we get some more activity from Jediah Caul than reactivity, something that is much more pleasing to read. Of course, there is also a new player in the story that leads to a huge climax that I will not dare reveal*, but it was thoroughly unexpected in the most delightful way, showing that Giffen had access to some of the bigger cosmic players as well.

Threshold #3 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Tom Raney, Phil Winslade, Scott Kolins (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse (Colorist)

The Story: A crazed Blue Beetle tries to kill Jediah Caul as we get properly introduced to Captain K’rot. In the backup, Larfleeze gets in a bar to meet people who can help him get his treasure back.

The Review: This series, so far, is a test of endurance. Sure, the previous issues were nice, but this is definitely the kind of book that will get a whole lot better in the long run, provided Keith Giffen gets some more traction with the characters and the setting he has created. Most of what we have seen is the presentation of several pieces of the puzzle, very small parts of a much larger story that will, without a doubt, unfold after a couple of issues. Sadly, some of these pieces are somewhat lacking.

One of those pieces, as indicated in the cover and that has been the subject of interviews and much controversy, is Captain K’rot himself, the gritty, sci-fi reworking of a beloved cartoon character. Making the comparison of the previous fun-loving superhero to this newer version is actually quite surprising, as it would akin to compare day and night. The previous version was bright, colorful and cheery, while this one is sully, cynical and somewhat disrespectful of his companions. Now, from what is said in the issue itself, there seems to be unexplained reasons as to why he turned that way and there are some bits with him that are genuinely funny, yet the character does not feel right so far.  Considering Giffen had stated in interviews that he would be the ‘’breakout’’ character of the series, I sure do hope K’rot will turn out to be more than a funny jerk with eloquence that he has been shown as in this issue and the previous one.

Threshold #2 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Tom Raney, Scott Kolins (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse, John Kalisz (Colorists)

The Story: Stealth shows what she can do, Jediah talks about potential alliances, Captain K’rot and Blue Beetle are introduced, while ‘’The Hunted’’ show goes on. In the Larfleeze back up, the greedy ring-slinger tries to hire people to retrieve his stuff.

The Review: Well, Keith Giffen has my interest here. With the way the whole thing started (the first issue, not the abysmal New Guardians annual), it seemed like he had a good hold on things, with a solid story and characters that could become quite interesting in their own rights. I, however, had no idea that this title could go farther in its own setting and theme. Even though the characters are central, there are quite a lot of other things that are developed and further explained here.

One of them would be ‘’The Hunted’’, the game that is shown on Tolerance, which is also the name of the opening arc of this title. In this issue, we see the political fallouts of such a show, how the head announcer feels all about it and how Lady Styx is seen by the important people on the planet. It shows how the game is explained to children with the hilarious first page of the comic and it shows just how other people might feel being introduced to such a violent game, courtesy of the introduction of Blue Beetle to the game. There is a lot of information about the society and its political nature introduced here, most of it being very interesting and well thought-out.

Threshold #1 – Review

Keith Giffen (Writer), Tom Raney, Scott Kolins (Artists), Andrew Dalhouse, John Kalisz (Colorists)

The Story: Jediah Caul starts his way in the Hunted game in quite an unfortunate way. Meanwhile, we get an introduction on Stealth and Rikane ‘’Ric’’ Starr, a former space ranger. On the backup, Larfleeze tells his version of his life story.

The Review: If there is one thing I would give credit to Keith Giffen, it would be his ability of world building and his expertise in the use of underused characters. When he wrote Annihilation for Marvel, we could see just how much he could play with all those ideas that floated around in the Marvel universe, from certain species, villains and concepts that weren’t used in God knows how long. With that, he carved the cosmic corner in which Marvel has published many stories, continuing everything Giffen started way back then. Now he is a DC writer, charged with almost the same task– reinvigorate the cosmic side of the DC universe that has been so far centered solely on Green Lantern.

Right away, Giffen starts slowly with the Hunted, some kind of game on a planet named Tolerance where the citizens are encouraged to kill criminals, traitors, and undesirables to gain money and fame. It is in this very situation that we find Jediah Caul, as he begins his status as one of the hunted after being caught for being an undercover Green Lantern in a system where the Corps is hated. Right away, we get to see some signature Giffen storytelling, as he mixes humor with all the facts and darker part of the story; creating a fun, yet serious issue. The first page explains the Hunted and also shows this murderous game as surprising fun, which makes it dark, yet humorous. There are other sequences like the first page, serving as advertisement for what happens on Tolerance and how they generally live. Those may seem trivial, but it shows just how much detail Giffen can put into some sequences as he is building a whole world out of nothing, creating a broken society from Scratch.

There is not just world building in this issue, though, as close to our introduction to Jediah Caul, we get a long action scene where he runs away from the murderous citizens, helped by a strange little girl. The pacing of this scene is actually quite good, as it is full of essential details about our protagonist, Tolerance and his capabilities for survival in a hostile world.

Of course, one must not forget that there is a backup story in this issue featuring our favourite orange lantern: Larfleeze. In this humorous backup, we get to see just what Larfleeze think of himself as the idea to write a book like the guardians has inspired him to kidnap a writer to write about his whole life. The sequence when Larfleeze tells his point of view on how he interprets his life is funny, yet it is also very true to his character. It shows us once more that Giffen knows his humor, yet he also knows that it should never have priority before the plot. It is a good little story that ends with a cliff-hanger that promises us some good fun with the greedy being that is Larfleeze.

Green Lantern New Guardians: Annual #1 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Scott Kolins, Andrei Bressan (Artists), David Curiel (Colorist)

The Story: Arkillo, Carol and Saint Walker get into the Tenebrian Dominion thanks to the help of Jediah Caul, a green lantern. In there, they find the harsh reality of this space sector on the planet called Tolerance.

The Review: Annual issues are not exactly the easiest kind of issues to review. The reason why they usually are is because of one thing: their purpose. An annual can be written for many reasons: it can be a celebration of everything the series stand for in a standalone tale that is usually inconsequential to the actual storyline, or it can be setup for something much larger in the work for the series.

Unfortunately, this annual is neither of those options, as it tries to be two things at once and fails at both. It tries to be about the New Guardians, yet it also tries to set up some important characters and information about the new ongoing from Keith Giffen, Threshold. Why it fails is very simple: the focus is never really well divided, providing us with neither enough information about the cast of Threshold, like Jediah Caul, but it also gives us only half of the New Guardians cast in a story that has not much purpose in their actual storyline. I doubt very much that Lady Styx will pop up in New Guardians anytime soon.