Supergirl #29 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Yildiray Cinar (penciler), Ray McCarthy (inker), Dan Brown (colorist)

The Story: It’s up to Kara’s old roommate to stop her reign of terror. Plus she never cleans out the fridge…

The Review: Tony Bedard’s time on Supergirl has been defined by the presence of guest characters and an extremely fed up Kara Zor-El. The combination has not always been kind to our title character and, at its worst, she’s felt like a guest star in an issue of Lobo.

Lagging behind last month’s Green Lantern/Red Lanterns #28, Supergirl remains in no state to better her reputation, still a bestial mess of blood, spit, and napalm. With Lobo dead again, the title turns to the next black & white adversary for Red Lantern Supergirl: the Silver Banshee.

While it’s a shame that Supergirl remains a secondary player in her own title, Bedard’s handle on Siobhan is perhaps the strongest of his run so far. In just a few pages, Bedard is able to give us an understanding of Kara and Siobhan’s friendship. It’s a little broad, but the bond between them is clear enough to touch the heart a little. That’s essential because the entire issue is predicated on our belief that Siobhan loves and is sacrificing for her friend.

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.

Green Lantern Corps #59 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Tyler Kirkham (penciller), Batt (inker), Nei Ruffino & Rob Reis (colorists)

The Story: Things are getting crazy at the GLC—maybe it’s time for a job transfer?

The Review: The Green Lantern universe has really expanded its mythology in the last few years, with the pinnacle undoubtedly being the creation of six other colored, space-faring corps.  As fun and organic as the idea may have seemed at first, these new groups haven’t really sold themselves as equals to the Greens, with the possible exception of the Sinestro Corps.  Not only do they lack history, even the fundamental ideas of what they stand for are vague at best.

This issue points out these shortcomings even as it attempts to use the powers of the other corps to inject new energy into the plot.  Head honcho Hal takes the most useful yellow ring for himself while the others get the gimmicky remainders: Kyle finds himself involuntarily boosting the powers of the other Green Lanterns (who are trying to kill them); John unsuccessfully tries to siphon his pal’s energies; and Guy leaks corrosive blood all over the place.

If you’ve followed any of the GL titles at all recently, these tricks aren’t anything new, though there’s an endearingly pathetic humor in watching the guys try to figure their way through them.  Maybe Bedard will let them founder with their newly acquired powers for a while before letting them rip loose in the next issue—at least, that’s the only thing you can hope for, as this issue turns out a bust, substance-wise.

While this week’s Green Lantern features the actual moment where the guys induct themselves into their parallel corps, Bedard gets relegated to showing the growing pains of their new colors.  Nothing really pivotal happens in this title, except for the arrival of a planet-sized wrinkle to their plans in the final pages—and the fallout from that will play out in the next title in line for this crossover.

Green Lantern #55 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke and Shawn Davis (artist), Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen, Keith Champagne, Shawn Davis and Doug Mahnke (inks)

The Story: The New Guardians, Chapter Three: The Spectre is on the trail of an entity (in the Brightest Day, power ring sense) that is brutally slaughtering livestock. In the meantime, Lobo explodes into town looking to collect a big bounty on Atrocitus. Hal Jordan, Star Sapphire and Sinestro are forced to take sides. Atrocitus seems to know something he’s not saying and is hunting a particular entity himself.

What’s Good: Hal Jordan didn’t come off in this fight looking like he owned it, but Sinestro, Carol and that psycho red cat sure did. Props to those three, and to Johns for writing them well. Hal’s solution at the end seemed like it fit his character, but I loved the surprise ending which showed that some architect of events had been banking on those very reactions. Surprise is good. Well done to Johns. Red Lantern Dex-Starr’s part in the story and its origin was also a lot of fun. Whether Krypto, this spazzy, angry cat, or Lobo’s dog, Johns writes good pets (keep in mind how badly animals can be written…).

On Lobo, I had such low expectations that it wasn’t hard for Johns to meet them, and even exceed them. My major impression of Lobo prior to this was that he is a zero-dimensional, ultra-powerful white trash contribution to the DCUs affirmative action and diversity strategy who looks like he’s either coming from a Kiss concert or going to an audition for the Village People. His reactions and role in any story are unsurprising and uninteresting. Gee, do you think Lobo is going to do something violent? Duh! So what did Johns do right with Lobo? The one-liners were good: “Tour’s over everybody!” and, talking about all the power rings around, “I don’t know what god ate a rainbow and threw it up across the universe…” If we were to go more tongue-in-cheek and start rumors behind the school, I’d have to say I like where Johns is taking Lobo’s sexuality. Lobo called Hal “square jaw” and “handsome” and I definitely got the sense that he was overcompensating with Carol….some might say he’s trying to hide something? He is dressed like he’s going clubbing at the Blue Oyster Bar from Polcie Academy. Maybe Johns is laying down some subtle markers to show some real questioning and growth. I’m just saying….

Artwise, Mahnke and company delivered a fine issue with the detailed energy constructs you’d expect for a fight involving four flavors of power rings. The faces and expressions were detailed, as were skin, clothing and the environments, so there’s a lot of art for every panel, something I definitely dig. Shawn Davis’ work on the backup story was also quite fine and reminded me a bit of Quitely’s stuff.

Green Lantern #51 – Review

by Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (art), Randy Mayor (colors), and Rob Leigh (letters)

The Story: Parallax returns to battle the Black Lantern Spectre.

What’s Good: This is a really, really fun issue.  A lot of this is thanks to the twists and turns that Johns provides with the emotional spectrum.  One such twist, involving the Spectre and Atrocitus, is particularly well-played and is, at least for a moment, absolutely jaw-dropping in a “why didn’t I think of that” kind of way.

Then there’s the real star of the issue, Parallax.  Johns writes the character as well as he ever did, sounding absolutely monstrous with just the right amount of sneer.  The great thing about Parallax’s presence though is how Johns essentially writes the character as if he was pulled out of a timewarp from back issues.  Suddenly the old Spectre/Parallax conflict takes centre stage, as the two characters almost forget the Blackest Night around them.  The total disconnect of these two characters, Parallax in particular, from their current surroundings in favour of their old animosity feels clever and a little surreal, as though things are put on hold.

Another highlight is the grappling between Lex Luthor and Larfleeze that we all knew was inevitable.  Suffice it to say, the dynamic between the two is about as much fun as expected.  Hearing Luthor dress down, contemptuously deride, and belittle Larfleeze is comic gold, particularly since the latter never seems to really understand Luthor.

Then there’s Dough Mahnke’s artwork.  This issue is visually awesome.  The level of detail Mahnke manages to pack into the book while still completely maintaining traditional comic sensibilities is truly a sight to behold.  He’s able to pack a great deal onto the page while never having it become overwhelming, while also delivering the massive, iconic images that make a comic like Green Lantern great.  Truly, his Spectre looks amazing and his Parallax looks about as insidious as I can imagine a character being.

It also bears being said that this issue is the first to give us some real hints as to where Johns intends Green Lantern to go after Blackest Night, as he plants some very ominous seeds, one involving Atrocitus and another regarding Parallax’s fate.

Green Lantern Corps #44 – Review

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

The Story: Red Badge of Rage, Part 2: Black Lanterns have overrun the power battery on Oa. A giant green lantern planet hovers over Oa. And Guy Gardner is a psycho (oh, and he has a red lantern ring too!).

What’s Good: I loved Gleason’s splash page opening of Mogo, the green lantern planet, against the backdrop of a colorful nebula, looming over Oa. Gleason also drew a mean power battery, some pretty awesome aliens and the double splash page of Guy with a ring on each hand has to be seen! Gleason’s camera angles and layouts also supported an epic feel, picking shots to maximize the distance and vastness of the backgrounds.

On the writing side, this is pure adventure. Our heroes, including the recently resurrected Kyle Rayner, are wildly outgunned and losing badly. Guy Gardner is marginally on their side, insofar as if they stay out of his way, his force field chain saw targets black lanterns. This is the rising drama of act two, where we have no idea how our heroes are going to get out of this bind. And, this is only one battle in a larger war. The mood is definitely Empire Strikes Back, and that means that Tomasi has done his job right. The other nod I have to give to the writing department is really to Geoff Johns and the DC editors. Their choice, in Blackest Night #6, to deputize a bunch of DC characters into the various lantern corps, is structurally smart. In this book, we get to see what it’s like to be a red lantern, through the actions and emotions and perspective of a character we’ve known for the last twenty years. In no other way could the fans hear: “Take off that red ring.” “No. I like it. I like seeing red. It’s simple. No more gray. No more black and white. Just red.” This simple, tense dialogue tells us more about the red lantern rings and why rage is seductive, than everything I’ve seen so far from Atrocitus. Kudos!