GREEN LANTERN #11

STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, and Tom Nguyen

With Geoff Johns and Green Lantern, there's never really a down moment. That's not to say 'there's never a dull moment', because frankly, there are from time to time."Secret of the Indigo Tribe" was one such instance where Johns' perspective as GL-series team leader led him to overestimate how interesting the narrative was as it's own arc. Fortunately, this month kicks off "The Revenge of Black Hand" that was teased last month when William Hand committed suicide to escape the imprisoning nature of the Indigo Tribe, only to be resurrected by a brand new Black Lantern ring.


Black Hand gets a good reintroduction in these pages as one of the DC universe's most twisted, sadistic, evil villains. As depicted back at the beginning of the Blackest Night event in 2009, William Hand's family life was less than perfect, leading William to murder his entire family which put him on the path to be the avatar for the Black Lanterns. His power now restored, Hand travels back to Earth and resurrects his entire family as the beginning of his personal army of the dead. Even without the Blackest Night connection, this scene is super, super creepy; Hand has a conversation with the corpses of his family members while they all sit around a dinner table watching William eat. BN was really the last time Johns got to cut loose with the 'misery and death' talk, yet he comes back to it with a passion - Hand pledges, "I'm going to kill as many people as I can in as many ways as I can. And then I'm going to raise them from the ground and they're going to do the same thing." In two speech bubbles, Johns successfully gets the major focal point of the story arc across to readers as well as making any reader squirm in their seat just a little bit. Some villains take an entire six-issue run to get to their point, and more often than not, these characters still feel underwhelming. Black Hand under Johns' guidance has always been frightening, but now he's downright sickening (and not in the drag queen sense).


Hal & Sinestro's side of things is a bit more boring until they get their hands of the Book of Black once again. The duo heads to Korugar to fetch the Book of Black, giving Johns yet another chance to remind readers just how hated Sinestro is on his home planet. Normally, this kind of redundant fact inclusion grates on me, but Johns has used it sparingly since the "Sinestro" arc, and for new readers, it can be helpful to remember that Sinestro was once one of the most hated criminals in the universe. The real meat of their journey to Korugar this issue comes when they open the Book of Black to see what else they can learn about the Guardians' plan to eradicate the Green Lantern Corps, a conspiracy that's been building across the four Green Lantern titles for some time now and will come to a front his October in "Rise of the Third Army".


Here's what Hal and Sinestro's vision tells us:
--> There's a new Green Lantern coming (the Arab GL that's been in teasers and appears on the cover of Green Lantern #0).
--> The Guardians will get their hands on John Stewart to torture and/or kill him.
--> Kyle Rayner is destined to become a Red Lantern (*snore*...DC already did this with Guy Gardner).
--> Guy Gardner is in jail.
--> Atrocitus has command of the Manhunter robots.


Couples with what Sinestro saw in his original vision back in Green Lantern #6:
--> The Guardians will murder the entire Green Lantern Corps (to make way for the Third Army)
--> Sinestro will be taken as a member of the Indigo Tribe (done and done)
--> The Guardians will somehow use the White Lantern rings to execute their plans.


There seems to be a lot (like, a lot) of prophecy and premonitions floating around with not a whole lot of story advancement to back it up. Sure, these revelations are pretty cool (save for Kyle going Red, which is just a silly retread), but one page of awesome images from future events isn't enough to save Hal and Sinestro's lacking narrative. Even their banter feels hollow and flat this issue.


One of Geoff Johns' strongest points as a writer is his ability to create huge, cosmic events that change the landscape of the world he molds. Unfortunately, DC seems to be shying away from imprint-wide events, sticking to family series crossovers (like Batman's "Night of the Owls", or Young Justice's "The Culling") in order to make each part of DC's line stronger on it's own before deconstructing it down the road, which we all know is a question of 'when?' rather than 'if'. The teaser promo for "Rise of the Third Army" doesn't include Hal or Sinestro anywhere in the image, a startling fact seeing as both Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro are two of the franchise's most recognizable characters. I'm sure Black Hand will fit into the scheme of things somehow, which will Bring Hal and Sinestro into the fight as well.

GRADE

B-

(COMIC) GREEN LANTERN CORPS #10

STORY: Peter J. Tomasi
ART: Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna

I haven't been too impressed with Green Lantern Corps as of late. Peter J. Tomasi seems to be throwing all his energy towards Batman and Robin leaving GLC with a husk of a narrative to drive it forward. Part of this boring streak comes from the use of the Alpha Lanterns, a group of ridiculous Lantern police who have been a constant nuisance since they were first introduced years ago. I'm not a fan of the Alpha Lanterns - not from a story perspective, but from a narrative one. Alpha Lanterns are just buzzkills; they're not really "evil", and their storylines always focus on moral dilemmas. There's only so many times the Alphas can rise up - only to be talked back down using ethical logic - and brought back to the status quo before readers get bored. I'm already there.

Nonetheless, Green Lantern Corps #10 is easily the most enjoyable issue of the "Alpha War" so far. The first two entries into this arc were mired with legal jargon and judiciary proceedings - not things you want (or expect) from an action-based comic book. And while the best part of this month's issue is actually a debate over an issue of hypocrisy, the fights come out in spades.

Now that John Stewart has an expiration date, the Alphas and the Guardians discuss how it should be done. It's very, very interesting to see the direction Tomasi is taking this story now. The Alpha's immediately suggest that the Guardians be the one to execute Stewart; a way to "legitimize" the Alphas' decree. Without hesitation, the Guardians decline. Then the Alpha's suggest a group of Lanterns be chosen at random to do the deed, to which the Guardian's see (rightly so) as totally hypocritical. In a last ditch effort, the Alphas suggest an outside mercenary to act as executioner. Fed up with the Alphas' presumptuous attitudes, the Guardians decree that if the Alpha's want to execute John Stewart, they'll have to do it themselves. It's a harrowing part of the book and one that does not bode well for the future of the Alpha Lanterns. Eventually, Guy springs John from the Sciencells with dozens of Lanterns as backup. 


The worst part of this month's issue comes from John's confrontation with Kirrt's parents. By his own conscience, John asks to meet with them when they arrive to attend Kirrt's official funeral on Oa. It's a really stupid scene because John tries to explain that he's not looking for their forgiveness - he only wants a chance to apologize for his actions.

This isn't true at all!

If John really wanted to apologize with no ulterior motive, he would have written a letter or recorded a video for Kirrt's parents. And maybe they wouldn't read/watch it, but that's their choice. What Tomasi is actually giving John Stewart is one more chance to make things right with Kirrt's family. John wants a few more minutes to explain his side of the story and how it was the right thing to do. This is total bullshit. John's personality goes through such a violent shift in only a matter of pages that it's jut jarring to follow. One minute, he wants to atone for what he's done, the next, he's ready to die. Make up your mind, man! (I am, of course, speaking to Tomasi, who can't seem to decide if John should be a cold-hearted killer or a martyr. Either way, I feel like GL fans will lose. Putting John Stewart in this situation was unnecessary and mean. John's always been the GL that feels guilt more than any of them, and yet Tomasi decides John's the one to have to go through this totally painful and embarrassing trial.

GRADE

B-

(COMIC) GREEN LANTERN CORPS #9

STORY: Peter J. Tomasi
ART: Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna

This cover is a misdirect.

The firs six issues of Green Lantern Corps were action-packed and fun to read. The same cannot be said for "Alpha War", the current arc. Granted, I've said nice things about GLC the past few months mostly because I was hoping things would start moving a little quicker. Unfortunately, Green Lantern Corps #9 suffers from simply not being interesting.

"Alpha War" seems to be a misdirect, as there has been no 'war', so to speak. Yes, the Alpha Lanterns are getting all up in John Stewart's face, and yes, the Guardians are probably using the Alphas to bring about the coming of the mysterious "Third Army". The stakes just don't seem as high as they should be. I read an editorial piece recently that posited that the Guardians of the Universe have become long in the tooth; they've been so dastardly for so long now, it's not as shocking to see them scheming as it was back in, say, 2007. And the fact that - after years of storytelling - there are still deep, dark secrets in the Guardians' closet means that these blue beings have been corrupting the universe since it's inception, and that's a notion that throws the entire DC Universe into question. Apparently, no one at DC thought to look into this further.

Basically, Green Lantern #9 is one long trial. It's suuuuuuper boring. A lot of trial jargon and scenes of the entire Corps in attendance doesn't make up for a filler of an issue. The only good part comes when a few Lanterns raid the crypt and attempt to smash Kirrt's statue after hearing about the cowardice that led to his murder. Guy Gardner stops them and takes a few pages to lecture them about knowing how to use fear. It's a 'lesson' that's been taught every which way for years and it's lazy.

Peter J. Tomasi needs to step up his game. Green Lantern Corps was doing great, but mucking it up with legal drama is murdering it's reputation.

GRADE:
D+

(COMIC REVIEW) Green Lantern #7

Written by Geoff Johns
Artwork by Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy and Mark Irwin

Ever since the Geoff Johns and Co. introduced the extended spectrum of emotional colors into the DC pantheon, the Indigo Tribe is given the least amount of panel space. At first, this seemed like an storytelling decision, one made simply because there were too many characters interacting at the same time, and the Indigo's were mysterious enough to be kept vague. After a while, I assumed the lack of content featuring the Indigo Tribe was an editorial decision, one that came from polls and marketing numbers that showed readers preferred the Red Lanterns or Agent Orange to the enigmatic tribe that doesn't use English on a regular basis.

Now, it's pretty obvious Johns has had plans for the Indigo Tribe for quite some time. The last time we really saw the Indigo Tribe was way back during the "Blackest Night" event when Indigo One kidnapped Black Hand from under everyone's noses before presenting him as the newest tribe member. It was a haunting scene, one that threw into question everything readers had thus far assumed about the Indigos. Sometimes, not knowing the threat is worse than knowing just how bad it is, and Johns is definitely playing that card with this plot.

Basically, Sinestro read the Book of Black and saw the end of the Green Lantern Corps - an idea that's been seeded throughout Green Lantern since the relaunch - and now he needs Hal's help to stop it from happening. In true Green Lantern style, the Indigo Tribe shows up to corral Sinestro for themselves. Over on Oa, the Guardians are getting pretty hardcore, talking about murdering a Corpsman. It's a little uncomfortable, but I'm sure that's exactly what Johns wants.

GRADE:

B-

(REVIEW) Green Lantern Corps #6

Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Artwork by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna

As DC's 'New 52' hits it's sixth month, many plot lines started back in September are coming to a close - or at least getting damn close. With Green Lantern Corps, Peter J. Tomasi has brought us to the end of his first arc. This month's issue was one of the most interesting and fun issues of the series since September. While it's not difficult to 'over-do' a character in a title like Green Lantern Corps, it's surprisingly been done a number of times in the past. The fight against the Urakians comes to a head this month, showcasing not only Tomasi's strength at writing ensemble work, but also for Fernando Pasarin's beautiful art. Drawing tons of Lanterns fighting together, each projecting a different construct, is a difficult undertaking and one Pasarin steps up to with grace and fluid pencilling. Scott Hanna's inking isn't intrusive or loud, and his shading is exquisite.

With a crap-ton (the scientific measurement) of guns and a 'fear bomb' rigged to go off at the center of the Urakian operations, Guy Gardner's secret team goes in head first, relying on the element of surprise, bullets and a whole lot of willpower. Poignantly, Gardner observes, "...they sure as hell ain't immune to lead!" The fight scenes are exquisite and the Urakian's power-conversion system is a classic - if not cliched - human battery concept; the Urak leaders are keeping their people connected to a stargate so they can transport the Central Battery from Oa to Urak, displacing the Guardians' home as the center of the universe.

The big GASP moment came when John Stewart is forced to murder a fellow Green Lantern - Kirrt - before he gives up the codes for Oa's defense systems. And while it seemed (for a moment) that Kirrt may have been concocting a plan, Stewart realized his brother in arms had fallen. With the fate of the entire Corps in the balance, Stewart does what he believes must be done. Of course, we'll see the fallout of his actions in next month's epilogue issue.

As I mentioned earlier, it's been great learning about Green Lanterns other than Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kilowog. Bringing in the 'Mean Machine' and including some of the better characters from past series - such as Sheriff Mardin, Hannu, and Brik - has been Green Lantern Corps' saving grace. I'm excited to see where Tomasi takes the series after next month's issue.

GRADE:

A-

Review: Green Lantern Corps #5

Review




Green Lantern Corps #5
Peter J. Tomasi - Writer
Fernando Pasarin - Pencils

Back in 2005 - after Hal Jordan's resurrection in Rebirth - DC brought back Green Lantern's sister series from the days before the original Parallax saga starting with a mini-series entitled Green Lantern Corps: Recharge. While the series saw it's ups and downs, mostly stemming from it's fragmented storytelling and too-often reliance on knowledge of events in GL-proper to understand events in Corps., it was a solid book that focused on Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Kilowog, and a cast of nearly six other Lanterns from various sectors.

While it's previous incarnation was good, the 'new 52' Green Lantern Corps feels like it's own book that can stand on it's own stories. Keeping a focus on Guy, John and Kilowog was the right choice for the Corps series of the GL-centric books. Kyle has never been comfortable amongst the Corps (and was thusly given his own series to star in), and the letting lesser known Lanterns pop in and out gives them character context without becoming overbearing or drawn out.

This fifth issue gives quite a bit of back story to the first arc's villains, the Keepers, courtesy of the telepathy powers of newly cynical J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. It really was a 'BURN!' moment when he called out the Corps for their failures with Krypton and Mars. Tomasi is skillfully employing the Guardians' terrible track record as of late in telling his tale of a planet charged with protecting Green Lantern batteries when they are being stored in the 'pocket dimension' described by GL's for decades. In fact, the batteries temporally travel to the planet inhabited by the Keepers. When the Guardians mysteriously remove all the batteries, the Keepers' world begins to die and they began to lash out for resources anywhere they could find.

In one stroke, Tomasi has not only given the Green Lanterns a formidable foe without resorting to a crisis-level villain, but also provided another great piece of the Guardian's history of fucking everything up. I've read (and thought myself) that blaming the Guardians for everything has become a crutch for writers over the past five years. To many, it seems as if the Guardians apparently acted more like the CIA, killing, cheating and lying to claw they way to the top, rather that behave like the benevolent beings presented over nearly seven decades of comic continuity. But that's the beauty of a race that's as old as time itself; they've had a lot of time to screw things up, and a lot of universe in which to do it.

Grade: B