(w) Tony Bedard (a) Andres Guinaldo and Raul Fernandez
I have a 'love/hate' relationship with Green Lantern: New Guardians. Well, more of a 'like/get-annoyed-at' relationship. Whether I enjoy it or not depends on the issue. For a series without a cohesive direction, Tony Bedard has been working hard to do justice by Kyle Rayner, the leader of this merry band of 'New Guardians'. It's been an up-and-down situation since day one, but that's just something I've come to expect.
** SPOILERS AHEAD**
Green Lantern: New Guardians #19 is one of the good issues. "Wrath of the First Lantern" is finally starting to gain some weight as Volthoom's manipulation of reality has resulted in the destruction of Korugar, Sinestro's home planet. Kyle and Star Sapphire Carol Ferris' search for Hal Jordan brings them to Sinestro, who is lamenting the death of his planet. In a desperate attempt to poke fate, Sinestro demands that Kyle use his newly harnessed White Lantern power to bring Korugar back to life.
Say what?!?
Grief is a powerful emotion (one that isn't part of the spectrum...yet) that easily consumes Sinestro. But unlike Wolverine's totally out-of-character decisions over in Age of Ultron, Sinestro has always been deeply loyal to his homeworld. Throughout his spotty career as a ringslinger, Sinestro has always, always done everything to protect Korugar. It makes sense that it's destruction would addle his priorities.
Guest stars Simon Baz and B'dg don't really add too much to the story beyond Simon's unique ability to connect with the white light of life. And even that is just a fleeting moment that feels shoehorned in to fit DC's "WTF" gatefold cover directive.
Kyle Rayner is such an interesting character that Tony Bedard has just begun to understand more fully. Green Lantern: New Guardians #19 doesn't do much to progress the "Wrath of the First Lantern" plot, but it's got fantastic character development for Kyle, Carol Ferris, Sinestro, and even Simon Baz.
GRADE
7.5/10
(w) Keith Giffen
(a) Scott Kolins and Andrei Bressan
Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1 is fractured -- it's got nothing to do with Kyle Rayner's quest to master the emotional spectrum, nor does it fully realize itself as a lead-in to DC's new sci-fi series, Threshold. There's too much going on in this issue, and with each subsequent page, readers are asked to process more and more characters, lingo, locations, and relationships. Coupled with the hyper-busy artwork by Scott Kolins and Andrei Bressan and GL:NG Annual #1 becomes fairly difficult to read and understand.
I'm not even going to talk about Kyle because Keith Giffen basically shoves the Torch Bearer off-panel within a few pages to focus on Carol Ferris Star Sapphire, Arkillo, and a returned Saint Walker as they attempt to contact the Lady Styx and convince her to join in the fight against the Guardians of the Universe and their Third Army of mindless drones. But really, this isn't what GL:NG Annual #1 is about. Giffen has used this issue -- and it's extra-long 'Annual' format -- as a platform with which to introduce Jediah Caul, a deep cover Green Lantern, as well as 'The Hunted', a sadistic practice involving the hunting down of perceived threats to the Tenebrian Dominion by way of civilian participation.
Before I get into Caul as a character, I have to mention that the Tenebrian Hunt seems really interesting. Unlike Avengers Arena, which pretty much lifted the premise of The Hunger Games without regard, Giffen tweaks his idea enough to feel original and more believable. In the Tenebrian Dominion, criminals are given a day head start before the entire population of the system is allowed to hunt them down for big winnings. The game -- and it's merchandising, etc. -- provides financial support for the entire Dominion, which means they stay autonomous from the rest of the universe. Overall, the idea is fun, but Giffen "shows" instead of "tells" readers what's happening just a little too much. The use of 'space slang' is simply weird. It took me nearly the entire book to realize that "das'tall" was some sort of curse word and not a person's name.
Who is Jediah Caul? He's one of the few new characters to emerge out of DC's 'New 52' so far. Besides Scott Snyder's Court of Owls, the 'New 52' has been limited to reintroducing old characters in new forms. Unfortunately, Caul is just plan boring. He's supposedly a 'deep cover' Green Lantern in the Tenebrian Dominion, but his mission is never explained. Why is he in deep cover? What ends are he looking to achieve? Lo, we get none of this information. By issue's end, what we know about Jediah Caul can be summed up in one word: blowhard. It's hard to get invested in a character like Caul because he doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities.
Green Lanterns: New Guardians has a second-stringer title since it began due to a lack of direction and overall cohesiveness. I understand that this Annual was intended to be a lead-in to Threshold, but why? Why can't that series stand on it's own? Why make an already struggling title break focus and lose it's momentum in the process? Last month's issue was a great step forward, but Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1 is like taking two steps back.
GRADE
6.5/10
(w) Tony Bedard
(p) Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna
What a game changer! Seriously, I was on the brink of letting Green Lanterns: New Guardians go after the overall low quality of the past few months. Even though Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern and always will be, Ton Bedard was struggling to find his footing with a team of multi-colored lanterns on a mysterious quest. It was far too chaotic for too long. Now, Kyle's quest to master all colors of the emotional spectrum has given Bedard some direction of his own, and Green Lantern: New Guardians #13 is the prime example of a how a little focus can reap amazing rewards.
Kyle Rayner's been an anomaly since the moment he was given the last Green Lantern ring by Ganthet as Hal Jordan, possessed by Parallax, literally decimated the Green Lantern Corps. In the years since that fateful night, Kyle kept the green light aflame when no one else could, helped rebuild Oa, siphoned the power of a god as Ion, traveled across the universe when Earth disappointed him too much, helped resurrect Hal Jordan, became Parallax himself for a time, and at the onset of the 'New 52', he was somehow able to wield one of every colored ring in the spectrum. It comes as no surprise that he's destined to master all six emotions and ascend into something greater to stave off the "Rise of the Third Army". Much like Green Lantern #13, the Guardian Soldiers only show up for a few panels near the end to make sure we remember that's going on elsewhere.
This month, Kyle is training with Atrocitus to master rage. It's odd how a character driven by absolute rage finds clemency enough to bother with beings he deigns to be lesser than. But, this is the 'New 52', so it's all about change. Hard as he might, Atrocitus cannot seem to drive Kyle to a rage-filled fury, even going so far as to throw Alex DeWitt's grave in Kyle's face as proof of his prior weakness. The revelation that Alex DeWitt still exists in the 'New 52' is a big deal, seeing as the compression of time could have cut that part of Kyle's life out completely. I'm glad Bedard is keeping Ron Marz's legacy alive. Eventually, Kyle is driven literally mad when he's made to watch - but not interfere with - a brutal execution while Atrocitus holds him back.
I have to say, Kyle's Red Lantern getup is probably the coolest costume he's worn in his many years wielding a green ring - it's that helmet that really dredges up thoughts of horror movies, y'know? Tony Bedard, in one single issue, has managed to reel me back in and take Green Lantern: New Guardians seriously again. I'm a bit miffed that Carol Ferris is taking Fatality's place as the team's Star Sapphire, but it makes sense in terms of GL family cohesion. Other than that, I really don't have a lot bad to say about this issue. Bedard knocks it out of the park, Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna have a refreshing art style, and the new, clear direction for the book makes me want to continue reading it even more.
GRADE
7.8/10
(w) Tony Bedard (a) Andres Guinaldo and Raul Fernandez
