REVIEW: GREEN LANTERN #16

(w) Geoff Johns
(a) Doug Mahnke
(i) Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen, and Mark Irwin

Since his first appearance in last September's Green Lantern #0, Simon Baz has polarized internet discussion boards for a variety of reasons. From readers who felt Baz was an unnecessary attempt at diversity, to those who felt his 'mistaken terrorist' storyline was too politically motivated, to others who simply disliked the fact that a Green Lantern was carrying a gun. Of course, for all the detractors, there were just as many fans who were vocal in their excitement for a superhero more representative of modern American culture. Green Lantern #16 offers a good helping of plot advancement thanks to the arrival of B'dg, a squirrel-like Green Lantern most recently featured in Robot Chicken's "DC Comics Special" in a segment highlighting some of the more ridiculous characters in DC's pantheon. It seems as though Geoff Johns took this slight to the might B'dg to heart. The adorably bad-ass B'dg becomes Baz's teacher/coach by default once he learns Hal Jordan is technically dead.

One of the best things about Simon Baz has been the way Johns has characterized him beyond the ring. Too many times in comic books, characters are introduced and made to accept their fate with little to no question for the sake of moving the story along quickly enough to keep readers interested. Johns, instead, has taken the time to flesh out Simon as a person. Simon's journey has two parallel narratives that play off one another and pay off in big ways throughout this issue. Simon's primary goal is clearing his name of terrorist actions. By focusing on a more human task, Johns is able to incorporate the Green Lantern element as the secondary narrative that's just now coming to a head. B'dg's arrival signals a turning point for Simon's career as a Green Lantern, from amateur with a ring to a member of the most powerful and revered peacekeeping force in the universe.

The final pages of Green Lantern #16 prove that Simon Baz is no temporary replacement; for a while, I was worried that Baz was more of an experiment that could be ended as quickly as it was started. Of course, that could still be the case, but Simon's inclusion in the upcoming Justice League of America coupled with the fact that the Green Lantern Corps really hasn't ever had a problem with there being an inordinate number of Lanterns from Earth points to his being around for a while. With "Rise of the Third Army" coming to a close next week, and "Wrath of the First Lantern" coming next month, I'm sure the Corps will be needing all the firepower it can get.

GRADE

8.5/10

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-

BATMAN AND ROBIN #11

STORY: Peter J. Tomasi
ART: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, Keith Champagne, and Dustin Nguyen

This week at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Scott Lobdell revealed that Tim Drake went straight from a regular kid - with a knack for detective work - to Red Robin, without actually spending any time as Batman's official sidekick. This change sent waves through the comic book community, most of them negative. Tim Drake is definitely as popular - if not more so - as Dick Grayson, so it's odd that DC would so easily let Lobdell change continuity all willy-nilly. The reason I bring up this revamp is that Tim is still included in Peter J. Tomasi's "War of the Robins" story that's been the best part of Batman and Robin the past two months, even though he (now!) was never technically a Robin.

Damian takes his fight to Red Hood this issue, and DC has labeled it in promotional materials as the beginning of the newest Robin's quest to defeat all the former ones, even though he technically did beat Tim Drake last month in a battle of morality and ethical dilemmas. Perhaps this is DC's attempt to clean up the Robin retcon by saying Tim's encounter with Damian wasn't an actual fight that falls under the classification of "War of the Robins". But that seems a bit silly.

Nonetheless, Red Hood's turn is here. Jason Todd returns to his Gotham apartment, exhausted, only to find himself ambushed by Damian. Batman's son truly is a great character. What could have simply been a new Robin content to live a life of servitude under his father's wing has become a complex ten-year-old child leading a life of someone thrice his age. This facet of Damian was explored throughout the first eight issues of Batman and Robin, as Tomasi looked to show that Robin has problems and issues more akin to weathered assassins than his peers playing in schoolyards. Of course, Damin is 10 years old, so he's still got some insecurities that come with that age. One of which happens to be an inferiority complex when it comes to his mantle as Robin.


Damian Wayne is Bruce's only biological son, but the man has two other sons who he feels more connected with. Damian's dilemma isn't an uncommon one for children raised by a single parent - he's figuring out how to manage a relationship with the absent parent. And in this case, Damian feels that in order to prove himself to his father, he must defeat Bruce's former surrogate children.


Unlike last month, Tomasi spends a majority of this issue focused on Terminus. This slowly decaying villain has sent out a cadre of super-powered thugs to brand as many Gotham citizens as possible with Batman's symbol. Terminus has managed to turn the city's symbol of hope (no matter how dark and twisted that hope may be) into one of fear...again. At one point, Batman's just standing in a plaza, surrounded by buildings all triggered to explode at the same time. "Leave my city ALONE!" screams Batman as he has a hundred million times before. Tomasi is taking the easy way out, making Gotham the scapegoat in this pissing match riled up by Terminus for reasons unapparent so far. Sure, Tomasi threw us a bone last month with some cryptic flashbacks into Terminus' life, but they did little to give meaning to this villain's actions. All we know is that Termy sees himself as Gotham's true son and seeks to knock Batman off his high-and-mighty pedestal.


With two plot lines running simultaneously, Tomasi should be focusing on "War of the Robins", a narrative that actually has a purpose and can give real insight to Batman's various sidekicks throughout the years - it's a character-driven plot that has a lot more potential. Terminus' plot to make the city his own is one that has been done to death for the last sixty years of Batman's history, and it feels like more of a support story that's getting too much limelight.

GRADE

C+

(COMIC) GREEN LANTERN #9

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

When it comes to Green Lantern, Geoff Johns likes his 'big reveals'. Each arc usually includes a single issue that delineates or decompresses all the hidden or alluded-to secrets in order to set up the inevitable climax in the second-to-last issue. With "The Secret of the Indigo Tribe", Johns gives 'revelation issue' duties to Green Lantern #9 by revealing the origins of the Indigo Tribe and the truth behind it's members.

Last month, Indigo One and the other Tribesmen had successfully converted Sinestro to their corps, brainwashing him until the Korugarian who once nearly brought the universe to it's knees starts apologizing to Hal Jordan. This is when Hal finally understands that the members of the Indigo Tribe are not taken willingly. Basically, the Indigo Tribe takes the worst criminals in the universe and converts them into guilt-ridden champions of do-gooding.

Hal goes off to find the Indigo's central battery to disable it when he meets the very old and very snarky Natromo, a name repeated by the Indigo's ever since their inception, true believers. Natty tells Hal all about how the Indigo Tribe started, how Abin Sur freed the planet Nok from slavers and found a well of indigo light - the essence of compassion. The people of Nok used the heat of the well to forge weapons that caused the victim to become "overcome with remorse". Abin uses the light to forge an indigo ring and slips it on Iroque (better known as Indigo One), the woman who killed his daughter.

And there it is - what took four two issues to build up was explained in five pages. While it might seem anti-climactic, Johns continues to write in such a way that everything that happens simply feels epic and meaningful. I don't want to sound like the origin of the Indigo Tribe aren't cool, because it is. Mostly, it feels rushed.

Fortunately, the final pages are so epic, the quick lead-in soon turns from a curse to a blessing. Apparently, Abin Sur knew pretty much goddamn everything, as he's the one - we are now constantly being reminded - who knew the Guardians were bad news from the get-go. As Natromo hears of Abin Sur's death, he decides to destroy the indigo battery and end the Indigo Tribe project he started with Abin Sur all those years ago. The good news is that Sinestro is freed and becomes a Green Lantern once again, the bad news is that the worst criminals in the universe are now all in one place, with two giant green targets with which to play.

GRADE:

A-

(NIGHT OF THE OWLS) BATMAN AND ROBIN #9

STORY: Peter J. Tomasi
ART: Lee Garbett, Andy Clarke, Ray McCarthy, and Keith Champagne

First off, I want to apologize for not writing up reviews for Batwing and Detective Comics last week. I know I said I would be covering all issues of DC's 'New 52' connected to Batman's "Night of the Owls" event, but those two issues were downright boring. I understand the desire to want an Bat Family-wide crossover to it's fullest, but those two titles felt soooo forced, I just couldn't write enough about them - good or bad - to justify a review.

That being said, Batman and Robin #9 is a much better (if not great) chapter in the "Night of the Owls" saga, one that sees Robin on his own in a surprising new light: commanding officer. Damien's role in the counteroffensive against the Talons takes him outside Gotham city limits to find and protect Major General Benjamin Burrows, and it just so happens Burrows is running night drills with his troops.

Damien goes into military mode, barking orders and setting precise formations to best defend against the undead assassin. It's a little confusing, how Batman and his allies so readily put others in the line of fire to protect others. Basically, Robin is forced to outrun the Talon by leaving foot soliders behind to slow it's advance - a decision Damien knows will lead them to their death. I understand that Burrows is a target and that his status makes him a key player in Gotham, but it seems negligent to allow soliders to be slaughtered in a scenario they weren't ready or trained for. Of course, this could be exactly how Peter J. Tomasi wanted to play it.

The story falls apart, somewhat, when General Burrows' family history is injected. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington promised a large sum of land to Edwin Wilkins. When Wilkins was taken by the British, this specific Talon was called upon to murder Wilkins and his family to secure the promised land for the Court of Owls. The Talon was successful with all but the youngest Wilkins son, who somehow survived and was adopted by the Burros family, making General Burrows the last surviving descendent of Edwin Wilkins. Now, this Talon asked to come after Gen. Burrows to finally complete the mission he was given over 200 years ago.

This connection between the Talon and Burrows would make a whole lot more sense if Burrows still owned the land, or anything like that. In the flashback, the Talon even says that the Court eventually took control of the land, so why does he care so much about killing Burrows? It doesn't make much sense and pulls down a book that was pretty damn good up to that point.

GRADE:

B-

(COMIC) GREEN LANTERN #8

STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Doug Mahnke, Mark Irwin, Keith Champagne, and Christian Alamy

As I've mentioned in previous posts about this series, Geoff Johns crafted a whole multi-year plan for Green Lantern when he took over in late 2004 to resurrect Hal Jordan. Part of that master plan was the inclusion of the spectrum of Lantern Corps. Johns introduced us first to the Sinestro Corps, which channeled the yellow energy connected to fear, followed by the vengeful Red Lanterns, serene Blue Lanterns, greedy Agent Orange, caring Star Sapphires, and finally the Indigo Tribe, with rings of light purple that are connected to compassion. It's time to get into the history of the Indigo's a color that's been a persistent mystery since their introduction.

Sinestro spends most of this issue fighting off the Indigos as they try to replace the Green Lantern energy that flows through him (and every Green Lantern, I suppose). It's fun seeing Sinestro beat up on a monstrous-looking four-armed Indigo that seriously looks like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft novel before smashing it's head into a wall. It's Sinestro! But the real meat of this issue comes from Hal Jordan's interaction with Black Hand. After Blackest Night, William Hand disappeared and instead of investigating, the JLA, entire Green Lantern Corps, and every other team and hero on Earth simply said, "Oh, well. Must be hiding!" and didn't think about it again. Of course, Johns wrote that series, as well, and made good and sure us readers knew that Hand had been turned Indigo.

Hand explains the power of the Indigo Tribe, how they feel all emotions where they couldn't before. While bordering quite heavily cult status, it seems like the Indigo Tribe might be some sort of rehabilitation system, a way for wrongdoers to redeem themselves for past actions. Seeing as Indigo Tribesmen are powered by compassion, it makes sense that ex-criminals might finally feel compassion for those they've wronged and willfully follow the Tribe.

However it unfolds, Johns (like always) does a fantastic job of keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The final page of Green Lantern #8 reveals Sinestro's conversion to the Indigo Tribe, a development that will most likely be reversed, but it's still nice to see Johns having fun with one of Green Lantern's most notorious villains.

GRADE:

B+