The first story centers upon Bleez - a princess who was recruited by the Red Lanterns after her family was killed by The Sinestro Corps, her wings crippled and she was nearly raped by the Yellow Lantern who led the attack on her planet.
This story is serviceable, with Bleez being far from the typical pampered princess, fighting the mother who wishes her to marry and start popping out babies. However, the fan service with her being interrupted in her bath at the start is a bit much. And one can't help but find this story a little pointless since Bleez is nothing but a frothing-mad Red Lantern at the end with no personality or mind to speak of left.
The second story centers on Carol Ferris. For those of you who read Blackest Night #1 and wondered when Carol Ferris became a Star Sapphire (or Violet Lanterns of Love, as I guess they are now), wonder no more. This story details just how that happened.
I can't help but wonder if the irony here is intentional, with Carol insisting that her life isn't defined by Hal when - in terms of the long-term history of Green Lantern as a book - she always has been. Not to mention that while even as she's being asked to take a position of power were she can save the universe, she's being asked to forsake her identity and her life to redefine herself in terms relating to how important she should be to Hal. This is pretty disturbing any way you slice it but given the all-consuming nature of the Love power it makes sense.
What also bothers me is the idea of Carol being set up as the great True Love of Hal's life when I find Hal's current girlfriend - USAF pilot Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman to be a much more interesting character. I know this is kind of a "Betty and Veronica" argument with Green Lantern fans right now.... actually, with Gillian being a blonde tomboy and Carol being a brunette rich bitch - holy cow, it IS the Betty and Veronica argument!
Well, even so, it still bothers me. Especially with Carol having shown up only two times in the past four years, and that's including Rebirth
The final story details a creature that calls itself The God of Hunger but which I call The Big Giant Head. There's not much plot here, with the Big Giant Head flying around form planet to planet, demanding the he be fed the most valuable items on each planet.
It's a nice exploration on the concept of value and it's the kind of story you'd expect to see in the old Tales of the Green Lantern Corps annuals. The one downside is that it seems a bit of a waste since The Big Giant Head is consumed by Agent Orange on the last page. Honestly, doing a story on ANYONE in "The Orange Lantern Corps" seems a bit of a waste since, by definition, they're a soul-bound thrall with no independent personality or mind. Hell, even the Orange Lantern Profile Page doesn't bother to give the names of the poor suckers killed off by Larfleeze!
This issue wasn't quite as good as the first one, if only because there's an aura of pointlessness about these stories. They're well written, especially the final story by Peter Tomasi - but there doesn't seem to be much point in recounting the history and personality of characters who have been robbed of all personality or absorbed into a collective that makes death seem attractive by comparison. Why build up interest in a character with a short story if nothing can be built upon that foundation?
Probably me giving too much credit to Peter Tomasi, but I imagine the orange and red lanterns would have to break free at some point and regain free will in order to fully participate in the War of Light?
ReplyDeleteThe Red Lanterns, maybe. Hal's certainly shown that it's possible. But given that the Orange Lanterns have to be willed into existence by Larfleeze first, that's a bit more unlikely.
ReplyDeleteI had the same impression you did, nice backstory, but what's the point if the personality is gone?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering what they're going to do with Carol, making her a leader and all. It seems she'll have to fill the violet role, as that's probably the only ring Hal won't have worn when this is all over.
Well... Hal also hasn't made contact with the Indigo Tribe yet... no word on if he will get one of their staffs or no.
ReplyDeleteIt's a possibility. Then again, I've only seen four variant color Hal Jordan figures as well as the usual green one.
ReplyDeleteYeah. No Indigo or Violet Hal yet.
ReplyDelete