Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two #3 - A Review

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two #3 is light on action, existing primarily for two reasons.  The first is to establish that The Guardians of the Universe are aware of recent events on Earth and taking steps to investigate them.  The other is to show how these events are starting to take their toll on Green Lantern Hal Jordan.  

    Tom Taylor's command of these characters is as excellent as ever.  Fans of Geoff Johns' take on The Green Lantern Corps will find his take on Hal, Guy Gardner, The Guardians and Carol Ferris to be familiar and welcoming.  Taylor has a great gift for dialogue but also knows when to let the art tell the story, such as when the fearless Hal Jordan - who makes a point of pride of never flying a plane with his ring on - is shown holding his hand up, not saying a word when asked how his plane survived certain doom intact.


Bruno Redondo's artwork seems to improve with every passing chapter.  His designs for each character are unique and his panel layout pushes the story forward naturally and easily, with the dialogue having plenty of room to be read without obscuring the backgrounds.  The inks of Julien Hugonnard-Bert further define Redondo's figures, perfectly shading the final artwork.

Green Lantern #21 - A Review

One thing was clear when Geoff Johns announced his departure from the Green Lantern line - whoever followed him would have big shoes to fill  Thankfully, Robert Venditti does not try to match Johns in tone nor does he attempt to top Johns' latest universe-shaking crisis with an an even larger universe-shaking crisis.  Instead, Venditti focuses on Hal Jordan the man and how his life and his Corps have changed in the aftermath of the Wrath of the First Lantern.


Venditti offers a lot of good character moments throughout the issue as the new status quo is established.  My favorite involves Carol Ferris, who basically admits that her Star Sapphire ring is being powered by codependency and her refusal to give up that power while simultaneously refusing to let herself be taken advantage of by Hal Jordan yet again.  This is a neat twist, given the Happily Ever After ending Johns gave them in his last issue.  And I can't help but wonder if Hal's frustration at being handed the responsibility of running the entire Green Lantern Corps in some way mirrors Venditti's own feelings about taking over Green Lantern in the wake of Geoff Johns' departure.  In any event, this book also promises a greater connection between this and the other Green Lantern family of titles, as we see scenes that seem to hint at what is to come in both Green Lantern Corps and New Guardians.

Billy Tan and Richard Friend prove equally capable on this issue's art duties.  Tan has a good eye for detail and the ability to fit a good deal of intricacy into a single small panel.  Friend has a light touch, leaving Tan's pencils lightly inked for the most part - the better to highlight the details without obscuring them in shadow. 

All in all, this new Green Lantern is a different kind of book that what we've seen of late.  Different, yes but quite enjoyable in spite of it.  I will admit to some concern that I may soon be required to read all of the Green Lantern titles in order to understand what is happening in just one.  Time will tell that tale but for now, if you're a science-fiction fan or have been curious about Green Lantern as a character, now is the time to give this title a try. 

Tales Of The Corps #2

Another three profile stories; these centering upon members of the Red Lanterns, Star Sapphire and Orange Lantern Corps respectively.



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?