Injustice 2 #60-62 - A Belated Review

The Red Lanterns have recruited Starro The Conqueror and have lain siege to Oa - home of The Green Lantern Corps and The Guardians of The Universe. The New God Metron has recruited Jaime Reyes - The Blue Beetle - to stand against Starro, having foreseen that only the wielder of The Scarab can stand against the rage-empowered Starro.

Blue Beetle does not stand alone, however, with his friends in the New Titans and Booster Gold having joined in the fight. Even the bounty hunter Lobo, who was hired by Metron to bring Blue Beetle to him, has joined in the fighting on the simple grounds that it'll be hard for him to get paid in a universe run by a crazy hive-mind. And before the day is over, even more unlikely allies may be found to aid Oa in its blackest night...


Due to life being life and my schedule of late leaving me busy on Tuesdays when this book is released on-line, I haven't had the opportunity to review Injustice 2 for nearly three weeks. Indeed, I've barely had the time to read it!

Today, however, I made the time and I am glad I did. For Injustice 2 #62 contained no less than three jaw-dropping moments. I am not certain that my jaw literally did drop physically as I was reading the issue. Mentally, however, I was gobsmacked.

I know Tom Taylor is a busy man but I dearly wish he were writing several series based on his work here. There are a number of characters in Injustice 2 - no longer in existence in the DC Rebirth reality - who I sorely miss and am glad to see being given their due here. Chief among these are Conner Kent and Cassie Sandsmark, who have become this reality's new Superman and Wonder Woman and one heck of a cute couple. I'd also love to see Taylor tackle the Green Lantern Corps on a regular basis or pen a new Blue and Gold series.

The artwork is equally fantastic. This book is blessed by a number of great creative teams and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite if asked to do so. Xermanico, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, J Nanjan, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbot all deliver their respective A-games to every aspect of this series' artwork and I cannot recall any issue where the art was anything but excellent.

If you haven't been reading Injustice 2, for whatever reason, you've been missing out. This is one of my favorite series and you would do well to check it out and find out why.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10. Great issues, all of them. 

Justice League #33 - A Review

With the rest of The Justice League in the clutches of The Dark Knights, if falls to Cyborg to save the day. Yet doing so many require Victor sacrificing what remains of his humanity to fully empower the Motherbox that powers his cybernetics. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of all reality?


Despite being largely devoted to explaining Cyborg's powers and setting up the next part of the Dark Nights Metal event, Justice League #33 is an enjoyable little book. Teen Titans fans will be glad to know the story also reaffirms the friendship between Cyborg and Raven (something missing in the Rebirth reality) and there's a sequence I'm fairly certain is a nod to one of the better episodes of Teen Titans Go!  The artwork is equally brilliant, with the colors of Arif Prianto and Jeromy Cox giving the pencils and inks of Tyler Kirkham and Mikel Janin an almost painted appearance at times.

The Final Analysis: 7 out of 10. It would have been higher if they'd confirmed the song Cyborg plays to inspire himself is "The Night Begins To Shine"

Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #32 - A Review

Trapped in a dungeon built of his worst nightmares with the villainous alternate-Earth Bruce Wayne known as The Dawnbreaker, Hal Jordan is in for the fight of his life. The Dawnbreaker has a power ring of his own - a corrupted Green Lantern ring that absorbs the light around it. It won't be easy but if there's one man who knows something about beating enemies he has no business even facing, it is Hal Jordan!



Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #32 is a pretty piece of filler. Nothing really happens to advance the plot of Dark Nights Metal but Robert Vendetti writes one hell of a fight scene. It's gratifying to see Hal using his brain in battle and the "strobe mode" Hal uses to counter Dawnbreaker is a brilliant conceit. It also leads to a visually interesting spectacle from artists Liam Sharp and Ethan Van Sciver and colorist Jason Wright, as the artwork cuts between pitch blackness and bright flashes of green-tinged action.

The Final Analysis: 8 out of 10. Not much of a plot, but a great action-packed issue with fantastic art!

Justice League #32 - A Review

Batman is lost. Superman is trapped in another universe. And now The Dark Knights have used Cyborg to trap what remains of The Justice League in "Bat Caves" designed to drag them down before their inevitable deaths!




Justice League #32 is a thrilling piece of filler. There's not much to be found here beyond non-stop action but Robert Venditti's script presents that action well enough as The Justice League faces down their counterparts in The Dark Knights.

Liam Sharp's artwork is as finely detailed and well-presented as one would expect based on his recent work on Wonder Woman. Adam Brown does an equally impressive job on the color art. In terms of plotting relative to the rest of Dark Nights Metal, this issue may not be essential, but it is enjoyable for what it is.

The Final Analysis: 6 out 10.

Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1 - A Review

On Earth -32, a Green Lantern ring found Bruce Wayne at his darkest moment. Through the force of will possessed only by a child who has just seen his entire world destroyed, Bruce Wayne was able to overcome the ring's programming forbidding lethal force. Worse yet, he tapped into something far stronger than the collective willpower of his dark universe. Something dark. Something hungry...





Fans of Ethan Van Sciver will be pleased by his turn here. Van Sciver is famed for his detail-driven style, which is well in evidence throughout this issue. Indeed, the level of gore depicted in some scenes is stunningly rendered in such a fashion as to skirt the lines of a 15+ rating. Paired with Jason Wright's vivid colors, this is one amazing-looking comic.

The story by Sam Humphries inspires less enthusiasm. The origin of The Dawnbreaker is told well enough but his confrontation with Hal Jordan lacks the psychological power of the earlier chapters in which The Flash and Cyborg faced their dark counterparts among the league of Dark Multiverse Batmen. Additionally, the story lacks clarity, making it unclear at first if The Dawnbreaker tapped into some unknown dark force or if he is drawing upon the power of Nekron and The Black Lanterns.

The Final Analysis: 7 out of 10.  Great artwork but the story is a little flat.

Green Lantern/Space Ghost Special #1 - A Review

Sent to investigate a message regarding a weapon from beyond the boundaries of known space, Green Lantern  Hal Jordan soon finds himself in a place his ring cannot identify. Worse yet, he is engaged in battle by a strangely dressed figure whose wrist-mounted weapons seem as dangerous as the weapon he was warned about. Naturally this is all a great misunderstanding and two lawmen of different realities will have to trust one another to survive the battle to come.

I came into Green Lantern/Space Ghost with high hopes but I'm afraid they weren't met. Given this story was written by James Tynion IV and Christopher Sebela - whose respective work on Detective Comics and Injustice: Ground Zero I've loved - I expected more than a cliche tale of two similar heroes getting into a fight, realizing their mistake and joining together in the end. The individual panels of Ariel Olivetti's painted artwork look amazing but the story flow between them is clunky at best. This isn't a bad comic - merely a passable one. Given the talent involved, however, it should have been better.


The Ruff 'n' Reddy back-up story by Howard Chaykin and Wil Quintana is a different beast - no pun intended. Set in a world much like that of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where animated anthrmorphic animals live and work among humans, we follow two comedians - a cat named Ruff and a dog named Reddy - whose careers are floundering after their respective acts break up.

It spoils little to say the two have decided to partner up by issue's end. Personally, I enjoyed this piece but as a fan of 1940s comedians my opinion may be biased. It remains to be seen how this will play in Peoria or if the barber in Peru will get it, to borrow two old phrases from the agents of yesteryear. If nothing else, Chaykin deserves credit for briefly partnering Ruff up with a Mae West type named Sexx.

Injustice: Ground Zero #6 - A Review

As Harley Quinn fights her conflicting feelings regarding a new Joker entering her life, her army of protesters wage a more physical battle against Superman's Regime forces. Meanwhile, The Regime has captured Batman... but not the one they expected!


While a solidly written piece of work, Injustice: Ground Zero #6 lacks the luster of previous issues. Half of this is due to the book's intrusion into the story of the original game, when the appeal of the original Injustice comic was that it told us all the stories we didn't see in the five-year gap between the game's prologue and first act. The other half is the lack of Harley's narration in the later part of the book, as the action shifts to focus on The Regime torturing Earth Prime Batman.


While the story may seem somewhat repetitive to those who have played the original game, the visuals of the artwork more than make up for it. Marco Santucci has a great gift for depicting facial expressions and the close-ups in this book look fantastic. The rich colors by J. Nanjan are also worthy of special praise.

Justice League: Rebirth #1 - A Review

They are the World's Finest heroes. But in the wake of Superman's death and the disappearance of Hal Jordan - the first Green Lantern of Earth - they are not what they once were. Still, there is another Superman and two rookie Green Lanterns - both of whom shall reveal themselves as The Justice League face their greatest challenge yet!


I can't fault David Finch entirely for this issue feeling like I walked into an action movie twenty minutes after it started. The recent events of the Superman and Green Lanterns books defy easy explanation and Finch does well enough trying to bring the pre-52 Superman, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz into play. I can, however, fault Finch for the decision to tell this story out of sequence, with the original Justice League members discussing the new Superman joining the team before they meet him.

I can also fault Finch for the atrocious artwork in this issue. The poses are all forced and the facial expressions are hilariously awful. The inking by Scott Hanna and Daniel Henriques is unevenly applied. Alex Sinclair's colors aren't bad but there's only so much you can do to change a cowpie by painting it.

Five Reasons Oliver Queen Is Awesome

Despite the popularity of the show Arrow, fans of Oliver Queen still get a lot of guff about our favorite hero being a half-hearted Batman rip-off.  While it may be true that Green Arrow spent a goodly portion of The Silver Age following in Bruce Wayne's footsteps, later comics turned Oliver Queen into his own man.

So what is it that separates Oliver Queen from all of the other billionaire playboy superheroes and all of the other archery-based superheroes?  Besides epic facial hair, of course.  Well, the man said it best himself in JLA #123.

"...I can't leap tall buildings in a single bound and I don't wear any fancy power rings. Hell, I'm not even the world's second greatest detective, whatever THAT means. But I am a guy with a hell of a lot of chatzpah. And that's got to count for something in a crisis, right?"

More than anything, Oliver Queen is defined by that word - chatzpah.  Call it guts, nerve, boldness, balls or just plain audacity if you want to use a ten-dollar word.  Oliver Queen is a man who will say the unthinkable, attempt the impossible and just plain refuse to back down no matter how badly the deck is stacked against him.

To that end, I've put together a list of five deeds that I think exemplify Green Arrow's awesomeness.  And to make it fair, I've eliminated all of the stories where he dies a heroic death in the name of his principals.  Because that is its own Top Five list.


5. Oliver Queen - The One Man Justice League. 



As Seen In: The Dark Knight Returns & The Dark Knight Strikes Back

I'll admit this one is implied more than it is stated.  But the facts are there on the page.  For those who haven't read The Dark Knight Returns, it's a classic Batman story set in an alternate future where superheroes were made illegal in the United States and a middle-aged Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement to become Batman one last time.  The sequel, The Dark Knight Strikes Back, is not as well regarded but it continues the story of DKR and shows what happened to all of the other Justice League members.

Apart from Superman, Green Arrow is the only Justice League member who appears in The Dark Knight Returns.  We don't get the full details of his story but we do get enough to paint a vivid picture.  Oliver Queen was in prison for a while, escaping five years previously.  He spent that time on the run, striking against the corrupt American government as best he could from overseas.  And at some point before Ollie was imprisoned, Superman was responsible for him losing an arm.

The Dark Knight Strikes Back reveals the fates of the other JLA members.  Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel joined Superman in working for the American government, which we find out is secretly being run by Lex Luthor and Brainiac.  The rest of the team either went into hiding in remote locations or were captured and imprisoned by Luthor and Brainiac.

Logically, that means that for a time, both before being imprisoned and afterward, Oliver Queen was The Justice League.  He was the one hero who didn't back down or give up or agree to fade into the shadows in a world that was going to Hell.  And he did that while single-handedly facing two of the world's most dangerous villains and three of the most powerful superheroes on the planet.

And when I say single-handedly, I mean that in the literal sense as well.  Yet despite that disadvantage, he could still use a bow with Olympic-level accuracy.  Even though he had to pull the bow-string back with his teeth!


4. Oliver Queen Holds His Own Against The Forces Of Apokolips.



As Seen In: Final Crisis #4

At the time of this story, Black Canary was the leader of The Justice League.  And as Apokolips once-again tried to invade the Earth in the name of Darkseid, The JLA Watchtower was attacked.  Knowing the importance his wife held in planning a retaliation against the invaders, Oliver Queen stayed behind to hold off the pursuit as the rest of the team teleported to safety.  

One man with a quiver full of arrows against a horde of soldiers with the strength and endurance of Superman, riding giant hunting hounds and a few brainwashed superheroes as well?  Doesn't sound like much of a fight.  And it isn't.  Ollie tears them apart.

He brings down the hounds and the soldiers with them.  And if Ollie hadn't stopped to try and talk some sense into a brainwashed Black Lightning, he might well have won.  But he didn't and one good shock to the system was all it took to bring Oliver Queen down long enough for a mind-control helmet to be slapped down on his head.

This battle would rank higher, but this fight was a loss for Oliver Queen.  And yet it was a victory, because Ollie did accomplish his goal of buying enough time to let the love of his life and the rest of his teammates get to safety.  And while the villains may have technically won the fight,  it was a hard-won victory that shouldn't have been nearly as difficult as Oliver Queen made it.


3. Oliver Queen Overcomes The Black Mercy



As Seen In: Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #8

Created by Alan Moore for his Superman story For The Man Who Has Everything, The Black Mercy is a sentient alien plant with telepathic abilities.  Parasitic in nature, the plant latches on to a host, to whom it broadcasts a hallucination of an ideal life.  The host slowly wastes away, blissfully unaware that its body is being sucked dry by The Black Mercy in the real world as their every fantasy is seemingly brought to life.

So how strong is a Black Mercy plant?  Strong enough that even Superman couldn't break free of its control without Batman pulling it off of him by force.  And then when it latched on to Batman, Robin had to pull the plant off of Batman for him to be freed of its influence.  Even Hal Jordan was unable to resist the lure of the perfect world that The Black Mercy created for him.

And yet... Oliver Queen did.  He resisted.  He saw through the illusion and dragged himself and Hal back to reality after a single Black Mercy plant latched on to them both.

After the fact, Hal Jordan guessed that the plant had chosen to focus on him since his will was stronger and that instead of giving Ollie a vision of what really would be his ideal world, it had given him what Hal thought would be Ollie's perfect world within the context of Hal's perfect life.  Fine and dandy.  Except that does nothing to explain why Hal Jordan thought to set-up Oliver with Connor Hawke's mom (a woman Ollie hadn't seen in decades and whom Hal had never met) and why there was no place for Dinah Lance or Roy Harper in Ollie's "perfect life".

I think Hal is kidding himself.  I think the truth is that The Black Mercy may be strong enough to cloud the mind of Superman, subvert the fortitude of Batman and even overcome the willpower of a Green Lantern.  But that's nothing compared to Oliver Queen's ability to question everything around him.


2. Oliver Queen Resists Poison Ivy



As Seen In: Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow

Dennis O'Neil earned his place in comics as a living legend with his work in the 1970s on both Batman and Green Arrow.  It was he who developed Green Arrow into the modern-day Robin Hood we know and love and turned Batman into a Dark Knight Detective once more.  He teamed the heroes together in The Brave and The Bold and a few more times besides!  And yet, I think O'Neil's 1992 graphic novel The Poison Tomorrow may be the best thing he ever did with both of these heroes together.

The Poison Tomorrow sees Batman and Green Arrow joining forces after they discover they are working the same case from different angles, with Oliver Queen racing time to save Black Canary's life.  The trail leads from a diseased scientist to Poison Ivy and a plot to use toxic baby food to make a fortune selling an antidote.  In the exciting climax of the story, Batman moves to stop the first shipment of the tainted food as Green Arrow retrieves the antidote from Poison Ivy, who is currently hiding out in a housing development that was built on a toxic landfill!

To his credit, Ollie does try to go in protected.  But he didn't count on how hard it was to draw a bow while wearing a Hazmat suit.  Or on Ivy having a muscle-bound henchman who shared her immunity to toxic waste.  Deciding he can risk the poisoned environment for long enough to hand out a beating, Ollie slips out of the suit and beats down the henchman only to be confronted by Ivy herself.

Ivy, being Ivy, pours on the charm along with the pheromones.  The full "oh my brave hero, let me take care of you" act.  And for a moment, Ollie is tempted.  He's taken a few good lumps from the henchman and he's starting to feel the effects of the toxins around him.  And a little voice tells him he's as good as dead anyway - what harm could one kiss do?  But Oliver Queen's love for Dinah Lance is too strong to be overcome by such cheap tricks.  And with one open-handed strike to the face, Green Arrow shuts Poison Ivy down.

A few years ago, I achieved a modicum of fame for taking Judd Winick to task for his depiction of Oliver Queen as an unrepentant womanizer who cheated on Dinah Lance continually.  This story was largely responsible for my attitude.  Because while a lot of stories show how passionate Oliver Queen is in his love of Dinah Lance, I don't think any story has ever quite so well depicted just how strong that love truly is and how love is a more powerful force than lust any day of the week.  That's why I have nothing but contempt for anyone who tries to sum up Oliver Queen as "a horndog who chases skirts and can't stay faithful".


1. Oliver Queen Walks Out Of Heaven.


As Seen In: Green Arrow (Vol. 2) #10

Oliver Queen was dead.  Astonishingly, to him at least, he went to Heaven.  Or some kind of paradise where he had found the peace that was denied him in life.  As such, when his best friend Hal Jordan (who, at the time, possessed the power of all but one of the Guardians of the Universe) breached the boundaries between worlds to offer him a second chance at life, Oliver Queen turned it down.  But he did agree to let Hal bring him back after a fashion, creating a soulless clone that would possess all of Oliver Queen's memories up to a certain point.

This "hollow Ollie" would go on to reestablish the name of Green Arrow in Star City in Kevin Smith's Quiver and become a target for all manner of supernatural evil.  When that evil threatened Connor Hawke - Oliver Queen's illegitimate son - the hollow Ollie was somehow able to breach the boundaries of Space and Time to deliver his older, wiser self a much-needed dressing down.  That and the knowledge that his son needed him was enough to stir Oliver Queen into action and demand to be returned to Earth.

Oliver Queen defied his enemies.  He defied his friends.  He defied his government and alien invaders.  He overcame a mind-controlling parasite and the most powerful seductress on Earth.  And all of that is awesome.  But for sheer awesomeness, I don't think anything can top Oliver Queen finding the strength of will to walk out of paradise.


Agree?  Disagree?  I await your comments.

Earth 2 #24 - A Review

I remember having a conversation at a convention a few months back, describing Earth 2 to a skeptical comic fan who loved the Golden Age heroes but didn't like much of what The New 52 had offered so far.  He was excited about the concepts as I described them - how they were taking the basic idea of the original characters (man who can run fast, man with a magic ring, woman who can fly, etc.) but creating whole new takes on those base ideas while staying true to the core character.   So we have a Jay Garrick who is still a curious science student who is now blessed with the power of the Roman god Mercury and an Alan Scott who is given the power to harness the energy of the Earth itself through the engagement ring he bought for his lost love.


The part where this skeptic froze up was when I described Jimmy Olsen and how he has a superpower in this world.  He said he wasn't sure that he could get into any series where Jimmy Olsen had powers.  Now, ignoring that Jimmy developed superpowers more than a few times back in the day (temporarily, of course), that doesn't change that Tom Taylor still writes Jimmy like Jimmy.  Indeed, Tom Taylor writes one of the best takes on Jimmy Olsen I've ever read.

Sure, the boy has the power to absorb and recall information like a sponge and is a living wi-fi connection but that's completely incidental to who Jimmy is.  Jimmy is honest.  Jimmy is courageous.  Jimmy is an idealist in a world of cynics. And all of that comes to the front in this issue's most glorious scene, in which Jimmy Olsen delivers a The Reason You Suck Speech to Batman.

And yet, Jimmy is still enough of a fanboy to want to be Robin and enough of an egoist to think he'd be doing Batman a favor.  Hell of it is, I think the kid's right and this new Batman would be lucky to have Jimmy as his moral compass to keep him from going over the edge.  God knows he needs one.

I didn't say much about the artwork of Eddy Barrows and  Eber Ferreira  in all of this talking.  How could my words do it justice without panels to show off right then and there?  Just look at the pages above and I think you'll see for yourself how good it is and why I think everyone should be reading this book.  I said as much then and I'll say it again - this is one of the best books on the stands and everyone should be reading it.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two #4 - A Review

Unlike previous issues of Injustice, this fourth issue doesn't have any world-shaking moments.  There's no big splash panels of horrific deaths or shocking fight scenes.  Instead this issue collects a number of vignettes that subtly expand the world and the characters.  We learn that the Tower of Fate does get cell phone reception, that Amazons are not above talking to the gods to ask for a life to be saved when medicine fails to get the job done and that Barbara Gordon is indeed Oracle in this reality.  Small things, to be sure, but they do answer questions the readers might not realize they had about the nuts and bolts of the reality of Injustice.


This sort of thing is author Tom Taylor's bread and butter.  Yet he also manages to get in a fair bit of social commentary, as Barry Allen and Hal Jordan take it upon themselves to do the impossible - get the United States Congress to do their jobs and knock it off with the gridlock and grandstanding!  Leave it to an Australian to perfectly capture the absurdity of the American political system and to do it in a way that would make Dennis O'Neil proud. 


The art team continue to do a stellar job on the artwork.  Bruno Redondo's designs for the characters are clear and distinct.  I particularly like how his Hal Jordan resembles Nathan Fillion.  Julien Hugonnard-Bert goes surprisingly light on the inks, with much of the actual shading of the book being accomplished through highlights added into the colors by colorist Rex Lokus.

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.

Austin Comic Con - Part Two

Cobra Commander planning strategy (i.e. playing with his dolls).

This display made possible by The Austin Toy Museum.
Abby from NCIS.
Future Finn and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time.  
Go Go Power Rangers!

Supergirl.  
Link from The Legend of Zelda.   
Supergirl.  
War Machine.
Zombie Lara Croft!
Zombie Lara Croft and her friend hadn't had a picture together all day.
I was happy to oblige them - you don't argue with Lara Croft or a zombie!  
Green Lantern.
Emerald Allies.  Predator.
Sadly, DC declined to option a Green Arrow vs. Predator: Hunters comic.

Why I'm Dropping Green Lantern - A Review of Green Lantern Annual #2

WARNING: This review will get spoilerly and rantish after the first paragraph.  Stop reading after that if you care about spoilers.

Ever since Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi left their respective books, I feared this moment might come.  And now it is here - the moment I can no longer justify supporting the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles.  Understand this - the books by Robert Venditti and Van Jansen have been well-written and engaging.  This annual, too, has a good story and good artwork.  But after reading Green Lantern Annual #2, three things have become apparent to me.

1. You HAVE to read all the Green Lantern family of books now.

Despite being an annual for the Green Lantern book itself, this issue is really meant to cover all of the titles in the Green Lantern "family", including Red Lanterns and New Guardians.  This has become an increasing problem in many New 52 DC Comics titles.  Indeed, it's the reason I dropped Supergirl, which has become increasingly interdependent on a bunch of Superman books I have no interest in reading. 

I can't keep reading two good books if I also have to read two books I really don't care about to know what is going on in the books I enjoy.  I have no interest in The Red Lanterns as a group.  I hate that Guy Gardner - my favorite Lantern in the post-52 books under Tomasi's pen - is now attached to them.  And I really hate that Kyle Rayner has been turned into a Space Jesus messiah figure that has nothing in common with the character I loved 15 years ago.  On that note...


2.  There's No Point To Kyle Rayner Existing Except As Nostalgia Fodder.

And I say that as someone who got into comics BECAUSE of Kyle Rayner.

If you needed any proof that certain aspects of The New 52 universe were not planned at all, one need only look at The New Guardians title.  For the first year, it told the story of an attempt to build a team with one member of each of the various Lantern Corps.  It also showed a slightly different version of Kyle Rayner's original background, with Ganthet giving Kyle some basic instruction into how his ring worked in the wake of Emerald Twilight. 

Then suddenly the word came from on high - Emerald Twilight never happened and Hal Jordan never went crazy and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps.  So why was Kyle Rayner necessary?  Now the story was that he was chosen by Ganthet as part of an experiment to see if one being could harness the power of multiple spectrum energies at the same time. For some reason, this retcon also required them to establish that Kyle's girlfriend Alex did exist in the new reality and that she was stuffed in a fridge... even though Major Force - the villain who originally did the deed - didn't exist in the new reality! And then Kyle was assigned the task of looking after... The New Guardians - a group of the blue-skinned aliens who founded the Green Lantern Corps who had been in stasis while their brothers set about screwing up the universe. 

This issue seemed to give Kyle a heroic death and a point to the sudden 180 that The New Guardians title took.  That lasts a scant few pages before it reveals that - Psych! - Kyle Rayner is alive and an even greater destiny awaits him that The New Guardians have known of all this time, despite knowing very little of the universe and how things have changed until this point.

Kyle should have stayed dead.  And he'd be better off in limbo with Wally West, Donna Troy, Jenny-Lynn Hayden and most of the other heroes of his generation.  Literally none of his background and everything that made him interesting as a character remains.  Now he's just another generic cosmic hero with a destiny.
 


3.  The Wasting Of Relic and The Absolution of The Green Lantern Corps.

I liked the idea of Relic, the scientist from a previous universe who believed that his universe had been destroyed by "the lightsmiths" - his term for the Lantern Corps of his universe - slowly leaching away the energy that held the cosmos together.  It was a brilliant conceit and one that gave the various Corps a common enemy to unite against in the wake of the death of The Guardians.  More, there was the frightening idea - what if Relic was right?  What if it turned our our favorite heroes, good intentioned as they are, were truly causing the universe to become sick even as they were trying to save it?

It's the sort of idea Alan Moore might have spent years playing with, touching on issues of conservation and environmental responsibility vs. the belief in manifest destiny and the idea that such energy would not be there if it were not meant to be used.  Alas, Relic is now dead and his concerns have been rendered largely mute by the sacrifice of Kyle Rayner and the emotional entities.  The only real loss is that a number of the alien Green Lanterns who weren't getting any screen-time anyway have quit the Corps in disgust rather than contribute to the eventual destruction of all reality... which is no loss at all since we still have Hal Jordan calling the shots and he never really believed Relic in the first place.  So really, nothing has changed at all save the Green Lanterns are now based on Mogo instead of Oa and there's no Blue Lanterns anymore. 

The loss of the Blue Lanterns seems an apt metaphor for the Green Lantern books as a whole now  It is a universe without hope.  And that's a universe I want no part of. 

Green Lantern #24 - A Review

My fears that the Green Lantern titles were becoming increasingly interdependent on one another seem to have been invalidated as of Green Lantern #24.  This is ironic, given that this issue is the first part of yet another crossover storyline between all of the Green Lantern books.  Despite this, writer Robert Venditti takes care to establish the status quo for those readers completely unfamiliar with the series as well as readers like me who have only been reading one or two of the line.  Impressive, he does this in the span of one page!


Alas, I find myself with a whole new set of fears and worries regarding the future of my favorite franchise.  Ignoring the metaphorical implications that Hope as a force is literally dead within the new DC Universe in the wake of the Blue Lanterns' destruction, I find myself troubled by the accusation of new villain Relic that the various Lantern Corps have been hastening the destruction of the universe just by existing.  The idea that The Green Lanterns have been slowly destroying the universe for years is a troubling one and the suggestion our heroes would have been better off never becoming heroes spits in the face of the heroic spirit.

That being said, this issue is incredibly well-written and enjoyable.  Venditti sets up all this exposition without making it seem at like a lecture.  Most impressively, there's some actual signs of character growth in the usually lackluster Hal Jordan.   


The artwork by Billy Tan and Rob Hunter is as impressive as the writing.  Tan was born to pencil the Green Lantern series, having a real knack for depicting unusual aliens and amazing constructs.  Hunter offers just the right amount of defining shadow amidst the light that dominates the artwork. 

I'm uncertain what the future holds for Green Lantern but that may not be an enitrely bad thing.  The book may be heading into a depressing downward spiral but it is, I must admit, an engaging read in spite of that.  For now, I shall hope that Relic is mistaken or lying and remember that old saying, "It is always darkest before the dawn."

Green Lantern #23 - A Review

The previous issues of Green Lantern have set up a number of problems for newly appointed GL Corps leader Hal Jordan to deal with, including a new batch of rookie Lanterns that seemed ill-equipped for service, a new recruit who died before anybody found out who he was and where he was from, a mysterious energy fluctuation that causes their power rings to deactivate at random and an escaped prisoner.  Being a man of action and simple tastes, Hal wants to deal with the prisoner first since that seems to be a problem he can solve.  As usual, things are more complicated than Hal knows and what seems to be an easy capture will prove to be anything but simple.



There are two ways Green Lantern has traditionally been written in the past.  One way is as a cosmic space opera, with gigantic enemies and the colossal power of the Green Lanterns emphasized.  The other way is to view it as a cop drama that just happens to focus upon a police force with superpowers whose beat is the entire universe.  Geoff Johns took the former view and it seems Robert Venditti is taking the later.  Venditti's script does a fine job of revealing the personalities of the various Lanterns casually through their conversations and there's a good balance between action, drama and humor.  One can almost hear Nathan Fillion's voice reading Hal Jordan's dialogue.



Green Lantern demands much of an artist but Billy Tan seems capable of meeting and exceeding those demands.  Tan easily depicts the exotic aliens and unusual ring constructs that the story requires.  Praise must also be paid to inker Rob Hunter, who does a fine job of highlighting Tan's original pencils and enhancing the mood of the story without obscuring the action in ink.

Green Lantern #22 - A Review

The first thing one is likely to notice about Green Lantern #22 is the stunning artwork of Billy Tan.  Green Lantern demands much of any artist and it is a rare artist who can manage to portray a variety of unusual ring projections as well as the exotic alien races that dominate The Corps.  Thankfully, Tan proves up to the task and this issue gives him ample opportunity to show his skill in drawing interesting outworlders and complex contraptions.   


Robert Venditti's first issue of Green Lantern last month showed us that he was not content to tread the same path as Geoff Johns and this issue showcases his inventiveness while simultaneously making use of the diverse cast and mythology that Johns created during his long run on this series.  For instance, the Blue Lantern Saint Walker shows up and is given the first vestige of a personality beyond the easy-going space hippie we've seen for so long.  Venditti also introduces an interesting new villain in the mold of the original Star Sapphire with the alien warrior queen Prixiam Nol-Anj.   


If you haven't been reading Green Lantern before, this is a good time to start.  The artwork by Billy Tan and inkers Rob Hunter and Jon Sibal is truly breathtaking.  Writer Robert Venditti presents some great action sequences and utilizes the rich mythology of the series while still making things accessible to new readers.  I had been on the fence about continuing with this title in the wake of Johns' departure but now... well, what else can I say but "Once a Green Lantern, always a Green Lantern"?

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. 

Green Lantern #20 - A Review

With Green Lantern #20 Geoff Johns has done for the Green Lantern mythos what Alan Moore did to Superman with Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?  Told in a distant future through the frame story of a newly appointed Green Lantern wanting to hear the story of the final battle of  The Dark Ages, this story - titled simply The End - marks the end not only of Johns' nine-year run on the main Green Lantern book but also the end of many of the innovations he brought about during that time.

Backed by a team of several fine inkers, Doug Mahnke pencils most of this issue with his usual flare.  A large number of guest artists take up the art duties on the book's penultimate pages, which depict the final fates of most of the major players of the Green Lantern universe.  Everything is beautiful and I have nothing further to add regarding the artwork.  What more can I say? 

If the quartet of Green Lantern-related comics currently published by DC Comics were to cease publication forever after today, this would - for the most part - be a great way for the saga to end.  For the most part?  Yes, I do have a few complaints and here comes the part where I warn away any who do not wish any spoilers of this issue's story.  So SPOILERS AHEAD!  You have been warned.


I have no complaints about the better part of the issue.  Johns writes a space epic like nobody else and the brunt of this issue is devoted towards one heck of a cosmic battle.  Damn near everyone in the series' history gets involved in the final fight with The First Lantern.  There's even a few-fan favorite characters who show up that I don't think ever appeared during Johns' tenure, like G'Nort.  My issues come with what comes before and what comes after the action of the issue.


The beginning of the issue gives us a quick recounting of Hal's back-story, depicting his fall into madness, death and subsequent rebirth.  Johns glosses over the details between Emerald Twilight and Rebirth, leading me to wonder if - in The New 52 reality - these events happened in a slightly different manner.  Both Grey Scherl and Russ Burlington discussed this problem and how it relates to Kyle Rayner's new background in greater detail on their respective sites, but the ultimate problem is the same.  It feels a tad disingenuous to advise newer readers to pick-up Green Lantern: Rebirth  in the back of this issue (along with the dozens of other books making up the Geoff Johns oeuvre) to see how it all began when it didn't really happen that way.



My other problem with this story, ironically, deals with how certain things were spelled out and resolved.  While some of the endings we see seem quite fitting (Guy Gardner's in particular is a hoot), there are some that appear to have been forced in order to give certain characters a happy ending even if it is one that doesn't seem to suit them.  John Stewart's marriage to Fatality in particular seems incredibly forced, though I'm not sure if the blame for that lies with Johns or Green Lantern Corps writer Peter Tomasi.

Still, the future is hardly written in stone.  Nor, it seems, is the past.  So while the Kyle Rayner fan in me is annoyed that Kyle apparently dies alone, content with having become DC's equivalent of Adam Warlock, I take comfort in the fact that what we see is not necessarily what will happen.  And with the multiverse being what it is, odds are that my own idea of Kyle Rayner finding a way to bring back Alex DeWitt and retiring to teach elementary school art classes on Earth probably happens somewhere.

Well done, Geoff Johns.  Well done, indeed.

Earth 2 #12 - A Review

Perhaps I'm biased, but at this point I think Earth 2 may be the strongest title to come out of DC Comics New 52 wave.  Amid a number of series that promised us a whole new world, Earth 2 delivered both literally and figuratively.  The series has progressed at a leisurely pace but I think that has been to its' benefit.  James Robinson took an equally lengthy time in establishing the cast of Starman nearly two decades ago and few will deny that series was well worth the wait.


Consider this issue, which is dominated by one long action scene.  This is uncharacteristic for Robinson's stories in general but it proves a potent payoff after several months of setting up the new Doctor Fate and adding further development to this world's versions of The Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.  Robinson's characters are real people who just happen to have unusual powers - a surprisingly rare thing in most American superhero comics, where the focus on introducing a character sometimes falls on powers and abilities instead of personalities.  Here, our heroes are still finding their footing and learning their limits and Robinson does a masterful job of revealing our hero's souls as they experiment with their new found gifts.  He also unites several of the series' subplots - such as the revelation that the disaster which turned Alan Scott into the Green Lantern was meant to kill his boyfriend and not him.


Nicola Scott is a wonder of an artist.  Most of the artwork in this issue is made up of two-page spreads which, for once, merit the larger canvas.  Despite this, Scott's fine eye for detail still shines through even in the smaller panels.  These details are expertly emphasized by inker Trevor Scott.

Earth 2 is one of DC Comics best written and best drawn comic books.  This issue is not a good one to jump on with, but I highly advise new readers jump on with the next issue.  Better yet, pick up the first story collection or grab the earlier issues on-line.  This series is a must read for all fans of superhero stories in specific and comics in general.