Green Lantern Corps Annual #1 - A Review

Green Lantern Corps Annual #1 is an oddity.  Labeled as the conclusion to the Rise of the Third Army event, it brings several storylines to a conclusion while simultaneously failing to resolve anything.  Indeed, it seems that this three-month long crossover between all the Lantern Corps books ultimately served no purpose but setting up the next big crossover, Wrath Of The First Lantern.


Despite this seemingly pointlessness, there is much to recommend this issue.  Peter Tomasi's scripting is as strong as ever and with this issue Guy Gardner has become my favorite Green Lantern.  Forget that "one punch" nonsense with Batman.  That was a different universe and besides that Guy is dead.

This Guy Gardner storms the battlements of Oa with no ring, no weapons, no plan and no chance of victory.  There's one other thing Guy hasn't got - anything left to lose.  And a man without hope is... well, Matt Murdock may be The Man Without Fear but after this issue I'd put money down on Guy if they wrestled for the title.

And this is but one fine moment of many.  Another occurs as John Stewart and The Star Sapphire Formerly Known As Fatality restore the planet Mogo.  And SPOILER ALERT, kids.  It turns out Mogo is a her!


The artwork by guest artist ChrisCross is a fine substitute for Green Lantern Corps' usual penciler, Fernando Pasarin.  Regular inker Scott Hanna is on-hand as is inker Wil Quintana.  Together, they create some amazing visuals, though there are some minor hick-ups such as Fatality's unfortunately exaggerated figure in the panel above or Fatality's skin-tone being far lighter than usual.  Thankfully, it's not enough to sink the book and long-time Green Lantern fans should be pleased with this issue.

Green Lantern #16 - A Review

With Green Lantern #16, the Rise of the Third Army storyline is finally starting to move somewhere.  Despite the larger plot dominating the story, Geoff Johns still manages to infuse this issue with the wonder that lies at the heart of the Green Lantern concept.  He also adds several of the the quiet character moments that are his trademark.


Case in point: B'dg - an alien who looks something like a cartoon squirrel, has the ability to communicate with squirrels if not other wildlife.  It's a small point and it's been raised before in other Green Lantern stories but I just love the idea that there are Green Lanterns that have superpowers apart from those they gain from their rings.  I also love how they might not even consider what they can do a superpower because everyone on their planet can do what they can do.. 

A similar scene later centers around newbie Green Lantern Simon Baz attempting to use his ring to heal his best friend, who is in a coma.  A Green Lantern ring is supposed to do whatever the wielder wills - why not heal the incurable?  Johns has been pushing this idea since the New 52 revamp but never quite so effectively as he does here.


The artwork by Doug Mahnke and a team of five inkers is as wonderful as the script.  I've praised this book before as having one of the finest art teams in the comic world and I stand by that statement now.  Colorists Tony Avina and Alex Sinclair also deserve praise for giving this book an amazing visual glow.

If you haven't been reading Green Lantern, this is actually a good issue to jump on with.  Much of the on-going storyline is explained here and while there may be some points of confusion it's not enough to derail the main action of the story.  Highly recommended. 

Green Lantern #15 - A Review

The biggest problem I've had with the Rise Of The Third Army crossover has been how the titular Third Army seemed like afterthought at times.  We've caught glimpses of the Third Army in action.  We've seen The Guardians discussing how quickly the Third Army has advanced.  But apart from one scene in Green Lantern Corps, where Guy Gardner was among a group of Lanterns being decimated by the Third Army, there's been little sense of urgency regarding the threat.  The Third Army became one subplot among many, confined to a few pages summary while the writers got on with whatever stories they were writing before the crossover started.  


 Even Geoff Johns has been guilty of this but I can hardly fault him for it.  Johns has always been at his best writing stories about people who have superpowers rather than ordinary high-action superhero stories.  Johns' ability to write and create interesting characters has always been his greatest strength and his best works have always been those that told smaller stories about relationships rather than the grand, epic space operas we usually associate with Green Lantern.  Given that, I haven't really minded that the past few issues focused more on car-thief turned Green Lantern Simon Baz and his coping with his new powers as well as his sudden status as a suspected terrorist.  Strictly speaking, Simon's story is far more interesting than watching more groups of random aliens being converted by The Third Army.

Thankfully, Johns brings the crossover down to Earth in this issue - literally and figuratively.  The various plot threads Johns has been spinning for the past few months have finally start to come together as another Green Lantern shows up to see what's going on in Sector 2814.  We also start to get some answers about just what happened to the recently disappeared Sinestro and Hal Jordan.


All of this is ably illustrated by Doug Mahnke and a team of inkers.  Mahnke's utilizes perspective to interesting effect on several panels, creating an effect I can only refer to as "reverse-Kirbyism".  Mahnke takes the style pioneered by Jack Kirby where items in the foreground seem to reach out toward the reader and flips it, putting fixed objects in the foreground and focusing the art on background objects as they move away from the reader.  It's a striking effect, adding increased visual interest to certain scenes - the dynamics being different when we see a shot man falling away from us rather than falling towards us.

Green Lantern continues to be a solid read, with excellent scripting, wonderful artwork and a unique, interesting new hero in the character of Simon Baz.  The series greatest flaw, as it has been for several years now, is accessibility.  Johns has revitalized and expanded on the Green Lantern mythology but new readers who just came onto this title with Simon Baz's first appearance will miss out on a lot of the background.  Good as this is, I'd recommend tracking down a copy of Green Lantern: Rebirth and starting from there rather than trying to jump into the current series.

Green Lantern Corps #14 - A Review

It is an oddity that so far, Green Lantern Corps is the only book in the GL family of titles that seems to have had much of anything to do with the Rise of the Third Army storyline this month.  Then again, it isn't that surprising given that Peter Tomasi has been spinning plates with this title for several years and throwing one more on-going plot into the mix can hardly complicate things further.  Indeed, Tomasi does a fine job of giving all of his large supporting cast of characters a bit of character development. 


Perhaps the most startling development in this book is the implication that Ganthet - brainwashed by his fellow Guardians over a years ago into becoming as emotionless and cold-hearted as them - may not be quite so gone as his brothers and sisters would believe.  His actions in this issue prevent the execution of Guy Gardner and place Guy on Earth, out of The Guardian's sight. 

Why is that important?  Because unless things have changed drastically in the New 52 universe, Guy Gardner is still the same man who - with no powers or resources - managed to trick his way onto Oa and stole Sinestro's yellow ring.  I think Ganthet is either counting on Guy finding his own way back into the fight or is trying to keep him alive for his own ends.  Either way, Tomasi plays this hint subtly and the effect is marvelous. 

There are other equally amazing moments, of course.  Guy's trial as he is drummed out of The Corps is a great moment of drama.  There's the moment where John Stewart runs into an old enemy, in the midst of tracking where the pieces of the living planet Mogo are traveling.  And then there's the moment where Kilowog and Salaak - the drill sargent and seneschal of The Corps - discover that The Guardians are hiding away the rings of the Lanterns who have fallen in battle and are not recruiting replacements!


For my money, Green Lantern Corps has the finest regular art team of any book on the shelves today.  Fernando Pasarin's pencils are as amazing as ever and he meets my two main criteria for a Green Lantern artist - he draws amazingly detailed constructs and unforgettable alien figures.  Scott Hanna offers a light touch as an inker, knowing when to let the light dominate a scene and when to let the shadows take over.  Beautiful all around.
  

Green Lantern #14 - A Review

The biggest problem with Green Lantern #14 is one of focus.  As the author of the flagship title of the Green Lantern line of books and DC Comics' head honcho when it comes to creative output, Geoff Johns has a lot of material to cover in this issue regarding his Rise Of The Third Army crossover.  Sadly, the cosmic side of the story is not as interesting or involved as the more mundane events set on Earth.




What really confounds me about this issue is that for all the information we are given, we learn so very little.  We learn something of the past of the being now known as The First Lantern, whom The Guardians are using to empower their "Third Army" but we still know nothing about the character!  We see Black Hand interacting with a group of Guardians locked away to guard The First Lantern but learn little about what role they have to play in things.  Even the fate of Hal Jordan and Sinestro - the main characters of the book two months ago - is only briefly teased.


Thankfully, the bulk of the book deals with its' best storyline and proves that Johns is at his best when he's letting his characters speak as real people.  The scenes in which The Justice League confront newly appointed Green Lantern and accused terrorist Simon Baz are Johns at his best, as he fights the cliche of  the superhero slugfest that inevitably occurs when at least two heroes meet for the first time and one is convinced the other is a villain.  Baz refuses to fight, pointing out he'd be nuts to try and immediately accepting the Justice League's efforts to test his sincerity using Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.  Given how frequently this is overlooked as a problem-solving tool in Justice League stories, it's gratifying to see it used properly here just as it is nice to see a newbie hero trying to be logical and reasonable... for all the good it does him in the end.

At least Doug Mankhe's artwork is as strong as ever, though it does appear a bit odd at times.  I blame the fact that this book was worked upon by four separate inkers whose styles are not entirely compatible.  Still, whatever oddities there are in the artwork are not serious flaws and this book looks good more often than not.  Would that the plot was as consistent in terms of quality.  Still, nothing to be done until The Third Army falls.

Green Lantern #13 - A Review

Despite the cover noting that this is the first part of the Rise Of The Third Army crossover event, Green Lantern #13 barely touches upon The Third Army and their slow spread across the Earth.  Most of this issue is focused upon Simon Baz - a troubled young man who turned to thievery to support his family and had the misfortune to steal a car with a bomb in it that the police were watching.  Baz is now a suspected terrorist and - thanks to his sudden rescue by a Green Lantern ring - a noteworthy enough of a threat to be brought to the attention of The President.

Incidentally, the President in the New 52 DC Universe is apparently Barack Obama, though he isn't mentioned by name.  Just a little note there for you trivia fans who keep track of this sort of thing.


Writer Geoff Johns seems less interested in the big event than he is exploring this new character and the reality of Green Lanterns in the New 52 universe.  Surprisingly, this info-dump between The President and Amanda Waller early in the issue proves to be effective expositon.  One of the biggest problems with the New 52 so far is that many writers haven't taken the time to truly explore the new universe and explain things that could be taken as holy writ before.  In this case, we learn several factoids like the US Government is aware of Hal Jordan's secret identity but they have no idea who Kyle Rayner is.

Despite the opening scenes explaining a lot, the strongest parts of the issue are the scenes where Simon learns how to use his new powers and tries to find a direction for himself.  We learn a lot more about Simon's family life in this issue and confirm what was suggested in Green Lantern #0 - he's a basically good man who made some bad choices.  To his credit, Baz seems determined to fix those mistakes or, at the very least, shield his family from the consequences of his actions.


Doug Mahnke's continues to be one of the best artists in the business.  We don't get to see much of the prowess he's displayed in the past this time around, as there's very little action in this issue and Baz has yet to start forming constructs.  Still, Mahnke provides each scene with a subtle dynamic flow and the few action scenes we have move along nicely.  And despite apparently having five inkers work on this issue, the shading proves consistent throughout.

If you haven't started reading Green Lantern yet, this would be a fine issue to start with.  The character concept and reality explain themselves pretty well and the art looks amazing, even though there's not much action in this issue. 

Green Lantern: New Guardians #0 - A Review

The biggest problem Green Lantern: New Guardians #0 faces is that the story it tries to tell is nowhere near as interesting as stories it implies.  Unlike every other Zero Month issue thus far, this one does not give us an origin story.  Indeed, the events of the last year of this comic are largely ignored and most of this issue is based on events occurring in the main Green Lantern title.     


Tony Bedard is a competent comic writer but there is little interest in yet another story where the Black Lanterns have to be fought.  Better to have devoted an issue to Kyle's life as a Green Lantern and some explanation as to how Emerald Twilight and the collapse of the Green Lantern Corps occurred -assuming they still did - and how Kyle became known as The Torchbearer.  This is doubly true given some of the clues we receive during this issue that indicate either some major changes in the Green Lantern mythology or some whopping big continuity errors.

To name a few...Why does Kyle call Hal a Colonel when his rank has always been listed before as Captain?  How does Carol know Kyle Rayner's secret identity?  For that matter, why does Hal still have a locker at Ferris Air when - as the new series opened - Hal was fresh off being drummed out of the Air Force?  And why did Hal have an engagement ring hidden in his locker when he seemed utterly shocked that Carol expected him to propose as the new Green Lantern series started?  Why is Carol just now developing a sense of modesty regarding her costume or just now getting the ability to alter her costume so her boobs aren't falling out?  And why the heck was Ganthet trying to find someone capable of channeling all the Lantern energies at once in the first place?    


The artwork this time around is all over the place.  With the pencils handled by two different artists and two different inkers, there's very little consistency to the visual aesthetics of this issue.  The principal penciler, Aaron Kuder, appears to be aping David Finch's style.  By contrast, Andrei Bressan appears to be a disciple of Frank Quietly though with none of that artist's eye for storytelling.  There are a lot of awkward poses throughout the issue and everything looks odd and off-kilter as a result.    

All in all, New Guardians continues to be the most disappointing of the Green Lantern family of books.  Apart from Kyle's newfound ability to channel multiple ring energies, Bedard isn't continuing any of his storylines from the past year of this title.  The artwork here seems phoney and lifeless.  Still, if you really feel the need to be reading all the Green Lantern books heading into Rise of The Third Army, this issue would serve as an adequate jumping-on point for those who haven't been reading it.

Green Lantern Annual #1 - A Review

In order to be effective, the first issue of a multi-book crossover event must accomplish three tasks. First, it must establish the status quo of the world for new readers. It must then develop the threat tying the various titles together. Finally, the book has to tell an engaging story while delivering the exposition required in accomplishing the first two tasks. Green Lantern Annual #1 manages most of this.


From the first page, the reader is drawn into the rich history of the Green Lantern Corps. We are told of how The Corps represents the second attempt by The Guardians of the Universe to develop an army to preserve order and how in the wake of recent events, The Guardians have decided that a Third Army is needed to eradicate what they now see as the source of chaos in the universe - Free Will. Most of the issue details their efforts to secure a power source to create said army and in the final pages we see their efforts come to fruition, as they create a mindless, emotionless being whose very touch turns others into beings just like it!



Geoff Johns has been setting the stage for this battle for a long time and is an old-hat when it comes to writing epic storylines that build off the rich history of the DC Universe. His script succinctly explains the Green Lantern history until this point and establishes the threat posed by The Third Army quite well. However, the script falls short when it comes to developing a strong emotional investment in the reader.

The other main subplot of this book, spinning out of Johns' own Green Lantern title, continues Hal Jordan and Sinestro's battle with the necromancer Black Hand. While those who have been reading the main Green Lantern book will know of this conflict, new readers may be confused by this portion of the issue and fail to see how it ties in to the larger conflict.

Long time Green Lantern artist Ethan Van Sciver does his usual skillful job. Van Sciver has been at this just as long as Johns and his familiarity with the characters is obvious. Colorist Hi-Fi also deserves special praise, for adding the perfect palette to bring out the light and dark of Van Sciver's inks.

Overall, this isn't a bad start to the Rise Of The Third Army storyline but it's a bad time for new readers to jump into these titles. Start with the Green Lantern: Sinestro HC and work your way to the present.