Wrestling With Consequences, Setting Up The Next Chapter: Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War!

The Good: Good character development, Decent artwork, Engaging story development
The Bad: Incomplete story, Somewhat predictable
The Basics: Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War turns the focus on John Stewart and Guy Gardner as they are manipulated as part of the Guardians’ machinations to bring about the rise of the Third Army!


As I finally have a little more time to read, I have been catching up on the various graphic novel series’ that I enjoy. While I have generally enjoyed Green Lantern, the companion book, Green Lantern Corps tends to be undervalued and underrated. Perhaps it is because the protagonists in Green Lantern Corps are John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and the non-human members of the Green Lantern Corps that the title is treated as the ugly stepsister of the DC Universe. The truth is, I like the nonhuman Green Lanterns because they afford the writers decent opportunities to explore alien planets and create different dynamics that involve tensions that can be written about easily because they are not taboo (it’s easy to make religious and political allegories when the characters are from different worlds and their issues are at least given the appearance of being something other than what educated readers will recognize them as). As for Guy Gardner, he was an obnoxious Green Lantern created during a phase when Lobo was popular and John Stewart always bore the burden of being one of the replacements for Hal Jordan; the initial premises of the characters turned off more readers than the characters they have developed into.

Still, with time enough to read on my breaks, I happily picked up Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War, which is Volume 2 of DC’s “New 52” line for their (somewhat awkward) continuation of Green Lantern Corps. I write “somewhat awkward” because the Green Lantern section of the DC Universe includes the most references to pre-New 52 reboot DC Universe. So, as the Green Lantern Corps’s story has continued despite the rest of the universe getting revamped (including, oddly enough, new meetings between Batman and Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern for the first time), it has actually become one of the stories I enjoy more if for no other reason than I was enjoying the direction of the Green Lantern Corps going into Blackest Night and Brightest Day. Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War picks up where Green Lantern Corps: Fearsome (reviewed here!) left off and it acts, in part, as a prologue to and continuation of Rise Of The Third Army (reviewed here!). As the Green Lantern Saga is heavily serialized, without reading Fearsome or knowing anything about the plotline involving the Third Army, Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War loses some of its punch. The magnitude of some of the events in Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War are diminished.

In the wake of John Stewart killing Green Lantern Kirrt Kallak while both were being tortured for information by a hostile alien force in order to save the Green Lantern Corps and possibly the entire universe, Stewart and Gardner are part of a team to bury the Yellow Lantern power battery on OA. Gardner, pissed about the tactical ramifications of burying the power source that feeds off fear on OA knocks the massive battery on its side and when he is called in front of the Guardians, he assumes it is to be reprimanded. Instead, he is given a promotion to the new, unique, rank of Green Lantern Sentinel and retasked to act directly in concert with the Guardians themselves. At the same time, the Alpha Lanterns receive a transmission of Stewart actually killing Kirrt Kallak (without the events that preceded or followed it) and they arrest Stewart.

John Stewart’s arrest sparks a loud, angry debate in the Corps and divides the Green Lanterns between those who believe Stewart should die for his crime and those who believe that the Alpha Lanterns have vastly overstepped their jurisdiction. Guy Gardner, not content to sit on the sidelines when the Guardians tell him to lay off the Alpha Lanterns, mounts a force of Green Lanterns to stage a jailbreak for Stewart. The resulting conflict between the Green Lanterns and the Alpha Lanterns leads Alpha Lantern Varix to make a sacrifice that sees the end of the elite group of Internal Affairs Lanterns. After an interlude with Guy Gardner’s backstory, the Guardians continue their plan to replace the Green Lantern Corps with the Third Army by dispatching John Stewart to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of Mogo (who might be reforming) and sending Guy Gardner on a task which will divide his loyalties and attention.

Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War develops the characters of Guy Gardner and John Stewart well and Peter J. Tomasi deserves quite a lot of credit for that. Tomasi takes what could be a very plot-based story and makes it feel very character-driven. Gardner, Stewart, the Green Lantern Corps and Gardner’s adversary Xar are each working as pawns of the Guardians. But instead of a conspiracy theory story, the machinations of the Guardians are executed in the background of the book. That makes the motivations of the Alpha Lanterns, Guy Gardner and John Stewart stand up independent of the conspiracy the Guardians are executing. The Alpha Lanterns have jurisdiction over judging Stewart’s crime, but they lack a clear mandate/set of guidelines. The conflict is organic in Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War and there is a decent added complication with John Stewart’s unwillingness to fight his fellow Lanterns or the will of the Guardians.

Moreover, the artwork in Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War is exceptionally good. All of the characters are recognizable and the vividness of the coloring in the book is wonderful. Bright coloring is pretty much essential for a Green Lantern book and Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War possesses that. The characters are so well-defined and clear that when Fatality makes an appearance late in the volume, she is instantly recognizable despite having been absent from the Green Lantern narrative for quite some time.

Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War does well what so many graphic novels fail to do; it continues the story that precedes it and foreshadows the elements of the next chapter while still telling a complete story of its own. While the flashback story of Guy Gardner’s origins as a Green Lantern might be redundant to some, it was actually the first story I read that had it. That divergence sets up the significance of Xar’s return and use by the Guardians and it helps illustrate the magnitude of Gardner’s actions in the final chapter of the book.

In the end, Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War is a good volume that does much of what one hopes for in a graphic novel and it is enough to convince readers that the Green Lantern Corps is still a vital part of the DC Universe!

For other Green Lantern Corps books, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Recharge
To Be A Lantern
The Sinestro Corps War Volume 1
Tales Of The Sinestro Corps
The Sinestro Corps War Volume 2
Ring Quest
Sins Of The Star Sapphire
Emerald Eclipse
Blackest Night: Tales Of The Corps
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Revolt Of The Alpha Lanterns

7.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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All-Out War In The DC Universe Comes With The Rise Of The Third Army!

The Good: Good artwork, Decent character development
The Bad: Rather straightforward plot, Bits out of order
The Basics: Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army pushes the Green Lantern Corps toward utter destruction when the Guardians commit to destroy all emotion in the universe.


The Green Lantern Saga is one of the stories that grew in the New 52 and it is also one of the collections of characters that did not get a significant retooling. The major characters in the Green Lantern Saga included Sinestro, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and the Guardians, like Ganthet. The first major crossover volume for the Green Lantern Saga in the New 52 – which has made monthly titles related to Green Lantern including Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, New Guardians, Red Lantern Corps, (and now Larfleeze) – was Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army. Following directly on the heels of The Revenge Of The Black Hand (reviewed here!), Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army puts the entire DC Universe outside of Earth in jeopardy.

It is entirely impossible to discuss Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army without including aspects that might be considered spoilers from The Revenge Of The Black Hand. Given that Hal Jordan and Sinestro had been in a deathly conflict with the Black Hand as the Guardians of the universe struggled to redefine themselves. From the outset of Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army, the Guardians are the enemies of the heroes of the DC Universe and, in fact, all life in the galaxy. As much as one might hope that the Guardians are presented as a subtle menace, Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army has them as a pretty overt enemy; they are rewriting all life in the galaxy to recreate the universe as filled with emotionless creatures who assimilate everything in the galaxy. In fact, the premise of Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army is somewhat confused; the Third Army is created by the Guardians (the first being the Manhunters, the second were the Green Lantern Corps) to police the galaxy, but they instead assimilate all sentient life, so who would they police?!

Following the apparent deaths of Sinestro and Hal Jordan, the ring they shared taps Simon Baz as the next Green Lantern of Earth. Baz is a street racer who is fleeing the police on suspected terrorism charges. Having stolen a car that actually contained a bomb in it, Baz is wanted by the police and is soon confronted by the Justice League Of America. Conversing with the Justice League goes well until the moment one of them touches his ring and it reacts to them. While Baz flees the Justice League, the Guardians assign John Stewart to help Mogo reassemble as their Third Army spreads through the galaxy.

With the Third Army assimilating life forms all throughout the galaxy, the Guardians promote Guy Gardner to the new rank of Lantern Sentinel. They then assign him to escort ambassadors on a wartorn planet to a peace negotiation. After freeing one of Gardner’s most powerful enemies, Gardner goes rogue to protect his family, at the cost of the peace-seeking ambassadors and his Green Lantern ring. Arrested as an ordinary person, Guy Gardner’s disgrace leaves him completely vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the Star Sapphire Carol Ferris is using Kyle Rayner to become the ultimate Lantern by having him master all of the emotional spectrum. Rayner confronts Atrocitus to access rage and Arkillo to use the power of fear. When Rayner, Ferris, and Arkillo meet with Larfleeze, the denizens of the Third Army descend upon the planet, slaughtering Sayd. When the leader of the Red Lanterns, Atrocitus, and his followers struggle with their depleted power battery, the new human Red Lantern, Rankorr, returns to Earth to become a full Red Lantern. There, he and Bleez encounter the Third Army and Atrocitus reprograms his own private army of Manhunters. While Stewart is besieged by the Third Army, Kyle fights to rescue Guy and the surviving Green Lanterns find themselves being recalled by the Guardians who are determined to wipe them out!

Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army establishes the new Green Lantern and writer Geoff Johns is smart enough to make him an interesting one. In the tradition of Green Lanterns, Simon Baz is different from all the prior ones. In fact, more than simply being an Arab-American, Simon Baz has a level of willpower that unlocks new facets of the Green Lantern ring once shared by Sinestro and Hal Jordan. Johns created a character who is instantly entangled with a terrorism charge, though his first arc is to prove that he was not a terrorist, just a car thief. Johns is sure to make Simon Baz a character who is sympathetic and not a stereotype. Still, it seems pretty obvious that when Simon Baz is not presented as a terrorist, that a white extremist is the terrorist in the plot Baz found himself involved in.

The return of Mogo makes Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army a book that relies heavily upon the stories that preceded the post-Flashpoint New-52 reboot. Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army continues to build toward the finale of Geoff Johns’s tenure as the writer of most of the Green Lantern Saga and he has great instincts for making the characters interesting and compelling. Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner are both given chances to grow and/or reflect upon their positions and they seem like organic growth out of where each of them has been. Like normal, John Stewart is under-represented in Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army and the actions of the reforming Mogo are much more predictable than surprising.

The Third Army itself is a somewhat nebulously-created enemy that seems like an organic version of The Borg. Because the book is compiled from several different monthly titles and they apparently did not coordinate well; in the early pages of the book, Atrocitus is seen overwhelmed by the denizens of the Third Army, an event that does not happen until the latter third of the book.

The artwork in Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army is universally good. All of the characters are recognizable and the coloring in the book is just as it should be; vibrant, crisp and colorful, which is exactly what one expects of Green Lantern books. Green Lantern: Rise Of The Third Army does not have universal themes; it is very much the culmination of a hugely long story arc that Geoff Johns and his teams have worked on for years. This is a plot-heavy anthology, but it is a good one and it pushes the action-adventure genre in an entertaining way.

For other Green Lantern stories in the New-52, please visit my reviews of:
Green Lantern, Volume 1: Sinestro
Green Lantern Corps, Volume 1: Fearsome
The New Guardians, Volume 1: The Ring Bearer
Red Lanterns, Volume 1: Blood And Rage

7/10

For other graphic novel reviews, please visit my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Rare Flop By Peter J. Tomasi: Green Lantern Corps: Fearless Is Uninspired New 52 Lore!

The Good: Decent artwork, Moments of character
The Bad: Banal story
The Basics: In a painfully formulaic Green Lantern story, Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless utilizes Guy Gardner and John Stewart in an unfortunately uninteresting way.


When it comes to graphic novels, I have found there are several authors whose works I am beginning to have a preference for. In terms of the Green Lantern Saga, I have generally enjoyed the works of Peter J. Tomasi, Tony Bedard, and Geoff Johns. Peter J. Tomasi has written quite a few decent volumes in the Green Lantern Saga, but with The New 52, Tomasi seems to not have as firm a direction as some of the other books. At least, that is the case with Green Lantern Corps: Fearless. Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless is the first of the New 52 Green Lantern Corps books and it follows up on War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath (reviewed here!). Unfortunately, following that seemingly climactic event in the DC Universe, the Green Lantern Corps has no clear direction.

In addition to issues with the rebooting of the DC Universe following Flashpoint - in the case of Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless the fact that Guy Gardener has no former knowledge of the Martian Manhunter, though the Green Lantern story arc largely survived the New 52 reboot – the story in Fearless is not gripping. It is also worth noting that Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless has a much more graphic sensibility than many other DC Comics. For those who can’t handle graphic, Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless is a bad choice; there are multiple graphic deaths, as well as a dismemberment that is illustrated more in effect than in actualization.

When the Green Lantern Sector House in 3599 is decimated, the dead Lanterns have their ring fingers severed and their rings captured. After realizing the jobs on Earth are nowhere near what they want any longer, Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart return to Oa. Learning of the attack on Sector 3599, they investigate the carnage. Disgusted by more dead Green Lanterns – all of whom are missing their ring fingers and rings – the Green Lantern Corps learns of a pattern of planets being attacked for their resources. They converge on Xabas where the Green Lanterns are attacked by a new group of villains who are immune to the constructs the Green Lanterns create.

John Stewart is captured by the aliens, known as the Keepers, and tortured. The Keepers want information on the Green Lantern Vibrational Matrix Signature for the Central Power Battery. While Stewart an the other captured Lanterns struggle to hold out from the torments, Guy Gardner hires the four roughest Green Lanterns to fight the Keepers. After robbing a ship stockpiled with weapons, Gardner and the other Lanterns engage the Keepers in a direct assault to save Stewart and the other captives.

John Stewart, being former military, is able to hold out against the Keepers’ tortures, though not all of the Green Lanterns who are captured can. That leads to John Stewart’s big character moment and the recurring DC Universe neck snap. Artist Fernando Pasarin renders the big moment with a beautiful full-page splash, though the moment lacks the full resonance of something like Wonder Woman killing Max Lord in The OMAC Project (reviewed here!).

Outside that big character moment, Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless is devoid of significant character moments. Peter J. Tomasi makes a passing effort with Isamot Kol, who is dismembered by the Keepers and wrestles with that while growing his limbs back. As well, Guy Gardner’s discovery that he cannot live on Earth as something as mundane as a coach or teacher plays well for the character.

While the story is a painfully straightforward military exercise, the artwork in Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1 - Fearless is good. The Keepers look badass, the known characters are recognizable as well. The colors are vivid and the book looks good.

But the main pretense of Fearsome - that beyond the Honor Guards and the normal Green Lanterns there are super badass military commando Green Lanterns – is pretty ridiculous and the stereotypical “old soldiers” that Tomasi creates for Fearsome are silly. The net result is a book that is easy to pass by, despite the new information it contains about the Green Lantern Universe.

For other New 52 books set in the Green Lantern corner of the universe, please check out my reviews of:
Sinestro
Revenge Of The Black Hand
New Guardians: The Ring Bearer
Red Lanterns: Blood And Rage

3/10

For other graphic novel reviews, please visit my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wrestling With The Consequences Of Calamity, War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath Is Worth Reading!

The Good: Character development, Sense of consequence, Continuity, Some impressive artwork
The Bad: Mixed artwork, Uncomplicated stories.
The Basics: In a book appropriately devoid of Hal Jordan, the remaining Green Lanterns from Earth struggle to rebuild the Corps in War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath.


I am a person who deeply enjoys works that do not simply have an action or an event, but wrestle with the profound consequences of huge actions in whatever universe the story is set. That is why, immediately, it is very easy for me to recommend War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath, despite the fact that it is very much a follow-up book that means a whole lot less on its own as a free-standing graphic novel. In fact, this is much more accurately categorized as what it is, a trade anthology. A collection of eight comic books, War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath is a series of vignettes that are almost entirely about the consequences of the prior volume, War Of The Green Lanterns.

It is worth noting that it is impossible to reasonably discuss War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath without mentioning some of the key climactic events of War Of The Green Lanterns (reviewed here!). While that book was not exactly what I thought it would be (at all!), War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath is exactly what the title promises and deals with the fallout of two of the big three actions at the climax of the War Of The Green Lanterns. This is the last point one might read without having spoilers to that event revealed, so consider yourself warned!

Truly a series of vignettes, War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath focuses mostly on the three remaining Green Lanterns from Earth and the consequences of their actions in resolving the war that pitted the Green Lanterns against the rest of the universe, thanks to the manipulations of the villainous Krona.

In the direct follow-up, the chapters that bear the book’s title, the Corps finds itself in disarray. Most Lanterns are subtly angry at John Stewart and are in morning for the death/destruction of Mogo. As the vast majority of Lanterns granted rings by Mogo during the chaotic surge where Mogo spat out reserve rings so Krona could control an even larger army turn their rings in and return to their worlds to deal with the consequences of the death they caused, Oa is visited by Saint Walker, who comes to offer Ganthet a position with the Blue Lanterns. At the same time, a small squad of Lanterns takes Soranik Natu to the Guardians’ star chamber . . . to give her the opportunity to kill Sinestro!

The first story is refreshing in that it actually deals with the nagging plots left unresolved by War Of The Green Lanterns. Ganthet, in his defiance of the rest of the Guardians, tries to stave off a Red Lantern attack by approaching Atrocitus with Krona’s body, desperate to make good on his word to the Lantern of rage. Between that, the putting to rest of Mogo and the lack of understanding for what John Stewart did, this first story in War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath is rife with emotional turmoil surrounding the characters who are essential to the ongoing Green Lantern Corps stories. While Guy Gardner is largely neglected in these stories, Kyle Rayner has an interesting role and I like that he remains outside the desire for revenge . . . even against Sinestro. The artwork in this section is erratic, with some of it being remarkably simplified. Actually, my main problem comes with the rendition of Sinestro. He appears in this section with the same red skintones as Atrocitus and he lacks any realistic depth or shading to the rendition of him. To be fair, I found I enjoyed the idea that the Guardians were at a loss to explain how the Green Lantern ring chose him and that sets up some future compelling character arcs well.

The second story in the book “Beware My Power” focuses on John Stewart and the new recruit Qurina. Qurina is one of the only new recruits who actually wants to retain her ring and her new position within the Corps. As a police officer from Calados, she sees being a Green Lanterns as a natural step in her career path and one she embraces. She associates herself with John Stewart because she sees herself as an outsider and has no problem with being associated with the Lantern whom everyone else currently despises. She and John Stewart go on a mission to stop a conflict between a conjoined pair of planets. The artwork, like the character arc, is consistent and good, if a shade simple. Qurina’s story is basically one that reasserts that John Stewart must have had a good reason for destroying Mogo and now there is someone else who thinks he must be a good, reasonable, rational guy.

“Love Is A Battlefield” works to resolve the romance between Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu. Lured into a trap by the Star Sapphire Miri, who has an emotional investment in their relationship, the two fight alongside one another in what Miri hopes will be a strengthening of the bond they share. Writer Tony Bedard smartly includes Tomar-Tu in the story and his function serves the larger purpose of exploring an actual motif. Tomar-Tu sees things far clearer than Rayner or Soranik Natu. Through his rationality, the story resolves itself reasonably and Bedard smartly implies that only those outside a passionate romantic relationship are actually likely to see reality for what it is, relative to those who are lovestruck in a relationship.

This chapter is followed by a series of vignettes that put Alpha Lantern Boodikka and an assortment of Green Lanterns with whom the reader has no emotional connection find their purpose in the Corps again. The artwork is exceptionally erratic in this section and includes a few painted panels, a few simplistically rendered ones and some that look like a high-quality comic strip. While this chapter is good for the sense of the Corps, it has no emotional connection, even for the loyal Green Lantern reader.

The book concludes with three Guy Gardner one-shot stories. Guy Gardner helps a noblewoman escape attacking ships, rounds up a posse of Green Lanterns to stop a beast who has attacked dozens of Lanterns (and is slowly digesting them), and teams up with Batman for a murder investigation aboard the International Space Station. While the dialogue in the third story is the snappiest and the artwork in the second is the best, I found I actually enjoyed the first story the most. The story “Rest And Relaxation” has good sexual tension between the noble and Guy Gardner and returns him to being something of a cad, without reverting him to being the ass he started his tenure in Green Lantern as. Moreover, I found I enjoyed the idea that, in the wake of the War Of The Green Lanterns, there would come privateers who looked to exploit the disorganization of the Corps to try to unlock the secrets of the power rings.

Ultimately, War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath is a decent exploration of how war tears apart a society and the individuals involved. Having read any number of giant DC Universe events that have almost no follow-up, it is refreshing to read War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath where the prior conflict results in some impact upon the organization that was affected by the war.

For other Green Lantern-related books from this era, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Secret Origin
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Wanted: Hal Jordan
Revenge Of The Green Lanterns
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
To Be A Lantern
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One
Tales Of The Sinestro Corps
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two
Ring Quest
Sins Of The Star Sapphire
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Emerald Eclipse
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Blackest Night: Tales Of The Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns
War Of The Green Lanterns
Sinestro (New 52)

6/10

For other book reviews, be sure to check out my Book Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Not The Story I Thought It Would Be, Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns Is Still Impressive!

The Good: Great continuity, Engaging story, Decent artwork, What character moments there are.
The Bad: A few light panels where the artwork is not great, Light on character.
The Basics: I finally get my hands on the anthology Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns and discover that it is a pretty badass story, though not the one I thought it would be.


Have you ever gotten into something only to discover that it is very much not what you expected it to be? Today, I am feeling that way about Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns. Why? I was working at the comic book shop when the ten books that ultimately comprised Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns were released. I was excited. I had just gotten through the Brightest Day Saga and this looked like an engaging story. It looked like the Green Lantern Corps was going to come apart at the seams and the solid police force of the DC Universe would essentially experience a civil war.

Alas, that is not what Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is actually about. The culmination of a very long story arc that arguably began with the return of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is much less a civil war among the Green Lanterns and the endgame of the villain Krona. Throughout Brightest Day, Krona was slowly abducting the Entities, the living embodiment of the emotional spectrum, like Parallax (for fear) and Ion (for willpower). In Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns, his plan comes to fruition and it leaves very few members of the Green Lantern Corps unscathed. In fact, it is not long before four men from Earth are all that stands between life and perpetual destruction in the DC Universe.

Hal Jordan, Atrocitus, Larfleeze, Indigo-1, and Saint Walker are joined by Carol Ferris and Sinestro to try to complete the mission to stop the renegade Krona (who would have been a Guardian, had he not embraced emotions and been banished by the Guardians) from acquiring the last of the Entities. Unfortunately, they arrive on Ryut to discover, too late, that he has already succeeded. Using the Book Of The Black, Krona captures the leading ringbearers – save Hal Jordan – and heads to Oa to get his long-awaited revenge. While Hal, armed with the power rings of the other lead ringbearers, flees to the Green House, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner arrive back in our universe and suddenly discover that all is not right. Krona’s arrival on Oa reveals his masterplan, which has him using Parallax to occupy the Green Lantern Power Battery and using the other entities to take over the Guardians. The result is that the Green Lantern Corps now is a zombie police force operating under the control of Parallax and Krona.

Because they were once possessed by Parallax, the four human Lanterns and Kilowog find themselves unaffected by the Parallax infection. When Kilowog sacrifices himself to save Guy, Guy and Hal regroup to try to save the galaxy. By joining with Kyle and John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan try to liberate their comrades, stop Krona and save the universe, with only the power rings of the other Corps’ to use!

Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is much less a war between the Green Lanterns and the latest villain that manages to turn the entire Corps to their purpose. Very plot-driven for most of the story, there is both a desperation and an entirely nonsensical quality to Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns. After all, with the leaders incapacitated, the quartet of Green Lanterns still has at least four Corps they could have tried to get aid from (there is only one Orange Lantern and the Blue Lanterns would need to stay away as their power amplifies the power of the Green Lanterns). But for my very first moment of analysis, I was bowled over with the fact that Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and John Stewart did not reach out to the Sinestro Corps, Red Lanterns, Star sapphires and Indigo Tribe. Sure, it’s cool to see Hal Jordan as a Yellow Lantern, Guy as a Red Lantern, Kyle as a Blue Lantern, and John Stewart as an Indigo Tribe member (actually, he is at his coolest when he channels the Black Lantern briefly!), but the fact that three of the best comic book writers in the business did not address the first idea that came to my mind in the text is disappointing.

That said, Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is still very engaging. Krona is an interesting villain and he actually fills in an intriguing bit of Green Lantern backstory. Krona is revealed to be the one who reprogrammed the Manhunters, the original policing force created by the Guardians before the Green Lantern Corps. That the infallible Guardians did not simply misprogram the Manhunters is very cool. It adds a layer of villainy to Krona that his actions actually caused the creation of the Green Lantern Corps. As an emotional villain, Krona is pretty intriguing and he is well-rendered throughout Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns.

Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns seems like it is tapping into the current zombie craze by transforming the Green Lantern Corps into a group of mindless automatons, though they are not quite zombified. The Guardians become real tools for Krona and they are wicked-looking after the Entities take them over. Krona’s plan, though, seems remarkably complicated for the desired results. Even so, the adventure the humans must go on to stop Krona is engaging.

On the character front, Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is not a sterling graphic novel. While John Stewart has an integral plot function, he is once again relegated to something of a second string hero even in this storyline. Perhaps one of the best moments of the book, though, is Ganthet’s reaction to seeing Stewart as a member of the Indigo Tribe. In a similar fashion, Kyle Rayner seems more along for the ride than vital in Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns. He seems uncharacteristically wishy-washy and his brief role is not enough to inspire anyone to have hope. While Hal makes occasional references to Carol being trapped in the Book Of The Black, Rayner seems uncharacteristically unattached to Soranik during the action of the book.

Hal Jordan is appropriately heroic in his role throughout Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns. He seems to have no difficulty whatsoever taking on Sinestro’s yellow ring. I realized where all my misconceptions about the book Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns came when I saw the cover (Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns has an extensive cover gallery which includes both the primary and variant covers of all the issues that made up the series) that featured the Sinestro Corps Hal Jordan standing before the rest of the Sinestro Corps. The Sinestro Corps, alas, does not make an appearance in this book. Jordan is smart, quick on his feet and has the right priorities to win the war, which is cool. It is only in the book’s final pages that Hal Jordan gets a real character moment, though.

In an unlikely turn, it is Guy Gardner who actually has the best character moments in Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns. Called upon to save the universe once again, Gardner risks his life as a Red Lantern and reveals himself as an unlikely hero. At his climax in the book, Gardner becomes a surprisingly realized character. My, how far he has come from the somewhat comic, always obnoxious character he began his life as!

Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns features decent artwork. There are many panels that feature crowds and they are all detailed exceptionally well. As is vital in this book, the coloring in Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns is exceptional, with vivid colors and a decent sense of depth and shading.

Ultimately, Green Lantern: War Of The Green Lanterns serves as a bookend to the Green Lantern Saga before the New-52 reboot. Given how unimpressed I have been with the creative direction of other titles in the New-52 line, I have to say: if War Of The Green Lanterns was to end the story of the Green Lanterns, I would be satisfied.

For other Green Lantern-related books from this era, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Secret Origin
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Wanted: Hal Jordan
Revenge Of The Green Lanterns
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
To Be A Lantern
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One
Tales Of The Sinestro Corps
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two
Ring Quest
Sins Of The Star Sapphire
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Emerald Eclipse
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Blackest Night: Tales Of The Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns

7/10

For other book reviews, please visit my Book Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the books I have reviewed!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Green Lantern Corps: Ring Quest Is A Lot Of Build-up Before Something Very Predictable.

The Good: Moments the characters actually move forward, Great reinvention of the villain Mongul.
The Bad: So much of the artwork! Plot turns quickly into a very droll combat story.
The Basics: Finally getting in Ring Quest, I discover a Green Lantern Corps story that should have been more than it ended up being.


I had a strange advantage going into Green Lantern Corps: Ring Quest. That “advantage” was that I had already ready the stories in the arc that followed, so I knew a little bit about the villain Mongul and his rise to power as an opponent of Sinestro as part of the fear-powered Sinestro Corps. Unfortunately for me, I had not known the origins of Mongul in the current Green Lantern storyline. That is exactly what Ring Quest is.

Unfortunately, it is nothing more. Ring Quest is something of a necessary evil. It is a bridge story between the Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night. Sadly, while it establishes Mongul as a powerful adversary for the Green Lantern Corps, the story that seems very much about wrapping up loose ends initially turns into an unfortunate battle story where the battle is truncated and is hardly interesting. The result is a lot of set-up for a story that fails to materialize or pop.

In the wake of the Sinestro Corps War, members of the Green Lantern Corps are slowly putting their lives back together. For Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, that means figuring out just where their place in the universe is. Guy decides that he wants to leave Earth, especially in the wake of Tora’s resurrection and cautious approach to having a relationship with Guy. So, Guy and Kyle leave Earth to establish a bar on Oa. While they meander about, Mongul – the giant, powerful killer who once waged war upon Earth – encounters a dying member of the Sinestro Corps. Learning about the existence of the Yellow Rings of power, Mongul decides to go in search of more than the one he obtained by killing the member he encountered.

Meanwhile, on Oa, several Green Lantern Honor Guards namely Kyle, Guy, Iolande, Soranik Natu, Vath Sarn, Stel, Sodam Yat, Arisia and Bzzd are recalled for a special mission. While the Green Lantern Corps struggles to restaff in the wake of the Sinestro Corps War, the Guardians realize that the Sinestro Corps rings are scouring the galaxy for replacements for their fallen. The Guardians retask the team of Honor Guards to recover whatever yellow rings they can before they find new hosts. That puts the Green Lanterns on a collision course with Mongul and his powerful Mercy plant that has the ability to telepathically manipulate organic life forms!

Ring Quest may be flawed but it is by no means all bad. The idea of Mother Mercy, the giant plant that spawns the parasitic plants Mongul uses to instill fear is actually a pretty cool idea. Mother Mercy comes into the story as a delightfully highbrow character who has her chance to explain a very different perspective than some of the Green Lanterns want to hear, especially in the wake of Arisia and Sodam Yat being attacked by Mercy’s spawn.

Much of the book is unfortunate build-up. The narrative wanders with decent character work at the outset. Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner try bonding as Rayner actually processes the horror of being possessed by Parallax. That is an interesting development, but it is unfortunately glossed over as Guy begins to dominate the story. As a result, the book shifts from a character-driven story with a protagonist who is wrestling with a lot of guilt to a very traditional super hero story wherein a bunch of people begin pounding on one another.

Indeed, all of the cerebral bits that Peter J. Tomasi writes involving Kyle or Mother Mercy are utterly gutted when Mongul takes on the Corps members. That portion of the story, sadly the climax, is predictable and boring.

Part of what futher diminishes the emotional resonance of the book – I’ve grown to care about many of the characters in the Green Lantern Corps through all of the books I have recently read about them! – is the artwork. Patrick Gleason and Carlos Magno unfortunately leave far too many details up to the reader’s imagination. Instead of having vivid images that are clear, many of the panels are disturbingly like thumbnail sketches. Especially in the battle sequences, the low quality of artwork is distracting to the story.

Ultimately, Ring Quest is a bridge story and I’ve found all of the relevant information from it could be found just fine in other books.

For other Green Lantern-related books, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Green Lantern: Rebirth
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two
Sins Of The Star Sapphire
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Emerald Eclipse
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns

5/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Least Of The Blackest Night Preludes, Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire Is Less Love, More Pointless Battles.

The Good: Moments of plot, Moments of artwork
The Bad: Mostly plot-centered, Light on character development, Some of the artwork is poorly rendered.
The Basics: In my quest to read and review all of the Blackest Night preludes, Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire arrives as a surprisingly substandard Green Lantern adventure.


Despite this being my Daredevil year, I find that I have been reading quite a bit in the Green Lantern franchise. Having fallen for the Blackest Night Saga (how to read it is here!), I have been going back to enthusiastically read all of the preludes to that storyline. The last one, at least from the notes on the cover, that I had to read was Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire. Having read the book, which I had been looking forward to, I was surprised by how unremarkable this particular story actually was.

The Star Sapphires have popped up in the Green Lantern universe as antagonists who utilize a crystal to force love upon their adversaries. In Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire, the Star Sapphires are presented as a new Corps, much like the Sinestro Corps was formed using the power of fear and the Red Lanterns were coming to power under Atrocitus. These warriors, utilizing the violet power of love, are responsible for preventing the extinguishing of love in the universe. Unfortunately, the book is barely about that.

In the wake of the Sinestro Corps War, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner open a restaurant on Oa. While the Green Lantern coroner deals with the fallen Lanterns, he is visited by Green Lantern Saarek, who speaks with the dead. Saarek sets out on a mission, secretly assigned to him by the scarred Guardian. Before he goes off, the family members of several Green Lantern recruits are brutally killed and their eyeballs are sent to Oa. Saarek aids the Green Lantern Corps in providing them with the last image the dead family member's saw, which reveals a horrible new Sinestro Corps member.

While Saarek is out searching for pieces of the Anti-Monitor, the Green Lantern Corps discovers the Sinestro Corps villain is actually a quintet of adversaries. While the Green Lanterns track them down, Kyle Rayner falls under the influence of the Sinestro Corps member Kryb, who is kidnapping babies. As Rayner struggles with the Sinestro Corps villain, the Guardians visit Zamaron, the homeworld of the Star Sapphires to try to make peace with the emerging Corps as the impending War Of Light seems to be upon them.

The problem with Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire starts with the title. The Star Sapphire plotline is mostly a subplot and it is not even the most engaging one in the book. Instead, most of the book is preoccupied with the Quartet and the rookies in the Green Lantern Corps whose family members are being hunted. That is a truly chilling concept and for a fearless organization, it provides a decent test.

Moreover, the Guardians are given a surprisingly substantial part in Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire. The concern they exhibit over the rise of the Sinestro Corps and the conflict they believe is coming with the Star Sapphires leads them to overreact. However, the change they make to the Book Of Oa is not actually explored in this book. Instead, the effect of the book is exhibited in subsequent books.

None of the characters in Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire have a real chance to develop. In fact, Saarek is given a surprisingly substantive part in the book. The rest of the Corps is not explored all that much. Kyle Rayner, for example, falls under the influence of Kryb, but just shrugs off the effects with no real consequences. Similarly, Guy Gardner is not given much of a part. He encounters Ice, but their encounter is more melodramatic than seriously character-building.

As for the artwork, Patrick Gleason and Luke Ross do a decent job for the most part. In chapter one, "Love On The Air," the artwork is a little more animated and less detailed than the rest of the book. The coloring, however, remains rich throughout and there is a decent sense of movement through more of the book. Even so, the character design for Kryb is a little less clear at the outset than with most of the characters in the Green Lantern Corps books.

Ultimately, this feels like filler and Green Lantern Corps: Sins Of The Star Sapphire has the feeling like "Prelude To Blackest Night" banner on the front is just exploiting fans. The story is hardly essential and having read the effects of the book, most of the experiences in this book are adequately explained in the following books. The story here is hardly vital or even interesting, making it easy to pass by.

For other Green Lantern-related books, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Emerald Eclipse
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns

3/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Awkward Middle Of Adventure, Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse Is A Chaotic Placesaver.

The Good: Interesting idea, Mostly decent artwork, Moments of character (notably with Sodam Yat).
The Bad: Failure to deal with character ramifications of previous "chapter," Light on plot, Light on character
The Basics: Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse is a simple jailbreak story infused with a character-driven rescue mission that is not bad, but is nothing superlative.


It has been a very Green Lantern Day for me today! Earlier, I reviewed one of the major Green Lantern lead-ups to Blackest Night that had heretofore evaded my attention. Tonight, as my wife works on photo manipulations, I find myself curling up with another graphic novel, Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse. Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of the book is that I feel like I might have read it before and just not reviewed it. I suspect some of the chapters in this appeared in other Green Lantern graphic novels. Regardless, I was pleased that I finished The Sinestro Corps War before reading Emerald Eclipse and regardless of any of my other feelings, I would recommend readers read that Saga before picking up this volume.

In truth, Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse is not quite worth picking up. It might be worth reading once, but it is a supplemental bridge book between other, better, stories. And while there is nothing truly inherently bad in the graphic novel, there is also nothing that lights up the sky with insight or interest, especially for those who are not already invested in the Green Lantern Saga. As one who was very much into the massive crossover, the Blackest Night Saga, I quickly realized that the elements of Emerald Eclipse I was enjoying most were the ones that reminded me of story aspects recalled from that plotline. In other words, this book is burdened by being a "middle act" between the Sinestro Corps War and the Blackest Night and it makes poor use of that.

Following the Sinestro Corps War and the attempt to take Sinestro back to Korugar for a public execution, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are on Oa working on rebuilding the planet while new Green Lantern recruits are trained. As Hal Jordan is off discovering the power of the Red Lanterns, Blue Lanterns and the existence of the Orange Lantern, the Green Lantern Corps is attempting to rebuild. For Rayner, it means addressing his feelings for Soranik, despite a new Guardian ban on love. But the peaceful interlude is soon undone by three threats.

On Oa, the scarred Guardian begins to bring about the Blackest Night by freeing the newly captured Red Lantern and the Sinestro Corps members from the Sciencecells. This riot causes another huge battle on Oa which threatens to weaken the Green Lantern Corps, especially considering that there are two Lanterns out finding pieces of the Anti-Monitor for that same Guardian. On Korugar, Soranik comes face to face with her true father and is given much to consider about the forthcoming War. But the biggest toll comes to Sodam Yat. With his xenophobic planet Daxam invaded by Mongul and the remaining members of the Sinestro Corps, Sodam Yat must make the difficult choice to protect the homeworld he fled or allow them to die. That choice is comparatively easy for him, but how to save his hate-filled people becomes an awkward mission for him and Arisia, one that leads him to a decision few would expect!

Sodam Yat's story is where the most character-driven conflict comes from and reading the reunion between him and his mother is actually powerful stuff. Sodam Yat's backstory is detailed in earlier volumes - as he is fighting Superboy Prime - where he came from Daxam and his alien friend was killed and stuffed and he was brainwashed to be xenophobic like the rest of the Daxamites. His confrontation with his mother is emotionally painful to read and is one of the few reasons to pick up Emerald Eclipse. The force of will and anger Sodom Yat has is palpable and reads as very real. For the first time, I cared about Sodam Yat and what might happen to him. And his arc in Emerald Eclipse is intriguing enough to be worth the read.

Unfortunately, Kyle Rayner's part in the book is simplified. He seems to have already dealt with the full effects of recently being inhabited by Parallax, but that minimizes the power of the fear-based Entity. Moreover, Soranik is not enough of a vital character at this point for readers to either care about her budding relationship with Rayner or the revelation of her lineage.

So, what Emerald Eclipse ends up being is another Green Lantern Corps volume filled with extreme and busy panels of large battles. The battle on Daxam, the sciencecell breakout and the fight between Mongul and Arkillo are all long sets of panels with little dialogue and big fights. The Daxam and breakout scenes seem overly familiar to the point of being somewhat boring. Ironically, the one-on-one fight between the two Sinestro Corps members is astonishingly vibrant and there the sense of movement and force is incredible. Despite having many busy panels, penciller Patrick Gleason does an impressive job with keeping characters recognizable.

In the end, though, Peter J. Tomasi is saddled with a transition story that does not use his full storytelling abilities and seems designed more as a set up. While the story this leads into is intense and important, Emerald Eclipse seems more busy, jumbled and transitional than a six-chapter arc that tells a solid, indispensable story.

For other Green Lantern-related books, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns

4.5/10

For other book reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Dark, Dangerous And Oddly Put Together, The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two Starts The Green Lanterns Down A Dangerous Road!

The Good: Story, Action, Most of the artwork, Moments of character
The Bad: Parallax inclusion weakens that menace, Moments told out of order.
The Basics: Even knowing where The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two was going, I found the story to be engaging enough to recommend to anyone who is a fan of superhero stories.


This morning, the first thing in my docket was a review of a graphic novel and for that, I turned to a saga I've been piecing together as the volumes come to me. While Wonder Woman may be my favorite DC Comics superhero, I have been gaining an increased respect for Green Lantern. Or, more accurately, I've been appreciating how serialized the last few years of Green Lantern comics have been and finding the conflicts and scale of them to be worth my time and attention. So, since getting into the whole Blackest Night Saga (how to read it is available here!), I have been picking up stray volumes of the various Green Lantern-centered stories that intrigue me and reading them. Today, that is The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two. And before you go looking for it, no, I have not yet read and reviewed The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One, but both volumes are now available in a single anthology, as it ought to have been in the first place.

The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two follows the events of Infinite Crisis (reviewed here!) and The Sinestro Corps War - Volume One and finds the Green Lantern Corps embroiled in a seemingly hopeless war against the Yellow Lanterns (Sinestro Corps) who have sprouted up rather suddenly. As the action of this book is engaged, the universe looks to be on the precipice of destruction as the Green Lantern Corps faces off against their equal numbers of Sinestro Corps members, Superman Prime, Cyborg Superman, a small army of manhunters and the Anti-Monitor. If those threats do not ring any bells, then The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two might not be for you; the menace of the these threats to the DC Universe are well-detailed in other volumes, most notably Infinite Crisis. But, for beginners, having two Supermen to fight alongside the entity that is out to destroy the multiverse now that it has been reborn should seem like threat enough.

With many Green Lanterns slain already, the Lantern planet Mogo finds itself under siege by the Sinestro Corps City Ranx. As the two sentient land masses battle, on and in their surfaces, Lanterns fight for survival and dominance. As the battle moves toward its peak and the potential catastrophic loss on the side of the Green Lanterns, the Guardians of the Universe reveal a change to the Book Of Oa. The Green Lanterns are given the ability to use lethal force and they begin to cut a swath through the Sinestro Corps as they explore their newfound power.

But the change to the Green Lantern Corps is not the only judgment that the Guardians make that might be questionable. In attempting to stave off the Blackest Night, they work to keep Sodom Yat alive for a hidden purpose and they look to defend Oa against a Sinestro Corps attack. But their judgment is not omnipotent and Sinestro makes an attack designed for the symbolic value and to instill fear throughout the multiverse. As Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner attempt to free Kyle Rayner from Parallax, Sinestro leads an all-out attack on Earth and with the Anti-Monitor and Superman-Prime at his side, the death toll begins to mount fast.

The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two is not only a conclusion to one story, but it is the opening to several stories I have already read and reviewed, most of which have more character elements associated with them than this tome. This is a bloody battle and the character elements are frequently glossed over, save with some of the secondary or supplementary characters. Sodom Yat becomes a viable character with his backstory on an ultraconservative planet being revealed. His childhood is filled with repression and torment and this start to his arc is interesting, especially knowing how it affects him later on. Sodom Yat, a rookie in this story, is brash, but is in the process of discovering his powers, powers that make him an even match for Superman. Sodom Yat's story is one that explores a new hero in the process of becoming and it is one of the few character-driven stories in the book.

The other big character-driven story in The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two is the story of Sinestro. Sinestro actually sits out a surprising amount of the book, but when he comes in, his explanation for the formation of the Sinestro Corps is surprisingly revealing and establishes Sinestro as a far more conflicted character than writers less sophisticated than Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi and Dave Gibbons have made him out to be.

As for the main characters, Hal Jordan is given a small arc where he has the chance to rip Sinestro a new one, but his level of character is about on par with Kilowog taking on Sinestro Corps member Arkillo (whom it is interesting for me to see with his tongue still intact!). Jordan comes face to face with Kyle Rayner as Parallax and that conflict seems remarkably simply resolved, especially considering Parallax absorbs Jordan again. The willpower or aftereffects of Jordan and Rayner in the wake of a Parallax encounter are completely glossed over.

This leads to one of the other odd characteristics of The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two; the chapters are not quite in order. In chapter seven, Guy Gardner delivers a painting designed to trigger an emotional reaction to Kyle Rayner infected by Parallax, but in eight, Garner is still looking for the painting. When one is plotting out a heavily-serialized storyline, it seems like getting details like that correct would be of paramount importance to those involved.

That is not the only error made, though some of the worst errors come in the artwork. Near the beginning of Chapter Eight, a colorist miscolors two Yellow Lantern trails as Green Lanterns, which causes some pretty awkward dialogue to be uttered by the allies! Similarly, at the end of Chapter Six, a severely beaten Sodam Yat appears, his uniform completely in tatters. He is also missing his right leg from the knee down. At least, that is how it appears - a very close inspection shows the knee bent and the foot somewhat behind, but the artwork is unclear and troublingly sloppy.

All in all, The Sinestro Corps War - Volume Two is an engaging read and with the release of the complete The Sinestro Corps War trade, I would recommend that far more than this book on its own, but this tells an engaging story whose effects are still being felt in the Green Lantern universe!

For other Green Lantern-related books, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Rage Of The Red Lanterns
Agent Orange
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Brightest Day: Green Lantern
Brightest Day: Green Lantern Corps - Revolt Of The Alpha-Lanterns

7.5/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Brightest Day - Volume 3 Finishes The Saga Well!

The Good: Theme, Some character development, Most artwork, "Bonus" feature
The Bad: Assumption that readers will understand the very end of the book . . .
The Basics: The Brightest Day Saga ends in Brightest Day - Volume 3 with a climax that has the potential to truly change the DC Universe . . . if only it were ballsy enough to be maintained!


For those who do not read my blog regularly, I am a scholar of literary works who has, in recent years, become very interested in graphic novels and comic books because many of them are telling ambitious, interesting or controversial stories. The big commercial comic book companies, like Marvel and DC Comics have a tendency to follow action-adventure plots that speak to a younger audience, reserving their more cerebral works for limited series works like Justice (reviewed here!) and Kingdom Come (reviewed here!). As a case in point, there was remarkably little philosophy in the massive DC Universe crossover event Blackest Night. But the books of Blackest Night gave way to the Brightest Day storyline and following on the heels of Brightest Day - Volume One (reviewed here!) and Brightest Day - Volume Two (reviewed here!) comes the conclusion of the Saga in Brightest Day - Volume Three. Understanding the events in this volume is almost entirely dependent upon reading Volume One. While reading Volume Two helps, it is not as essential as one might suspect. While I did not recommend Volume Two, Brightest Day - Volume Three is one that I do recommend.

Part of that recommendation comes from the fact that Brightest Day - Volume Three (which compiles issues seventeen through twenty-four of Brightest Day comic books into one sleek hardcover) develops into a work which is much more philosophical than the usual DC fare and the meandering story told throughout the other books finally converges in an interesting way. At the climax of the first volume, heroes and villains resurrected at the end of theBlackest Night Saga were given tasks by the White Lantern that they must now achieve in order to save the Earth. At the center of them is Boston Brand and his search for the one who will take his White Ring and become the guardian of Earth. And the choice for the Guardian is an intriguing one.

Under the sea, the Bermuda Triangle is opened and Siren's forces, in league with Black Manta, begin their assault on Earth. Lost in space after apparently destroying the Universe, Firestorm realizes he is in the Anti-Matter Universe. Doing what he can to reconcile the Jason and Ronnie personalities, they go in search of Deathstorm. Meanwhile Carter and Shiera discover they are pawns for a powerful conqueror, who wants to destroy the Star Sapphire homeworld. There, they fight Queen Shrike and in defeating her, the pair is returned to Earth where they encounter Boston Brand in the Star City forest and his White Lantern ring unexpectedly turns on them, disintegrating the pair!

With Hawkman and Hawkgirl disintegrated, Boston Brand rejects the will of the White Lantern Ring, despite it making the purpose of the events of the Brightest Day a bit more clear. Jackson and Aquaman flee Siren's forces in an attempt to keep Jackson out of the Bermuda Triangle. Unfortunately, a water spout carries the pair to land, where Siren and Black Manta openly attack. With Black Manta wounding Aquaman, the battle looks hopeless, especially when Boston Brand determines that he cannot aid them. But the Ring makes it clear that this is Aquaman's test and in marshaling the undead sea life to his side, Arthur Curry manages to accomplish his mission, but at an extreme cost!

Meanwhile on Mars, J'onn J'onzz successfully breaks free of D'Kay and he squares off with the other Green Martian. Through his fight with her, he is forced to chose the world he will live on: the barren Mars or Earth. Defeating D'Kay, he is joined by Boston Brand at the Star City forest and he meets his fate. Deep in the Anti-matter Universe, Ronnie and Jason hunt down Deathstorm, the Black Lantern perversion of Firestorm. There, they have an incredible battle and the result is that the White Lantern pulls Firestorm back into the primary universe, into the forest where Boston Brand encounters him and the new protector of Earth is chosen.

Without revealing the end of the Brightest Day Saga, the climax is a real mixed bag. The premise of Brightest Day was established pretty early on: Boston Brand and the resurrected heroes and villains are supposed to save the world. Brand's mission, specifically, is to pave the way for the new protector of Earth and at the climax when the new protector of life on Earth is revealed, the reader almost has the impression that Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi have reduced the whole Saga to a pun. Given that this is the follow-up to the dark and epic Blackest Night Saga, there is something insulting about that. What isn't insulting is the idea that Brightest Day - Volume 3 reveals a strong message of protecting all life on Earth. There is a pro-environment message which is clever and has never been used as the unifying theme in a major DC (or, to the best of my knowledge, any comic book) crossover.

More than that, it is in the final act that the premise of Brightest Day becomes even more contrived than one might have wished it to be. While Blackest Night was a sprawling story focused on a single goal, Brightest Day is a fractured story with no clear overall goal. So, for example, Maxwell Lord, Jade and Osiris are entirely absent from the narrative of Brightest Day - Volume 3, save the exposition at the very end. Similarly, Digger Harkness and Hawk come into the narrative for the penultimate chapter and finale with no real point to the rest of what they might have been doing the whole time. In other words, like Blackest Night there is the sense that there are missing events in the Brightest Day Saga not covered in the three main books. That is disappointing.

Also disappointing is the last page of the book that reveals an adversary that will be utterly unrecognizable to readers who did not follow one very specific DC franchise. As one who did not, seeing the last panels, I felt the book was trying for a big villain revelation and, frankly, out of context I just did not care. That, too, felt cheap.

One of the admirable aspects of Brightest Day - Volume 3 is that the characters actually have a chance to develop. As the Aquawar rages, Boston Brand becomes infuriated that he finally respects and loves life enough to fight for it, only to be prevented from intervening. Similarly, Arthur Curry (Aquaman) has an actual character journey which works; he must accept life and come to thrive at being the outsider he has always been. This allows him the potential to accept Mera's actions as she has turned her back on her people. Outside Boston Brand, this gives Curry one of the most deep character journeys in the book and it works!

Sadly, not all of the character development makes sense. Boston Brand, who becomes such a cool protagonist that I am already looking for a Deadman and White Lantern Boston Brand figure (hint, hint, fine readers!), has a romantic subplot with Dove that is utterly underdeveloped. Their early trials which started the bond between them are not strengthened through any events in in Brightest Day - Volume 3 making it seem inorganic and contrived.

At least in the plus column is the artwork. The pencillers make everyone look recognizable - though the Martian Manhunter occasionally looks like a cartoon character instead of a rich as others - and the coloring is excellent. The panels of epic battles have a decent sense of movement to them and readers are easily able to follow the visuals that accompany the dialogue.

In hardcover form, Brightest Day - Volume Three features the cover art and variant cover art for the issues which comprise these chapters. What is still missing are the parallel storylines, like Maxwell Lord's journey and Jade's story outside the main Brightest Day narrative. More than feeling like a cheap excuse to get DC readers to buy more books, one feels that the writers actually respected readers not to overload them with stories that deserved a fair telling on their own.

Ultimately, Brightest Day - Volume Three concludes the Saga and, strangely, this feels like a good point for the DC Universe to call it quits. Knowing that their new storyline (Flashpoint) is another story that essentially dabbles in an alternate universe or a change to the fundamental laws of the DC Universe, it seems anticlimactic that a protector of the planet would be chosen only to have the planet fundamentally altered. Indeed, the end of this book and the beginning of the new DC Universe storyline might well illustrate that the writers feel it has all been done already as well. As DC heads in a far less cerebral direction, it is refreshing to close the book which ends - for the most part - with characters excited about the potentials of life and a rebirth of the planet.

For other DC Universe graphic novels, please check out my reviews of:
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps - Volume One
DC Online Universe Legends - Volume One
Identity Crisis

7/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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