Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #63

Release Date: March 2, 2011
Cover Date: April 2011

Story: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf
Inks: Ed Benes, Rob Hunter, and Vicente Cifuentes
Cover: Gary Frank
1:10 Variant Cover: Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

In the past, Krona continues his experiments with emotion, but ultimately the other Guardians try to stop him with the Manhunters. On present-day Oa, the Guardians are concerned about the whereabouts of Hal Jordan; when they discover that he’s been consorting with enemies of the Green Lanterns, they order Salaak to ambush and apprehend him. Hal is trying to track down Krona with the other color Corps representatives, but they’re blocked from teleporting to Zamaron for some reason. Suddenly, an image of Krona appears, dumping Carol Ferris into their midst; the villain has already captured the Predator. The group is joined by Sinestro, and they make their way to Ryut, where they discover the Book of the Black. The Book recognizes them, and forces them to witness another one of Krona’s past crimes. The group is also told that of the four Green Lanterns from Earth, only three will soon remain.

If you loved this issue…then you might want to stop reading, because I’m going to tear it apart.

This issue was nothing short of horrible. Minor problems first: it felt very rushed. We’re coming to the end of Brightest Day, and Geoff Johns is trying to cram in “War of the Green Lanterns” at the same time. As much as I hate the continuing event-after-event-after-event cycle that Green Lantern has become over the past four years, it still would’ve been a far better choice to split the two apart.

The art was also a bit inconsistent; Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf have similar styles, but sometimes their treatments of characters and environments jarred with one another. And here’s a question: why did female Oans in the past wear lipstick? I do not believe this was a coloring error. You see, the powers-that-be probably think readers aren’t too bright, and can’t tell the difference between a male and female Guardian. Throw some makeup on the women, and we have an easy (yet sexist) way to tell them apart.

The real problems with Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #63, of course, are due to the Geoffcons. We find that Krona was responsible for reprogramming the Manhunters, thus resulting in the annihilation of all life from Sector 666. This story point has always rang somewhat hollow, and even more so now. We assume the Guardians stopped the Manhunters’ rampage, but only after every living thing in Sector 666 was killed. (Except for Atrocitus and his four friends, of course.) Why didn’t the Guardians intervene sooner? And why did the Manhunters stay only in that sector? It’s not like there are barriers between Sector 666 and 667, for example.

Plus, Krona simply changing their programming from “no one escapes the Manhunters” to “no man escapes the Manhunters” doesn’t make any sense at all. By that logic, every female in Sector 666 would have been safe. Leaving their original programming intact but changing their targets would have made a lot more sense, as it includes all species and sexes.

Another revelation was that Krona built the Green Lantern power ring and power battery prototypes. This is another big problem; not that he built them, but that it’s clearly stated that this happened one billion years ago. However, Larfleeze found the Orange Lantern billions of years ago. Not to mention that the Green Lantern Corps alone has been patrolling the galaxy for billions of years. Now we’re supposed to believe that Krona was only starting to develop the technology much later than that?

The Guardians may have imprisoned Krona for his crimes, but obviously they found a use for his technology later on. Which of course begs even more questions: what changed their minds about the technology and harnessing willpower, and at what point did Krona escape to conduct his final experiment concerning the origins of the universe? That’s the event that turned Krona into the much larger threat that he is now.

I understand that this heavy Geoffconning of Krona has been done for a very simple reason: to make him more like his appearance in the Green Lantern film coming out this summer. Simplifying Krona for the movie makes perfect sense, as the audience can’t be expected to juggle multiple origin stories; tying everything together makes for more effective film. But altering the source material in order to match the movie? Ridiculous, and as you can see, it causes many more problems than it could possibly solve.

But wait…it gets even worse. DougG_ATL, a member of the Green Lantern Corps forum, made some excellent points and noticed some heavy Geoffcons that I missed the first time through:

I’ve generally enjoyed what Geoff Johns has done, but the retcon fuckery in play in GL #63 shakes the well-established foundation of the entire DC Universe. If Krona is responsible for the Manhunters’ massacre of Sector 666, then the Guardians’ culpability for the deaths of billions simply vanishes. If the Green Lantern Corps was created in response to the cold mechanical logic of the Manhunters, then doesn’t this retcon put into question the necessity of the Corps altogether? And if the Guardians themselves are not collectively responsible for channeling the energy of willpower into the Lanterns and rings, how do we assume they EVER had control over that energy?

Next pick is the presentation of the Guardians’ attitude and this totally bogus ‘treason’ charge on Hal Jordan. We’re supposed to accept that these near-omniscient blue fucks discovered and stopped Krona from unravelling the universe, but couldn’t discern when one of their own was corrupted by Nekron. Guy Gardner can come directly challenge their authority and decisions after Blackest Night, but Hal Jordan, the GL who led the charge and helped save the DCU is “unstable” and guilty of treason?

If this Book of the Black already contained information unlocked only to the “New Guardians,” you can logically assume the Book would’ve predicted the defeat of Nekron altogether (which makes all of Blackest Night just another zombie story). Retarded.

Any excitement I had about “War of the Green Lanterns” has been deflated by this single turd of a comic book. This is the worst kind of retcon — I’ll venture to say it’s the most egregious that Geoff Johns has ever implemented.

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I find it highly annoying when Geoff Johns retcons his own work from only a few years ago, and Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #63 not only does that, but it puts the entire history of the series at odds with itself. Sadly, this was one of the worst issues yet.