Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) #60

Release Date: May 25, 2011
Cover Date: July 2011

Story: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Matt “Batt” Banning
Cover: Tyler Kirkham and Matt “Batt” Banning
1:10 Variant Cover: Clayton Crain

Kyle Rayner and John Stewart arrive on Mogo to try to stop the outflux of power rings. They fly towards the sentient planet’s core, and are attacked every step of the way by other Lanterns and their own fears. Kyle discovers that he can cure the corrupted Lanterns with his blue ring, and tries the same trick on Mogo. Unfortunately, Mogo is still somewhat compromised by the Black Lantern energy he absorbed a while back, rendering Kyle’s efforts ineffective. Krona taunts John from afar, and the former Marine tries one last desperate gambit. He channels the residual power of death, becoming a partial Black Lantern. In orbit, John creates a massive rifle construct and fires it directly into Mogo’s core, killing the living planet.

Oh dear, Mogo’s dead! Yeah, I’m sure that will last. This is comics, people. Mogo will be back, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s resurrected or rebuilt somehow by the end of this crossover. (If not, I give it five years maximum.)

The blue rings continue to become more and more powerful; they can cure Red Lantern infection, calm down Larfleeze, supercharge Green Lantern rings, and now they can knock out Parallax’s control. I wonder what effect they have on indigo and violet rings? I think the blue rings’ power may be downplayed a bit in future issues, because at the rate they’re going, they far outclass any of the others.

I also liked that Mogo’s method of dealing with the Black Lanterns in the past had dire consequences. I’m glad we didn’t see any actual Black Lanterns down there, but the residual energy left over made perfect sense. What didn’t make much sense, though, is John deciding to outright kill Mogo as a solution. Why? Because John was wearing an Indigo Tribe ring. His actions were by no means compassionate; if anything, they were dispassionate, which is a completely different animal. And for that matter, why is he not mind-controlled like the other members of the Tribe? He’s even got Indigo-1′s ring, and we know what she was like without it.

Many unfair comparisons have been made between John’s killing of Mogo and the destruction of the planet Xanshi (way back in Cosmic Odyssey #2). This is a common error; see, John did not destroy Xanshi. It was destroyed as a result of his overconfidence, sure, but that’s not nearly the same as actively and directly destroying it. I just thought I’d clear up that common misconception. Plus, Xanshi was just a planet, while Mogo was sentient; we’re really talking apples and oranges here.

On to artwork! The splash page of John struggling under the weight of Mogo is a clear homage to the classic portrayal of Atlas holding the Earth on his shoulders, and Tyler Kirkham did a fine job revamping it.

I also noticed a few familiar faces in Kirkham’s art, but maybe I’m just seeing things. Some of the alien Lanterns he drew seemed to be patterned after other comic book characters. For example, three Lanterns remind me of some Robert Kirkman creations. First up, the Astounding Wolf-Man, from the comic of the same name:

Next, Allen the Alien from Invincible:

This one’s a stretch, but the shape of this guy’s face reminds me of Robot, also from Invincible:

Beyond the Kirkmanverse, this chick reminds me of Daredevil‘s Typhoid Mary:

Last but not least, a Lantern that just looks damned familiar, but I can’t quite place my finger on it:

Any ideas? Maybe I’m crazy, but whatever. I just wanted to get my random thoughts out there. Monday morning, “War of the Green Lanterns” continues in my review of Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10!