Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) #62

Release Date: July 27, 2011
Cover Date: September 2011

Story: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Daniel HDR
Inks: Keith Champagne
Cover: Tyler Kirkham and Matt “Batt” Banning
Variant Cover: Francis Manapul

While ruminating on the events of the battle with Krona, Kyle Rayner is suddenly abducted by a seemingly insane Star Sapphire Miri Riam. Fellow Green Lantern Tomar-Tu hitches a ride, and Soranik Natu also appears. It seems that Miri is destroying a planet, and the Lanterns must work together in order to stop her. Kyle and Soranik’s relationship has been rocky lately, but they overcome it to defeat Miri. Of course, that was her plan all along: she felt that their love waning, and orchestrated this whole thing in order to bring them back together. Kyle accidently blurts out that it wasn’t Soranik that he saw when Miri gave them a vision (Green Lantern Corps [Vol. 2] #32), and Soranik understandably takes things very badly, flying off in disgust.

Not a bad followup to “War of the Green Lanterns.” I do enjoy stories that seem to have actual consequences, and even though the War was very rushed towards the end with a lot of plot threads left unresolved, it still had a profound effect on the Lanterns.

I feel that the tension between Kyle and Soranik in recent Green Lantern comics seemingly came out of nowhere, but at least some of that is addressed here. Kyle himself wonders why Soranik has been snapping at him lately, though he certainly didn’t do himself any favors by revealing that he saw Jade during the Star Sapphire vision rather than Soranik.

All of this is likely just clearing the way to give Kyle yet another love interest during the upcoming Green Lantern: New Guardians. Readers may roll their eyes at the fact that Kyle’s had so many women in his life, but let’s not forget that Hal Jordan got more ass than a toilet seat. It’s pretty common for superhero flames to come and go, and Kyle’s ladies are no exception. It’s a shame, though, as Soranik was a very interesting character; both her place within the Corps and her status as Sinestro’s daughter made for some excellent storytelling opportunities that are now likely being thrown out.

On a final note, I laughed at the Pinky and the Brain reference. What, did you miss it? Apparently, when a Star Sapphire teleports folks across the galaxy, it’s accompanied by a sound effect that should be very familiar to fans of that show:

I eagerly await the arrival of a Sinestro Corps member named “Narf.”

DC Retroactive: Green Lantern – The ’70s

(This comic also includes a reprint of Green Lantern [Vol. 2] #76, which kicked off the classic Green Lantern and Green Arrow team-ups, but I’m not going to review that here. That amazing issue will eventually get its own post.)

Release Date: July 27, 2011
Cover Date: September 2011

Story: Dennis O’Neill
Art: Mike Grell
Cover: Mike Grell

Green Arrow is restless due to nightmares, and as he meets up with fellow night owl Black Canary, he narrowly saves her from being shot by another archer. Later, an attorney interested in Oliver Queen’s munition’s business is shot in front of the pair, but does not survive. While Green Arrow works to track the killer down, Green Lantern has issues of his own. He rescues an alien crashing spacecraft, only to find the spitting image of Abin Sur inside. The alien is Abin’s relative Zu Sur, and has come to tell Green Lantern something important…if only he could remember. Hal and Zu are attacked by local militia forces, and the alien is killed. Green Arrow captures the killer he was hunting: a young man named Argy who was jealous of Ollie at the monastery. Hal and Ollie later meet up to share their stories.

You know, the title of this issue is misleading: it really should read DC Retroactive: Green Lantern/Green Arrow – The ’70s. But, since DC isn’t doing any DC Retroactive: Green Arrow books, we’re stuck with just the Lantern. For those of you newer fans who are wondering what the hell I’m talking about, Green Lantern (Vol. 2) was renamed Green Lantern/Green Arrow from issues #76-122, and the two emerald heroes shared adventures that most fans consider to be their finest to date. Even though the title and cover art are Green Lantern through and through, it’s simply not a ’70s Green Lantern story unless Green Arrow’s presence is equally important.

Regardless, this issue was still a fun read. Much like the other DC Retroactive books that have been released, the story fits into its appropriate era perfectly. (The only thing that betrays it as a modern product is the coloring.) Mike Grell’s art has never looked better, and Dennis O’Neill retains his excellent grasp of dialogue and character interaction.

The downside to the story is that it ended too abruptly; it seems like two issues would’ve been a better fit, but that was never in the cards. Hal’s half of the tale in particular seems to end without any real resolution.

Still, you really can’t complain: DC Retroactive: Green Lantern – The ’70s is a fun piece of work for new and old fans alike. Old-school Hal and Ollie fans will love revisiting this amazing era, and newcomers will scratch the surface of just why these stories were so damned good. This makes me even more excited for the ’80s and ’90s editions coming in the next few weeks!

Green Lantern LEGO

LEGO announced last week that it has acquired both the DC Comics and Marvel Comics licenses, showcasing the new minifigures at San Diego Comic-Con. Aside from legendary characters like Wolverine, the Incredible Hulk, Batman, and Superman, you bet your ass that Green Lantern is part of the lineup.

Here’s what Hal Jordan looks like in LEGO form; it looks pretty good to me!

(pics from LEGO Super Heroes)

I don’t think the faces are variants; many modern LEGO minifigures have faces painted on the front and back of their heads so you can change them at a whim.

Of course, no power ring is visible, but that’s to be expected. Painting a tiny dot on a single minifigure hand is a ridiculous cost. I know power rings are integral to Green Lanterns, but in this case, we can give it a pass. You’ll also noticed that Hal’s uniform is very clearly based on the movie design, not any of the comic book costumes.

Hal is a natural choice for the first Green Lantern minifigure, but let’s hope some other Lanterns will soon follow, such as the other three Earthmen and aliens like Kilowog and Salaak.

I’ve always been a big LEGO fan, and I collected sets often during my childhood and as recently as a few years ago. I had to stop as the stuff just takes up too much space! However, with this latest announcement I might just have to dip my toes back into the pond, for no other reason than to collect the minifigures.

(Want to see pictures of other heroes? You can see a whole shit-ton of them on Eurobricks.)

War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #1

Release Date: July 20, 2011
Cover Date: September 2011

Story: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Miguel Sepulveda and Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Miguel Sepulveda and Matt “Batt” Banning
Cover: Dave Johnson
Variant Cover: Miguel Sepulveda

As Hal Jordan is unceremoniously dumped on Earth by the Guardians, the rest of the Green Lantern Corps are pretty pissed off about their leader’s latest failngs. The Guardians shrug them off in typically arrogant fashion, but when countless Lanterns decide to resign, Salaak tells everyone to calm down and sleep on it. Sinestro’s still stuck with his new green ring, and he’s not happy about it, while John Stewart is the target of anger due to his killing of Mogo. Finally, Natu is brought into a secret group of other Lanterns who want to break into the Citadel and execute Sinestro for his crimes.

There were a few things to like in this issue, the most important one being veteran and rookie Green Lanterns alike telling the Guardians to fuck off. The Guardians have been colossal douchebags for quite some time now, even in contrast to their arrogant selves during the 1970s and 1980s. It was nice to see the Corps as one telling them off; even Salaak, who begged for calm, was clearly upset with them. It’s almost as if the Corps was a reflection of the fanbase; I can’t think of a single Green Lantern reader who is a fan of the Guardians right now.

The Green Lanterns being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder was a bit heavy-handed (and oversimplifying such a complex mental disease), but still worked quite well within the confines of the story. Every single Green Lantern in the universe was used as a puppet and a murderer, and their memories of those times are intact. It may not have been their fault, but they still have to live with it.

War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #1′s good stuff is buried under a pile of really weak aspects, though.

First and foremost…what the hell’s up with the art? Miguel Sepulveda has usually done a fine job, but his work here looks awful. Faces are inconsistent, proportions are wrong…I don’t get it. Tyler Kirkham illustrated the last few pages, and his pencils are a vast improvement.

The story fares worse. Hal Jordan acting like a spoiled and petulant child was just godawful. Soranik Natu flipped out on Kyle Rayner for no reason, and announced her relation to Sinestro to everyone. Wasn’t that supposed to be her secret shame? Natu’s yelling at Kyle is also ridiculous, because Sinestro is everyone’s problem, not just hers.

John Stewart acting like a dick to the Lanterns who wanted revenge is fine, as he made his choice quite clear. Him treating Kyle like shit makes absolutely no sense, especially given the many times Kyle saved his ass. Hell, Kyle had just finished sticking up for John in the face of the other Lanterns! This whole scene made John out to be a bigger asshole than old-school Guy Gardner, and that’s saying something.

And we finally get to this issue’s biggest problem. Sinestro doesn’t want the Green Lantern ring…so why doesn’t he just take it off?! There’s been no reason given why he can’t, or why the Guardians can’t, for that matter. They had no trouble stripping Hal of his, after all.

Further complicating things are this issue’s many head-scratching errors, which other fans also picked up on. Saint Walker is wearing a Green Lantern ring. A few deceased Lanterns showed up in some group shots. Vath Sarn’s got normal humanoid legs again, even though they were blown off by the Black Lantern Anti-Monitor in Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) #46 and replaced by reptilian ones donated by Isamot Kol in Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2) #47. (The split feet are there, but the legs still look wrong.) There’s no excuse for so many blatant errors like this.

Tony Bedard’s writing is usually much better than this. Perhaps this stuff was editorially mandated, or perhaps he just had an off day. We can only hope that War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath #2 will be better, but considering it has to shoehorn in a conclusion before Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1 comes out in September, we can forget about most of these plot threads even being addressed, let alone rectified.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11

(This issue actually came out two weeks ago, but I’ve refused to review it until now. As it turns out, I could’ve reviewed it upon release anyway; read on to find out why.)

Release Date: June 29, 2011
Cover Date: August 2011

Story: Peter Tomasi
Art: Bernard Chang
Cover: Dan Panosian
Variant Cover: Scott Clark and David Beaty

Guy Gardner is called in to assist a royal dignitary under attack by alien forces. He’s annoyed that it’s interfering his with his shore leave, but quickly changes his mind when he sees the gorgeous Lady Yul. She seduces him…and of course, it was all a trap in order to steal his ring. Guy has to fight his way through her ship armed with nothing but his fists and wits, and when he corners the villain, it turns out she’s a shapeshifter who replaced the real Yul. Guy knocks the impostor out and regains his ring.

This is one of the best, if not the best, Green Lantern issues we’ve had in many years. I’m not kidding.

Why does it get such high marks from me? Because it’s a self-contained issue with no connections to any of the events or crossovers that have dominated Green Lantern for the past four to five years. It was a solid story told in a single issue, and everything you needed to know about the characters was presented accordingly. A first-time reader could pick this issue up and have troubles; how many comics can claim that nowadays?

Industry veteran Bernard Chang provided some slick art, and the dialogue was paced well. Some of it was cheesy even by Guy standards, but it’s hardly a mark against the issue’s quality. Diehard Guy fans will really lap this up, as it’s Guy kicking ass the only way he knows how.

The only minor nit is that the last few pages have some confusing panel arrangement, as if a few scenes were actually missing. Specifically, the impostor reveals herself holding the ring container. In the next panel, the impostor is back in Lady Yul form, with a knife behind her back (where’d she get it?), nowhere near the ring container or the table it was sitting on.

I stand by my earlier statement that Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11 is the finest issue of a Green Lantern comic that we’ve seen in years. I’m not the world’s biggest Guy Gardner fan, but still, this issue was excellent. And Emerald Warriors as a series flopped! If only more folks at DC would embrace old-school storytelling like this instead of tiresome events and dropped plot threads. The line would be much better off as a result.