Green Lantern: New Guardians #1

Release Date: September 28, 2011
Cover Date: November 2011

Story: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Matt “Batt” Banning
Cover: Tyler Kirkham and Matt “Batt” Banning

Years ago, Ganthet seeks a new Green Lantern after his fellow Guardians have died in a horrible crisis on Oa. He chooses NYC artist Kyle Rayner as the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps. In the present day, power rings from each of the other color Corps suddenly shut off and fly towards Earth, often killing their former bearers. The rings converge on a surprised Kyle, but representatives from the other Corps arrive to fight him, thinking Kyle is the one who stole them!

Kyle Rayner finally gets his own ongoing book again for the first time since 2004, when Green Lantern (Vol. 3) came to a close. He’s had some one-shots since then plus the Ion: Guardian of the Universe maxiseries, but here he’s thrust back into a starring role once more. So…how does it work out?

The most important thing in this issue for longtime fans is the reimagining of Kyle’s origin. Based on what we’ve seen, the only thing that hasn’t been retconned out is Ganthet giving him the ring, and even that’s been changed. The classic “Emerald Twilight” story has once more been dramatically altered, this time even more so than it was in Green Lantern: Rebirth.

First of all, the Guardians have clearly been physically assaulted. There’s contusions and other visible damage all over them; they’ve no longer just given up their life force. Second, there’s now scores of dead Green Lanterns littering the surface of Oa, and they’ve got visible wounds, too. Third, Ganthet formed a new power ring out of sheer willpower, not from the fragments of Hal Jordan’s old ring. And fourth — this is the most noteworthy — the Central Power Battery was not destroyed. So how did Parallax get free? The Battery was slightly damaged, sure, but that’s not sufficient to let the giant space bug escape. Neither would Hal be able to just walk out with the fear entity attached to him. So what the hell happened? Was Hal even involved with these retconned events at all? As much as I’d like to see it, I doubt we’ll get any further clarification of what really happened on Oa; the flashback served its purpose in telling readers who Kyle is and how he got his ring.

Aside from Kyle now visiting a restaurant with friends and sketching instead of hanging around a nightclub, there’s a few other changes to his origin that stand out. Notice that Ganthet very specifically inducts Kyle into the Green Lantern Corps. That implies that there’s still plenty of functioning Green Lanterns left, even after the devastation on Oa. Ganthet also sticks around for a bit after giving Kyle the ring, rather than just disappearing. Finally, it’s established from the get-go that Kyle can overcome great fear, which is pretty admirable for a down-on-his-luck illustrator. No longer was Kyle just some random dude in the right place at the right time. He was specifically chosen to be a stellar Green Lantern right out of the gate.

Of course, does all of this mean Kyle was no longer the last of the Green Lanterns? If so, that’s a huge blow to his character; the entire point of Kyle Rayner was that he was thrust into a world beyond understanding, and he eventually brought back the Guardians and Corps almost single-handedly. If the newly-retconned “Emerald Twilight” was just a massive battle that the Corps ultimately survived, then it casts doubt on all of Kyle’s adventures pre-2004. But, like I said, I don’t think we’re going to get any more information on his history, so it’s really just idle speculation at this point.

Enough story talk! Let’s look at the art. Tyler Kirkham did some amazing work on Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 2), and he was a fine choice for Green Lantern: New Guardians. His scenes of everyday life in NYC look vibrant, and the space battles and alien environments look fantastic and loaded with action. I can’t wait to see what the big throwdown between Kyle and the other ring slingers in the next issue will look like! (I will admit, though, that Fatality looks a bit silly in her go-go outfit.)

The dialogue here also works out very well. Peter Tomasi definitely “gets” Kyle, and the conversation he has with his pals in the restaurant helps ground the character. He also doesn’t come off as cocky later on as a veteran Green Lantern; just confident. Kyle even handles the kid heckling him about Hal Jordan with ease, just laughing off the criticism. Can you imagine if some punk kid tried that line of shit with Guy Gardner? He’d have gotten a mouthful of broken teeth!

All things considered, New Guardians #1 was a great issue. We got the background on Kyle as it pertains to the post-Flashpoint universe, some action-packed pieces, and some very interesting storytelling concerning those other six rings. That orange ring is almost certainly Larfleeze’s, for example. He’ll be showing up soon, I’m sure!

Broken record time: is this a good choice for new readers as part of the DC’s “New 52″? Yes and no. The brief origin story was wisely included to bring new readers up to speed on Kyle. However, the inclusion of the other color Lanterns will definitely confuse anyone who hasn’t been keeping up with Green Lantern comics over the past five years. In the end, it’s really a fifty-fifty split as to New Guardians #1′s success as a jumping-on point.

The Lanterns and the Lensmen

So, you think the Green Lantern Corps is an original concept? Think again.

An intergalactic police force featuring multiple species wielding thought-powered jewelry showed up decades before the first appearance of the Corps during the Silver Age. I’m talking about the legendary Lensman series, from science fiction author E. E. “Doc” Smith.

These tales even predate Alan Scott: the first Lensman novel, Triplanetary, was published in 1934 in the pages of Amazing Stories magazine, whereas All American Comics #16 showed up six years later. More Lensman stories appeared in Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories as time went on. There were six original Lensman novels, plus mentions in other works by Smith, and three official novels written by David Kyle after Smith’s death.

While the head honchos at DC have steadfastly claimed that the Green Lantern Corps was not influenced by Lensman, instead calling it mere coincidence, that’s clearly bullshit. Fortunately, some Green Lantern writers have placed Lensman tributes in their work, as evidenced by Mike Barr’s Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #1; Arisia and Eddore are planets and races in Lensman, and Barr named two Green Lanterns after them. Arisia in particular has proven to be a fan favorite Green Lantern for many years, so the connection to Lensman couldn’t be more solid.

So who are the titular Lensmen, anyway? Put simply, they’re intergalactic peacekeepers, sworn to protect Civilization (yes, with a capital C) from dire threats. Each member is chosen by the immortal Arisians to wield a Lens, a psionic weapon seemingly disguised as a bracelet. In the Lensman series, the Arisians are analogous to the Guardians, but exponentially more powerful. Their opposite number are the Eddorians, malevolent entities from another part of the universe who want nothing short of total domination. Like the Arisians, they also use agents to do their bidding, such as the criminal empire of Boskone.

The Lens itself is naturally the focal point of the series. There are two notable differences between a Lens and a power ring, however.

First off, anyone can use a power ring: if you can feel the proper emotion, then you can wield its respective ring. That’s pretty simple, right? Okay, I’ll be fair and go back to the old days, where you generally had to be selected as a sterling example of willpower and courage in order to wield a power ring. In that case, if some average Joe tried to use one, the ring would simply go dead. Not so with a Lens: if you try to wear one without being chosen, then you go dead. That’s right, trying on a Lens will instantly kill anyone whom it was not specifically crafted for. Tough break!

The other difference is that power rings create hard light constructs, while Lenses operate solely in the psionic realm. This may seem wimpy, but bear in mind that the power of a Lens far dwarfs the psionic stuff seen in most comics or other science fiction properties. A contest between a Green Lantern and a Lensman would end before it even began, as even a rookie Lensman could shut down (and even control!) a Lantern’s thought processes before they knew what hit them. Lensmen have used their abilities to influence bugs to shut down military forcefields, control armies all at once, perfectly disguise themselves to infiltrate enemy ranks, and other impressive mental feats. Kimball Kinnison, the main hero of many Lensman books, could kick Hal Jordan’s ass from here to the next galaxy. In fact, he could mop the floor with the Guardians. Yes, all of them. At once.

Green Lantern comics are famous for showcasing incredible space battles. If that’s your thing, then you’ve got even more reason to read Lensman. Those books feature space battles that make the destruction of Xanshi look like a firecracker. For example, the Lensman series has interstellar conflicts that regularly use planets…as ammunition. I’m not just talking about strip mining a planet to build ordnance, either. I mean literally firing a planet at a target.

Many Green Lantern fans are also fans of the so-called “Rainbow Corps.” Well, there were other colors in Lensman, as well. There were Gray, Red, and even Black Lensmen. Gray Lensmen were essentially free agents, the Red Lensman was a warrior of a very different type (read the books, and you’ll understand why), and the Black Lensmen were of course the Eddorians’ answer to the heroic Lens-wielders. (Thankfully, these colors had nothing to do emotions.)

Beyond that, we had Second Stage Lensmen. These were Lensmen given special advanced training by the Arisians in order to develop even greater powers. Finally, there were the Children of the Lens. The offspring of Lensmen have a natural connection the Lens’ power, which makes them even more formidable warriors. The power levels these folks have are off the scale; in fact, they prove to be even more powerful than the Arisians!

Also like Green Lantern, there have also been animated adaptations of the Lensman saga. Nearly all of them are exclusive to Japan, however; Harmony Gold (and later Streamline Pictures_ dubbed the Lensman animated film in the late 1980s, but we never got a professionally translated version of the full Lensman series or other animated works. The film we did get is heavily influenced by Star Wars and takes a lot of liberties with the source material, but it’s still a fun flick to watch.

As for a live-action Lensman film, that’s been bandied about for years. Rights are sold back and forth, this writer or that writer is said to be working on it, but I’ll stick with my usual stance on issues like this: I’ll believe it when I see it.

So there you have it. The Lensman influence on Green Lantern cannot be denied, and the two properties have given us many years of great science fiction entertainment. If you haven’t read any of the Lensman stuff, it’s well worth checking out.

First Lensman, artwork by Nico Illustration

Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 3) #1

Release Date: September 21, 2011
Cover Date: November 2011

Story: Peter Tomasi
Pencils: Fernando Pasarin
Inks: Scott Hanna
Cover: Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

An unseen enemy force is brutally killing Green Lanterns, so Guy Gardner and John Stewart leave Earth and travel to Oa to investigate. They assemble a team of Lanterns they can trust to seek out the threat, but it’s a lot worse than they’d feared; whoever is behind the murders also killed an entire planet’s population and staked out the dead Lanterns’ bodies just to send a message!

A new era of the Green Lantern Corps begins! Sort of. While it’s a new story, there don’t seem to be any changes to continuity just yet, but that’s fine. Peter Tomasi’s an old hand at writing the Corps, and his expertise shines here with some great dialogue and character development. The opening scene with the two cannon fodder Lanterns served quite well in setting the stage for the story to come, albeit in an ultra-violent style that’s so typical to modern superhero comics.

Fernando Pasarin’s art in this issue is absolutely gorgeous. From the Lantern-heavy splash pages to the quieter moments on Earth or in space, every panel conveys emotion and tension when necessary. There’s a ton of detail, too, which is always nice to see. His designs for the other Lanterns weren’t anything mindblowing, but considering they were only alive for a few panels at most, it’s hardly a big deal.

Are there some nits to pick? Sure. For starters, Guy refers to sectors as triangle-shaped. Well, not quite; they’re actually pyramidal in structure, and would technically extend outward from Oa indefinitely. (That’s why the concept of “lost sectors” in other Green Lantern books is so absurd.)

John also comes off as a dick when dealing with the penny pinchers. Sure, they were jerks, but John’s treatment of them was nothing short of assault and battery. Portraying John as a short-tempered asshole seems to be the order of the day at DC lately, but I hope it goes away soon; John’s much more interesting than that.

Now, for the expected comments regarding Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 3) #1 as part of DC’s “New 52.” The good news is that this issue certainly fares a lot better than Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1 and Red Lanterns #1; it’s not continuing any ongoing story, so new readers can easily enjoy this fresh start. The basics of power ring operation as well as the structure of the Corps is also explained with some clever dialogue, too. That’s how a first issue initiative should be handled, not by bogging it down in the past.

Red Lanterns #1

Release Date: September 14, 2011
Cover Date: November 2011

Story: Peter Milligan
Pencils: Ed Benes
Inks: Rob Hunter
Cover: Ed Benes and Rob Hunter

Atrocitus rescues Dex-Starr from alien warlords, and once he’s back on Ysmault, he ponders his own future. With Krona dead, his rage has been subsiding, and Atrocitus isn’t sure what to do with himself now. Using Krona’s corpse as an offering, he peers into the veils of time, discovering that there’s still untold suffering across the universe. He decides to become an instrument of vengeance to help those who cannot help themselves, but he’s not sure if his Red Lanterns will follow him.

Warth’s partial healing of Bleez in Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #3 enabled her to speak, and it seems the effect was permanent. It’s also possible that more of her own mind has returned, as she’s less of a mindless beast than the other Red Lanterns. She’s being set up to resist Atrocitus’ will, but considering she’ll be co-starring in Green Lantern: New Guardians, Bleez may not stick around in this book for long.

Speaking of Bleez, let’s talk about the art. Ed Benes’ penciling in this issue is pretty good, with a few notable exceptions. One: Dex-Starr is supposed to be an Earth cat, but Benes draws his body as if he’s a furry little person. Two: Atrocitus’ facial features look considerably less menacing here. Even considering his turn towards a somewhat more notable cause, his face has always looked monstrous.

And three: Benes is famous for his sexy drawings of women, both in superhero pinups as well as monthly books. This skill is on full display here, as this issue features multiple Bleez ass shots and other sexy poses. It ends up being rather distracting; I love hot chicks as much as the next guy, but a) this is a comic book character, and b) I have a hard time seeing the bloody alien Bleez as a sexpot, thigh-highs and garters nonwithstanding. Seeing that sort of thing in what’s meant to be a solemn and serious story just makes me laugh.

A little more of Atrocitus’ history is revealed: his true name, Atros, as well as his former profession as a psychologist. His proper name is a lot better than him being named Atrocitus from the get-go, especially since he was always portrayed as a kind and loving father in flashbacks. That history makes his new transition a lot more reasonable. Atros being a psychologist seems a bit tacked on, however. And why is he always naked in his flashbacks, anyway? Perhaps Atrocitus should do a little psychoanalysis on himself to explain that.

Will the other Red Lanterns follow suit with Atrocitus’ new mission? Eventually. I also think they’ll start to come more in line with the Red Lanterns planned for Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which premieres next fall. Those are going to be notably different than the ones seen in the comics, as you’re not going to see boiling blood-spitting monsters in a kids’ cartoon! It remains to be seen if the fanbase will accept this.

I’m wondering if either Ray or John, the two young men we saw during the brief interlude on Earth, will end up as future Red Lanterns. Ray seems the obvious choice, but the more timid John may end up with a red ring because he’s not outwardly angry like his brother. Either way, I assume their role in the story is important, or else they would not have been included.

Red Lanterns #1 does suffer from the exact same problem as Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1: it’s a piss-poor choice for new readers. As with the latter book, you need to read Green Lantern comics from at least as far back as 2007 to the present in order to have any clue as to what’s happening. As a first issue in its own series, Red Lanterns #1 works out okay. As part of the “New 52,” it’s a joke.

Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1

Release Date: September 14, 2011
Cover Date: November 2011

Story: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy and Tom Nguyen
Cover: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
Variant Cover: Greg Capullo

Sinestro recites the Green Lantern oath, recharging his ring before the Guardians…and then demands that they release him. The Guardians refuse, saying this is Sinestro’s chance for redemption, ordering him to police his sector. Once he leaves, Ganthet calls the rest of the Guardians out for lying, but they zap him with psionic energy to bring him into line. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Hal Jordan is down on his luck. He’s been discharged from the Air Forces, he’s getting evicted from his apartment, and Ferris Aircraft can’t hire him back as a pilot. Even Carol Ferris is sick of Hal’s bullshit! Out in space, Sinestro’s got his own problems, as his Sinestro Corps has enslaved his homeworld of Korugar, rather than protecting it as he asked. After he kills a Sinestro Corpsman who mistakenly attacks him, Sinestro flies off to Earth and confronts Hal about getting his ring back.

Volume Five of Green Lantern kicks off…by continuing the same stories from the “old” DC Universe. (More on that later.) Anyway, Sinestro takes on his new role as a Green Lantern once again with confusion and anger, exemplified by his casual murder of a Sinestro Corpsman. He’s also apparently powerful enough to destroy Sinestro Corps rings, which isn’t easy. Not only that, the Sinestro Corps’ second-in-command Arkillo is aware of his boss wearing a Green Lantern uniform now. I imagine he’s pretty pissed about that, and I look forward to a Sinestro versus Sinestro Corps battle royale.

What’s up with Ganthet getting mind-zapped, and what could the Guardians’ “new mission” be? Who knows, but I bet they’ll still be dicks. I’ve got a feeling this will play out more in Green Lantern: New Guardians, which starts in two weeks. Due to the entities possessing the other Guardians during “War of the Green Lanterns,” perhaps some of Krona’s ideas about ultimate control has rubbed off on them. I still want to know why there’s only six Guardians left other than Ganthet, but since when does consistency belong in a modern Green Lantern comic?

The cast in this issue was kept to a minimum, and that really works in its favor. Sinestro and Hal are the main players, with the Guardians and Carol as backups. It’s a welcome change from the constant events we’ve had with piles of characters, but I don’t expect it to last.

Hal’s problems are the exact sort of thing that Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio railed against ever since Hal’s return. The subsequent deluge of retcons erased from continuity anything that could’ve detracted from Hal being a perfect hero (such as spending time in prison, floating from job to job, et cetera). But now, here we are doing the same thing all over again! It makes one wonder why all those ridiculous retcons were necessary in the first place. (Translation: they weren’t.)

If you thought that was black mark on this issue, there’s an even bigger one that simply cannot be ignored. If you’re a new reader who wants to get into Green Lantern, this is not the issue to pick up. I’m sorry to say that you’ll have to go all the way back to 2007 and read “The Sinestro Corps War” and everything that followed up until the present day, otherwise you’ll be completely lost. (Reading 2004′s Green Lantern: Rebirth may also help.) There’s not even a caption or a flashback sequence in this issue to clue you in!

DC’s “New 52″ initiative may have been designed to bring in new readers, but Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1 goes against the grain. It was a good issue, sure, but it’s for longtime fans only. For newcomers, it’s a spectacular failure. (The term “New 52″ is a misnomer at best, and a lie at worst. It’s really a “New 48″ at most since the four Lantern books clearly aren’t being rebooted. There may be others, but I’ll leave that up to you to comment on.)