Release Date: February 3, 2012
Cover Date: April 2012
Story: Peter Milligan
Pencils: Ed Benes and Diego Bernard
Inks: Rebecca Buchmann
Cover: Ed Benes
John Moore slowly comes to grips with his new life as a Red Lantern, and he doesn’t even know what’s happening to him. After killing a corrupt police officer in self-defense, he flies off to his grandfather’s grave. He realizes that his next move is to hunt down the killer, Baxter. Back on Ysmault, Atrocitus and Bleez are still fighting, but some of the other Red Lanterns tell him he’s beaten her enough. Atrocitus wonders if even he has been “infected” by this change in thought amongst his Corps. Finally, Moore finds Baxter and tries to kill him, but he’s interrupted by the timely arrival of Green Lantern Guy Gardner.
Like flushing the toilet after a power dump, Red Lanterns #6 was a massive improvement. The scenes with Atrocitus and the other Red Lanterns were completely disposable, but the look inside Moore’s head as he discovers his newfound powers was excellent. In particular, his confusion as to why he’s hearing random words (which we of course know as the Red Lantern Oath) was well scripted, and I loved his flashbacks to his youth along with his descriptions of various Red Lantern powers. Apparently, the napalm-blood-puke tastes like burned peanut butter. Delicious! Even the scene where Moore craters a cemetery was good; he may be somewhat of a slave to the red ring, but the control is still not perfect. The art was consistently good, and Moore’s expressions as he goes from rage to confusion and back again really helped sell the character.
Guy showing up was also great, as he’s had quite a bit of experience himself as a Red Lantern. (So did Hal Jordan for that matter, but he’s too busy being Sinestro’s whiny little bitch right now.) As to why Guy just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I’m sure we’ll find out next issue. (Clearly, this Red Lanterns story is happening at a different time than current issues of Green Lantern Corps.)
There’s only two things I don’t like about Moore as a Red Lantern: his costume as his new name. His outfit looks like a low-rent Firestorm ripoff, and why is Moore called “Rankorr”? He’s not named as such inside this issue; only on the cover. We can assume the name will be mentioned within the comics soon enough, but it still makes no sense. None of the other Red Lanterns save Atrocitus changed their names; why should Moore be any different? Besides, “Rankorr” sounds like a shitty He-Man villain. (Final note on names: John is repeatedly referred to as “Jack” throughout this issue. I’m assuming it’s a typo.)
That aside, Red Lanterns #6 was a giant leap in the right direction. Screw the rest of the Red Lantern Corps; Moore’s journey should be the prime focus of this book.
