Green Lantern Faces the Manhunters on a Gaming Console Near You

Xbox 360 Cover Art

In July Warner Brothers Interactive announced that video game studio Double Helix will be making the first Green Lantern video game, "Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters" to tie into the release of next summer's movie.  Little in the way of detail has been released, however the game has shown up for preorder on Amazon and Gamestop with both sites showing a June 1, 2011 release date and some of the game's details.  I'm not so sure that's a firm date since it is a Wednesday and most games are released on Tuesdays, but there have been exceptions and this game could certainly be one of them.

Ryan Reynolds will be providing the voice of Hal Jordan for the game, which will pit you as Hal Jordan facing the menace of the Manhunters following the events of the movie.  The game is set to release on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS gaming platforms. 

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Exclusive GL Movie Figure Available

Toys R Us is offering the first exclusive Green Lantern movie figure as an early bird special that is available right now for pre-order online for $24.99.  The figure includes a logo inspired stand and a replica prop ring.  According to their site the figure ships at the end of February.  Check it out!

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Green Lantern 61 Review With Tomar-Re Movie Preview

December's second issue of Green Lantern is upon us, however this issue should have been re-titled "Red Lantern" since there's no Hal Jordan in it at all.  This issue's focus solely falls on Atrocitus and his mission to capture the Butcher before Krona can get his tiny blue hands on him.  There's plenty of blood in this issue and we see more and more of what makes Atrocitus one of the most unique characters that Geoff Johns has created during his time with the Green Lantern franchise.

The Story -

Jake and Jenny are hauling across a snow covered Montana highway, clearly a couple with a violence filled past.  Just as Jake pulls a gun on Jenny threatening to kill her Atrocitus smashes the moving car causing both of them to be thrown through the windshield.  Using their spilled blood, Atrocitus learns the location of the Butcher.  With Sinestro having parted way with the Red Lantern in issue 60, Atrocitus is on his own and headed to another prison where a man is being put to death for the murder and mutilation of a young girl.

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Manhunters and Saint Walker to Appear in GL Animated Series

It was previously reported that Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns feature heavily into the overall story of the upcoming Green Lantern animated series, however the guys over at Comics Continuum have a story out today that includes the statements that the Manhunters and Saint Walker will appear in the first season the show, which is set to kickoff on the Cartoon Network with a two-part episode/movie scheduled for November of 2011.  

The Continuum reports that voice recording has been underway for some time, which makes sense given that Robert Englund stated that he had recorded some voice work for the show back in September.  Producer Bruce Timm made a number of comments at the New York Comic Con that also line up with this new report in that the CG show will feature stylized character design and that Sinestro isn't likely to appear in the show during the first season, and certainly  not as a villain if he did.  Concept art and leaked test footage confirms that the designs are an amalgam of Bruce Timm's familiar style and The Incredibles.

Source: Comics Continuum

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Green Lantern - Plasticman Review

I admit I was more than a little leery about buying the recently released "Green Lantern / Plasticman: Weapons of Mass Deception" one shot.  I really never "got" Plasticman.  But hey, this is written by comic book legend Marv Wolfman, no stranger to epic stories and Green Lantern for that matter, having written a small run of the character with Joe Staton back in the 1980's.  And the art is by Brent Anderson, often compared to Alex Ross and Neil Adams for his realism.  This guy's won both an Eisner and a Harvey award!  I love his work on Astro City.

So how bad could it be, right?  Right!?  Okay, well let's just say I've had to wait a week for this one to settle down in my head before I unleash on what it probably the worst comic I've read in a long, long, long, long time.  No amount of holiday cheer is going to make this any better.  This is the one book that forces me to break the promise I made myself to keep everything positive on this site and only talk about the good things.  But DC had the nerve to publish this stinking turd and charge us $4.99 for it so it deserves all the criticism it gets.

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Green Lantern Corps 55 Review

The third part of "The Weaponer" arc reveals more about the pact between Ganthet, Guy Gardner and Atrocitus as the honor guard learns about it at a most inopportune moment, plus we get the setup for what could be one of the coolest throw-downs since this run of Green Lantern Corps began.  The whole Green Lantern writing team is doing a great job of keeping all three titles independent yet linked in ways that don't require you to read all of them, but the quality is such that you really want to. 

The Story -

Back on Qward the citizens of that ravaged world are drawn to the activities at the Weaponer's refuge, with Thunderers heading to the commotion for fear that this time his actions will lead to the destruction of their whole race.  All the commotion is of course the arrival of the Green Lantern Honor Guard that occurred at the end of issue 54.  While Kyle Rayner races to find Soranik Natu, Ganthet, John Stewart, Boodikka and Hannu lead the assault on the much hated Weaponer, but the Weaponer proves to be much more of a match that you'd think thanks to the weaponized White Lantern technology that he integrated with his shield.

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Larfleeze Christmas Special Review

Where oh where do I begin to start a review of what has now become my favorite holiday special of all time?  When Geoff Johns first announced that he was doing a Larfleeze Christmas Special the expectations began forming in my head and this exceeded them by far!  This issue has it all from the humor you know you're going to get with Larfleeze, but there's just so much fun and a touching moment that really makes it a well rounded issue - and there's interactivity and creativity that makes this something that I'm going to go out and pick up a couple of extra copies of just so I can have spares.

The Story -

It's Christmas morning in Fort Branch, Minnesota where Larfleeze has made his home amongst all the junk he's stolen collected since arriving on Earth.  Larfleeze and his trusty companion awaken at around 5:30am in anticipation of spending the day unwrapping all the gifts on his list that Santa surely must have left under the tree.  But alas there are no presents to be found despite Larfleeze having left the customary cookies and milk for Santa and Larfleeze is certain that someone stole all the presents while he was asleep until he discovers that the cookies he left for the "red suited giant" have been left untouched by Santa's hands.

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 5 Review

All hell breaks loose this issue as Guy Gardner's pact with Atrocitus is revealed, Green Lanterns die, and blood red images paint a picture of a horrific future.  Peter Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Cam Smith put it all on the table this month, showing once again why the Green Lantern universe is in the best place it's ever been.

The Story-

Guy Gardner, Arisia, Kilowog and Bleez fall prey to the sneak attack by Zardor's mind controlled Green Lanterns that began last issue.  Try as they might our team cannot break through to their attackers and make them realize they are on the same side, so absolute is Zardor's control that they only see members of the Sinestro Corps trying to dupe them.  Gardner reaches his frustration point and breaks free, followed shortly by Bleez, Kilowog and Arisia.

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DC Universe Online Hits 1-11-11

Sony announced today that DC Universe Online will be released on January 11, 2011 for the Playstation 3 and PC in the United States.  The game will retail for $59.99 for the PS3 version and $49.99 for the PC.  Continued play past the first complementary thirty days will set gamers back $14.99 per month, however it was revealed that players can pay a one time "lifetime" subscription prices of $199, approximately equal to thirteen months of access if players paid on a monthly basis.

Players who have been participating in the ongoing beta test will be invited to participate in a no-holds-barred cataclysmic battle in the closing day of the beta joined by members of the development team and employees of DC Comics which promises to pit players against one another in a desperate showdown with Brainiac.

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Blue Lantern Saint Walker Joins the JLA

DC hinted that a lantern would be joining the Justice League in the coming months, but the fact that they didn't specify he was green led to a lot of speculation by fans.  The March solicitations reveal that Saint Walker will shed the light of hope on the JLA starting in issue 55 as part of the new arc "The Rise of Eclipso".

The storyline pits Doomsday against the Justice League as they interfere with his quest to find Cyborg Superman, having managed somehow to escape his fate at the hands of Alpha Lantern Boodikka back in Green Lantern Corps #52.  There is no information as to whether Saint Walker will become an ongoing member of the league.  Issue 55 will also include an appearance by Boodikka.

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Green Lantern 60 Review

The end of last month's issue of Green Lantern left Hal Jordan faced with a Parallax infused Barry Allen and our mysterious entity-napper.  This week's release of Green Lantern #60 picks up where we left off and by the end the identity of our diminutive new antagonist is revealed - and this one may leave your scratching your head!  As a bonus we get our second installment of the Green Lantern movie preview - this time the spotlight is on Sinestro as will be portrayed by Mark Strong.

The Story -

Before the story picks up we see Hal summing up what's been going on in the Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe over the past six weeks (in their time).  While it's not needed for regular readers of the book, for anyone new to the title it's not a bad way to bring people up to speed with what's happened since Blackest Night and establish that Hal's motives are simply to get the emotional entities off the Earth where they cannot possess anyone.

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Jack Black's Brush With Green Lantern

Many fans may not realize this, but next summer's Green Lantern film isn't the first effort to bring the DC Character to the big screen.  Years ago during Kyle Rayner's tenure as the sole Green Lantern, Warner Brothers toyed with the idea of using Green Lantern as a comedy vehicle for none other than Jack Black.  The film's version of Kyle would have been an inept slacker who is accidentally given the  power ring and proceeds to do things like make giant green condoms.  No...I'm not kidding!

Fan response was, well, outrage.  And whether it was the reaction of the fan community or Warner Brothers deciding it just wasn't going to fly, the movie never made it even into the pre-production stage.  While doing the press tour for Black's new Gulliver's Travels film, MTV's Splashpage couldn't help but bring up the comedic actor's brush with Green Lantern fate.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

So, for anyone out there who worries about the quality of the upcoming film, remember, it could always, always have been worse!

Source: MTV Splashpage

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Warner Brothers Release New Image of Hector Hammond

Over on the Green Lantern movie page on Facebook, Warner Brother has released a new publicity still of Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond.  Hammond's origin has been tweaked for the film, incorporating Parallax and the fear entities new connection to the death of Abin Sur.  While examining Abin Sur's corpse in the film Hammond is exposed to a piece of Parallax left in Abin Sur's body after the altercation that leads to the Green Lantern's death.  This causes the appearance of both telepathic and telekinetic powers as well as the trademark head swelling.

Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond

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Mezco Green Lantern Movie Figure Set

Mezco's Hal and Sinestro Mez-Itz

Mezco has recently signed a contract to produce a line of vinyl figures based on DC Comics characters and the first figures in their new line are based on the movie versions of Green Lantern and Sinestro.  The 6" rotocast vinyl collectibles, called Mez-Itz, have five points of articulation (head, both shoulders and both legs at the hips) will ship in May of 2011 in advance of the upcoming movie's release date.  The set is available for pre-order now for $30.

Mezco will also be releasing a Mini Mez-Itz set, 2" vinyl collectibles that are keychains. They also have the same five points of articulation.

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No Ch'p in Green Lantern Film Says Guggenheim

Ch'p

MTV's Splashpage printed an interview with Green Lantern script co-writer Marc Guggenheim about the upcoming film, with a lot of discussion focusing on the Superman cameo that was axed during rewrites.  However, at the end of the article Guggenheim states that while there will be plenty of Easter Eggs for fans to find and most of our favorite Green Lanterns will be seen at least in the background, fan favorite Ch'p will probably not be among them. 

That explains his lack of appearance in the batch of concept art of all the alien Green Lantern designs that leaked on the Internet in August.  Whether it's unknown why everyone's favorite H'lven will be absent, my own hunch is that the filmmakers may have deemed him too cute looking for the tone they are trying to create for the Green Lantern universe.

Source: MTV Splashpage

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New Green Lantern Interviews from Reynolds and Campbell

Wired has a new interview on their website with actor Ryan Reynolds and director Martin Campbell about the upcoming Green Lantern movie.  While the interview was shot during San Diego Comic-con, it is inter-cut with the movie's first trailer.  There's not really any new information, but given the lack of anything coming out from Warner Brothers about the movie it's nice to have something new to watch while we wait for the marketing and promotion departments to gear up. 

Source: Wired

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Get the Blog of Oa on Your Mobile Device

While reviewing the traffic statistics on the site I've noticed a growing number of visitors are using portable devices to access the site.  So today I'm launching another way for Green Lantern fans to visit the Blog of Oa by using Mippin.

The new address, http://www.mippin.com/blogofoa, is optimized for portable web browsers for cell phones and other portable electronic devices with Internet capabilities. You can also go here for a barcode scan to get to the page.

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Green Lantern Music History 101, Part 1

As a Green Lantern uber-fan, I'm drawn to anything in popular culture that crosses paths with my favorite Emerald Gladiator. One of the things I've been pursuing lately is how Green Lantern has been used in music beyond the rapper who goes by the same name. In this multi-part series I'll be looking at Green Lantern as he appears in music history.

While there are certainly several songs about Green Lantern from filk and geek rock artists, to begin our exploration I decided to focus on how Green Lantern has been referenced in songs that aren't about the mythos at all, although most of what I found were aimed clearly at the pop culture loving audience. One song in particular took some digging to solve the mystery of how the Green Lantern oath ended up as a lyric in a Hi-NRG song about infidelity!

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Emerald Knights Preview Appears on "All Star Superman"

If you weren't already picking up a copy of DC's next animated direct to video release, there's another reason to pick up All Star Superman when it hits store shelves on February 22, 2011.  Included on the disk is a preview of the second of next year's releases, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. 

The second Green Lantern based video project is an anthology, featuring stories from the Green Lantern universe told within the framework of a larger story.  Kilowog, Abin Sur and Sinestro have all been named as stars of the stories, and the project will include an adaptation of Alan Moore's "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" story from 1985.

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Kohl's Blackest Night Gift Set

I was Christmas shopping this morning and stopped at Kohl's for a couple of shirts and ran across a new Blackest Night T-Shirt combined with a cool collectors tin.  The shirt features the moment when Nekron revives the fake Batman corpse and he spits rings out, turning all the once-dead heroes (except for Barry and Hal) into Black Lanterns. Even though Hal's face is cut in half on the shirt, I thought it was worth picking up for a measly $12.99 just for the tin.

They had similar sets for Superman, Flash, Spiderman and Captain America as well.  If you don't have a Kohl's near you, the sets are available online as well.

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