The War of the Green Lanterns comes to a close with this week's Green Lantern #67 leaving this corner of the DC Universe in a very interesting state on the eve the of the relaunch of the entire line. While there is the Aftermath mini series to see print between now and the massive month of number one issues in September, the current Green Lantern continuity will be unaffected so far as we know so what we read between now and then will still have a great deal of bearing on the direction being set for this family of books.
Wars have lasting effects on those who fight them and this event certainly has far and reaching consequences for the Green Lantern Corps, but before I get into talking about the event as a whole, let me talk about this most recent issue.
The Story -
When we last saw our heroes at the end of
issue 66 the Green Lantern Corps, freshly freed from the control of Krona, were set to launch their offensive against the renegade Guardian and the emotional entities who have merged with the rest of the Guardians (well except for the continually conspicuously absent Sayd). The four Earth lanterns bring their comrades, and us, up to speed with what has happened with the Guardians.
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| Fight, fight, fight! |
Of all people, Hal Jordan has the plan to separate the emotional entities from the Guardians by freeing the New Guardians from the Book of the Black. Playing on Kyle's ability as an artist, Hal directs Kyle to draw their way out of the book while the Corps keeps Krona and the entities at bay. Krona and Ganthet go toe to diminutive toe, two former friends turned to bitter enemies, while Kyle draws the New Guardians free. Their rings fly towards their former bearers but then redirect themselves and jump onto Krona's fingers, allowing him to really lay into Ganthet with the combined power of the emotional spectrum.
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| Not a big surprise, but still very cool! |
Hal falls into Krona's clutches and as the two of them exchange words Sinestro watches Hal stand up to the Guardian, explaining that Hal doesn't fight for them, but for the potential the Corps has despite the flaws each of them has. It's a turning point for Sinestro as the realization dawns on him that he and the Guardians want the same thing and that they've just lost sight of how important emotion is, that they need help. That watershed moment for Sinestro leads to a turn of sorts and the Korugarian comes to Hal's rescue claiming that both he and Jordan would die for the Corps. It's this moment that leads to one of the biggest turning points in Sinestro's history as once again he is chosen to wear a green power ring.
For the first time in years both Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Sinestro fight side by side. The battle doesn't last long as Hal does something that should not be possible - he kills Krona as Atrocitus looks on in rage that he is denied his revenge for the role Krona played in the destruction of Sector 666. The entities are freed from the bodies of the Guardians and the rings leave the dead Krona and go to the hands of the New Guardians - except for the Sinestro Corps ring which leaves the area in search of a new bearer now that Sinestro is no longer worthy of wearing it.
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| Hal Jordan making the impossible possible. |
There's a great moment where Iroque, Indigo-1's real name, reverts to her former self searching for Abin Sur, and Larfleeze who wants nothing to do with the corruptive power of the orange power ring, both of whom transform back in to their more familiar forms once their rings jump back on their fingers. Everyone reacts to Sinestro's new status and Saint Walker interjects when Hal calls for the ring to be removed, but the Guardians quickly dispense with Walker and the rest of the New Guardians so they can take care of Green Lantern Corps business on their own terms.
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| A vision turned to reality |
Rather than deal with Sinestro, who we by now know is the
new Lantern of Sector 2814 in the relaunch of the DC Universe, the Guardians immediately address Hal Jordan and Ganthet for their recent actions. Jordan is their immediate concern, having done the impossible by killing a Guardian. The scene from Hal's vision back in
Green Lantern #62 plays back in part with the Guardians labeling Jordan the most dangerous and his power ring is taken from him as the issue ends with Hal being sent back to Earth a Green Lantern no more.
The Writing -
Geoff Johns does a great job wrapping up the major plot threads while still leaving a number of things open for exploration as the title moves forwards. Part of the love I have for this run is that I'm constantly left wanting more and eagerly anticipating the next issue. I've often used the comparison that the Green Lantern universe is a well worn blanket that I thought I know every thread of, but that Geoff Johns walked up to that blanket and unfolded it to reveal all new areas that I don't know anything about while simultaneously giving me reasons to think that I didn't know what I thought I did. This makes the book easilly accessible to new readers while still interesting for us grizzled veterans.
The Sinestro turn is not as shocking as it could have been, partly due to DC's playing off the "Who's the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814?" angle and the solicitation for a wave of Green Lantern DC Direct figures that include a Sinestro figure who is only seen in shadow. Combined with the statement that Sinestro was the greatest Green Lantern of all time and would be again made this conclusion a pretty easy one to make when I talked about how this arc would
change the status quo back in April.
One of the things I'm always intrigued about Geoff's writing on this title is the origin of the names of some of the characters he comes up with. For example the entity of compassion,
Proselyte, is a term meaning "a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, sect, or the like, to another; convert". That's certainly representative of how members of the Indigo Tribe are chosen based on their lack of compassion and are converted in the process of induction.
Here we have the identity of Indigo-1 revealed to us as Iroque. A web search on the word led me to a Spanish website that, when translated, converted Iroque to Iroquois, one of the major Native American tribes that occupied my home state of New York and surrounding areas. I don't know the thematic reason why Geoff chose that term, or if it were just something coincidental, but if I find more time I might do some more in depth digging to see if I can find a link between the name and the character.
The Art -
Doug Mahnke did a great job with this issue, conveying all the emotion and sense of scale that the conclusion to this crossover deserved. I do wish from an art perspective that he had been given more panel space to convey the rings returning to Iroque and Larfleeze. Other than that I find nothing here to complain about except for maybe a few places where the layers of color take away from some of the detail work.
What Do I Think?
This event was perhaps underplayed by DC in light of the hype that Blackest Night had pushing it to the comics buying public, but in some ways I found this more satsifying. The Green Lantern universe has been changed in a few ways with the death of Mogo and some of the revelations that are not yet fully developed. There are a few threads dangling that I am just so interested in finding out about, such as:
What is the backstory between Iroque and Abin Sur?
What the heck happened to Hector Hammond?
Where is Sayd and what is she doing? (I think she's finding Larfleeze's family myself)
What more don't we know about the origins of the Corps?
Who is the first Lantern?
Is Atrocitus' rage now focused on a powerless Hal Jordan?
What will the Guardians do with Ganthet?
What happens with Mogo gone, and are there ramifications for Johns actions?
Who will lead the Sinestro Corps, and what will they call themselves?
Something
Geoff Johns said was that this story would allow him to talk more about the men behind the power ring and certainly this issue leaves Hal Jordan on Earth without a ring so any panel time Hal gets will likely be more about Hal as an individual. Some fans have complained that it's been a while since we've seen Hal the man and not Hal the Green Lantern and this new direction allows for Johns to do some more character exploration for so long as it serves the overall arc Johns has planned for him.
I also find that there's a new opportunity for us to see Hal and Carol experience more of a role reversal now that she's the superpowered one and he isn't - for the time being. There's no expectation that this is a permanent change and we could very well find Hal wielding a ring by the conclusion of the Aftermath mini series.
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| Green Lantern no more |
There's just so much to explore and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds. And that's just some of what is yet to be expanded on! I don't know where it's going but I'm positive it's going to be an awesome ride.
Five out of five lanterns.
7/30/2011
