Emerald Warriors #13

It's no secret if you've read any of my other comic reviews this month that I think the quality and planning by the creative teams have not been spot on.  In my opinion much of what we've seen from them has been a bit of filler rather than really bridging the events between the War of the Green Lanterns and the post relaunch Green Lantern universe in a way that sets it up for long time readers.  That may be okay for some people, but my own opinion remains that this was an opportunity missed to spend the final issues of the ongoing series really digging into the meat of our four human Green Lanterns and setting the events that leads to the launch of the four new titles.  With that said, I'm going to try to let my overall opinion not interfere with my review of the last issue of the Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors series and the last Green Lantern book of the "old universe".

The Story -

Guy Gardner is on Earth really trying to enjoy his R&R that has been interrupted with intra-galactic crises since it began.  This time it's an incident on board the International Space Station that comes between the red headed lantern and a baseball game, with the incident being the suspicious death of an astronaut who was just about to test a high speed space plane.

Arriving at the station Guy encounters Batman who has rocketed to the station since the death could not only spark an international incident, but Wayne Enterprises is funding the space plane and the astronaut was a personal friend of his.  The history between Batman and Guy Gardner's time on Justice League International come into play with Guy trying to establish this as his case while Batman let's Gardner play good cop, bad cop so he can do the real detective work. 

Guy only thinks he's the primary

 The victim is peppered with holes so Batman makes a beeline for the a control room while Guy interviews the rest of the crew.  A final examination of the victim later and Batman announces that he has deduced the identity of the murderer but the station's defenses kick in before he reveals it to anyone else.  Batman heads off to shutdown the defense systems, leaving Guy to protect the rest of the crew from the stations automated defenses.

When Guy turns his back the murderer, Doctor Owens, escapes and soon has the station rocketing towards Earth orbit as he escapes in the space plane, revealing himself to be a member of the League of Shadows.  Knowing that his rocket won't be able to catch the experimental plane, Batman orders Guy to take off after Owens while Batman leads the astronauts to find escape on his rocket after alerting the Justice League of the impending disaster that will occur when the space station debris crashes into Opal City.



No team-up would be complete
 without this reference

Guy catches Owens and returns with him just in time to create a giant catapult to sent the falling station back into a stable orbit.  Landing on Earth the issue concludes when Batman confronts the murderer, one punching him to the delight of Guy Gardner who no doubt was waiting for this moment to remind us all of the infamous fight between him and the Dark Knight Detective.

The Writing -

This is Pete Tomasi's swan song on the Emerald Warriors series and it's very clear as I've commented in the past that he really knows and understands Guy and has found the voice of the character in a way that evolves him passed the "brash to the point of annoying" point to where the reader can see that there's more to him underneath the gruff exterior.  While many may not always agree with his tactics and even fewer with his interpersonal skills, the one thing no one can deny is that Guy Gardner is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the job with his "the ends justifies the means" mode of operation.

In this issue Tomasi plays with the long history between Batman and Guy Gardner, with Guy trying to be the alpha male all the while he's really being played by the Dark Knight.  It's a fun relationship in contrast to how Batman interacts with the rest of the human members of the Green Lantern Corps although I'll admit it's far better in small doses. 

This issue is long on the action and character interactions and short on actual plot with the murder mystery really just acting as a catalyst to bring the two men together.  The intentions of Owens and the League of Shadows never really plays out and we never really find out what their end game was.  The potential destruction in Opal City is too coincidental timing wise to have been the goal, and we never find out what they want with the space plane if anything.  Again, it's not important to the issue which is just serving as a light romp.

The Art -

I'm not really familiar with Ron Frenz's work but it is serviceable for this issue.  Like the story, the art doesn't spend any time on detail or depth and mainly just serves to illustrate the action of the script.  It's not the worst artwork I've seen in a comic, but neither is it outstanding, failing to really tell the story in a graphic way. 

What Do I Think?

Thus ends the Emerald Warriors series, a run that began with the early plot points of what became the War of the Green Lanterns and the pact between Ganthet, Guy Gardner and Atrocitus.  From that perspective this issue is a bit of a let down, failing to serve as a suitably epic bookend for the first issue which saw Guy questioning his future and the actions that were about to unfold.  Ignoring that, as a single issue Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 is a fun romp between two men with a storied past that could have easily been an issue of the Brave and the Bold.  It never tries to be anything more than an average action story and on that level it succeeds in being just that.  Three out of five lanterns.



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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #12

Emerald Warriors continues its run with a post-war tale that pits Guy Gardner against an unknown threat that makes its attempt at revenge on the Guardians while the Green Lantern Corps appear to be in a state of disarray.  With only one more issue left in the publication of the title the creative team continues to tell standalone one-shot stories that bridge the gap between the current continuity and the DCnU that launches in September.

The Story -

Green Lanterns Adellca and Vegar are on duty in their sector house out on the edge of know space in sector 3595.  Lamenting the lack of activity in their sector the duo are called to action when an alarm goes off signalling that someone or something is encroaching their base.  Alerting Oa, both Vegar and Adellca destroyed along with their sector house which we see seemingly torn to shreds.

On Oa the Guardians and Salaak discuss the situation with Salaak puzzled by the fact that the power rings have  disappeared along with everything else.  The Guardians appear to recognize the modus operendi of whatever caused the obliteration of the sector house and summon Guy Gardner to the Citadel.  As the Guardians inform Gardner that he is needed to lead a mission that calls for his level of extreme prejudice they are informed that the precinct house of sector 3530 and its occupants have also mysteriously disappeared.  

The Guardians then share with Salaak and Gardner the story of a creature that the Guardians imprisoned eons before that was released when a piece of the destroyed Mogo shattered the shell of the prison. The being within is a creature that eats the emerald energy of will that the Guardians have stored on Oa, making it an instant target for the creature's voracious appetite.  It becomes Guy's task to take out Gigorr the Hungry before it reaches Oa but he choice of teammates is limited by recent events.

Headed for a showdown

Joining Gardner is Thedoric of Sector 3930(?) is cut from the same cloth as Guy Gardner despite his somewhat Medieval boar appearance and his similar nature makes him an easy choice for the team as do both Kruul and Squillic who share the same love of excessive force that Guy does. Lastly the team is joined by "Art", a sharphooter who Guy adds to the team for some more firepower.

The gung-ho bunch arrive at the next sector house in the path of Gigorr's route to Oa, but they find it still intact, that is until the giant creature Gigorr appears before them having uncloaked after killing Squillic.  Gigorr makes quick work of Gardner's team until only Guy and Theodoric remain.  The two jump right into the belly of the beast to discover the remains of all fifty of the Green Lanterns that Gigorr has devoured inside the beast's stomach.  Gigorr has kept them alive in a slowly decomposing state which makes rescue an impossibility.

Gigorr revealed

As Theodoric combats the arriving antibodies Guy Gardner uses his ring to charge up all the rings of the fallen lanterns, causing Gigorr to erupt from the inside out.  With that the rings start looking for new masters and a gore covered Guy Gardner and Theodoric are left alive and ready to return back to Oa as this issue comes to a close.

The Writing - 

Pete Tomasi has a great way of telling self-contained stories that play off of the science fiction elements of the Green Lantern Corps.  He adds dimension to the Green Lantern universe and I give him a lot of credit for the universe building he has done as a part of the Green Lantern creative team.  Other than the error with numbering a sector beyond 3600 the only thing that I questioned was the ring's ability to scan for a replacement when the Corps are still dealing with how that is going to function now that Mogo is no longer among the living.  But that's probably putting too much thought into it on my part.

I do like the continued notion that there are things out there that we've never been exposed to despite the fifty plus years that make up the publication history for this part of the DC Universe.  It keeps the mythology fresh and evolving and it's one of the things that keeps the Green Lantern books at the top of my comic reading food chain.  Unlike other issues of late this issue seemed to fit in well with the post-war Corps - a tale that firmly takes place as they start rebuilding once again and alludes to recent events without being necessarily bound to them.  

The Art -

I'll admit that I kind of snickered when I read the name Gigorr, the image of a goofy giant Japanese movie monster immediately springing to my mind.  But one look at what artist Chris Batista came up with and all those images were immediately replaced with the visage of the vile looking creature he came up with.

As good as Gigorr looks, however, his work on Guy Gardner is equally atrocious.  So bad that I almost put the book down and didn't read it.  In fact I'll go so far as to say that if it weren't for Tomasi's script and great Gigorr design I likely would not have finished the issue and just filed it in my longbox.

The intensity of Guy's efforts are undercut by the poor artwork.

What do I Think?

I would have given this a better rating, but the artwork, Gigorr aside, drags the book down.  It really demonstrates to me how both parts of the creative team need to have their game faces on to put out something that's truly above average.  Despite a great science fiction script and a nice self-contained adventure story the artwork pull this down to a three lantern rating.

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Emerald Warriors #11 Review

The thought that the most recent issue of Emerald Warriors, a non-War of the Green Lanterns issue, would be hitting the stands before the conclusion of the event had me a little puzzled.  My concern centered on how this story could have any weight behind it if it clearly wasn't going to reference the event or any of the fallout from it.  In fact my greater issue with the Green Lantern books in general prior to the relaunch in September is how these books will matter at all.  So with some trepidation I read Emerald Warriors #11 and approached it as a story that may not take place chronologically in order with the rest of the books in the Green Lantern family.

The Story -

The lady Yul's ship is surrounded by Kreuvian warships somewhere in deep space.  Salaak receives their distress beacon and dispatches Guy Gardner to deal with it.  Guy happens to be in Sector 2814 on his way to Earth on vacation.  Arriving on the scene Gardner makes quick work of the Kreuvians, but before he leaves the scene Yul requests an audience with the Green Lantern who rescued her.

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The War of the Green Lanterns Reaches a Turning Point in Emerald Warriors #10

Mogo is dead, long live Mogo!  Issue 10 of Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors represents the beginning of the end for the War of the Green Lanterns as the four human members of the Green Lantern Corps break their fellow corpsmen free from the control of Krona's forces.  But the stress of the war and the decisions they make will change the way they look at themselves and each other, and despite winning the war they risk losing much more.

The Story - 

Krona's attempt to turn Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner into his new Guardians is thrown a curve when the destruction of Mogo in Green Lantern Corps #60 results in a psychic backlash that knocks the renegade Guardian and his army for a loop, rendering them temporarily disabled.  The two humans come to the conclusion that something horrible has happened as they realize that the raining rocks are all that remains of their dead comrade.

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Geoff Johns Reveals New DCU Green Lantern Plans



Geoff Johns

 In an Associated Press release this morning Geoff Johns outlined the plans for the Green Lantern franchise in the new DC Universe that springs into being this September.  Johns will continue to write the main book, with Doug Mahnke being joined by Christian Alamy, however Johns isn't referring to Hal Jordan by name when he's talking about the title, and knowing that most of the continuity he's built since Green Lantern: Rebirth will remain intact and that DC's has been pushing the "Who's the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814" line lately, it's likely that while Hal Jordan will be the Green Lantern of the Justice League he may not be the star of the main book.  If true this is a big gamble with potential new readers jumping on after the movie hits theaters in a couple of weeks.

Johns said in the AP interview that if "I didn't think I had a great idea for Green Lantern, I wouldn't have relaunched the book. I would move on if I didn't think I had a great plan for it.  Green Lantern  #1 picks up a few months later in a very different space than we are now.  When you see the cover you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's building off the Green Lantern stories I've done since 'Rebirth, taking it in a very new direction that we've never seen in 'Green Lantern' before."

In addition to that news, it was revealed that Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors would not be a part of the new line of books, being replaced by Green Lantern: The New Guardians, written by Tony Bedard and illustrated by Tyler Kirkham and Batt. That will feature Kyle Rayner leading the team and is the book alluded to by the Bleeding Cool that stars members of every one of the Corps of the emotional spectrum.

Also joining the Green Lantern family of books is the previously announced Red Lantern Corps book featuring Atrocitus and Red Lantern Corps simply titled "Red Lanterns".  The creative team for this new book is Peter Milligan with art by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter.

The Green Lantern Corps title will be returning with  writer Peter J. Tomasi and illustrated by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna.  The book will star Guy Gardner and John Stewart as part of an "elite strike force aimed at keeping the peace".

One pattern that seems to be emerging about the new DCU is that books have more artists assigned to them, presumably to prevent the book from being late in this era when customers are less forgiving when books are released on time and especially now that the whole DC line will be under the microscope with their new day and date digital release strategy.

DC has also released the full solicitations for the first issues of the new titles:

GREEN LANTERN #1

Geoff Johns has been charting the adventures of Hal Jordan and the GREEN LANTERN Corps since GREEN LANTERN: Rebirth, collaborating with such major artists as Ethan Van Sciver, Darwyn Cooke, Prentis Rollins, Marlo Alquiza and Mick Gray.

This fall, Johns reunites with artists Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy, as the series begins anew with GREEN LANTERN #1 with cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. Together they will continue to thrill readers and expand the Green Lantern mythos.

Change is coming. But set aside your fear. It’ll be worth the wait.


GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1

When deadly conflicts emerge across the universe, it’s up to Guy Gardner, John Stewart and an elite Green Lantern strike force to keep the peace.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1 will be written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna. The cover to #1 is by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy.


GREEN LANTERN: THE NEW GUARDIANS #1
Who are The New Guardians?

The power of Rage, Avarice, Fear, Will, Hope, Compassion and Love combine to be the most powerful (and colorful) team in the corps under the leadership of Kyle Rayner. Beware their power . . . and their volatility!

GREEN LANTERN: THE NEW GUARDIANS #1 will be written by Tony Bedard and illustrated with cover by Tyler Kirkham and Batt.


RED LANTERNS #1
Going solo. Atrocitus and his Red Lantern Corps return in their own series, battling against injustice in the most bloody ways imaginable. This Lantern Corps takes no prisoners, they are judge, jury and executioners!

RED LANTERNS #1 will be written by Peter Milligan with art and cover by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter.

Sources: Associated Press, Comic Book Resources

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 9 Review

With all the Green Lantern movie news in the past week I nearly forgot that Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9 came out as part six of the War of the Green Lanterns.  When we last saw our four former Green Lanterns of Earth in Green Lantern Corps #59 they had just discovered the horrible news that Mogo had fallen prey to the corrupting influence of Krona and Parallax, with the issue ending with our four protagonists under attack by the largest member of the Green Lantern Corps.  As we cross the midway point of this crossover event the different story elements start to merge with the four heroes learning some of the events that we readers have already witness and the secrets of the Guardians' past start to get exposed.

The Story -

On Oa Guy, Hal, John and Kyle try to make a hasty retreat as Mogo continues to lay down an offensive assault, and the living planet is joined by more members of the Parallax controlled members of the Green Lantern Corps.  Leaving Ganthet behind the four men pull back as Guy Gardner, the wielder of the red power ring, lays down cover with Hal pulling a page from the Flash's playbook and suggests creating a whirlwind to mask their escape beneath the surface of the planet.

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Will the War of the Green Lanterns Make the Status not Quo?

One of the things I love to do when reading comics is speculate about what is going to happen, or who the shadowy figure is behind the curtain, and I've had a lot of fun doing just that during Geoff Johns run on Green Lantern.  Sometimes I get it right, but more often than not I don't - and usually what actually happens is much, much cooler than I ever anticipated it would be.  The recent return of Krona, for example, has so much more dramatic potential, especially when combined with the "history of the Green Lantern Corps as we've never known it" backstory, than the return of Appa Ali Apsa or an Avarice consumed version of Sayd.  With the War of the Green Lanterns into its third chapter there has been plenty of fodder provided for fans to ponder the outcome for a story which promises to focus on the four Earth men wearing the rings.  Given some of the clues being dropped, we could be looking at an arc that really will change the Green Lantern universe as we know it.

There are some tantalizing pieces of information that seem to form a case for some major changes to the status quo of the Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe following the current story arc.  First and foremost is a bit dialogue attached to a vision Hal had back in Green Lantern #62 where a Guardian says, "Hal Jordan was once the greatest Green Lantern, but in the wake of this war, he is now the most dangerous.  More dangerous than ever with the loss of one of the Lanterns of Sector 2814."  That certainly leads one to believe that Hal will emerge from this event changed in some way and that one of the three remaining Green Lanterns' from Earth will die.  Although that could also imply that the person has simply left the Corps or joined another.

How will the war change Hal Jordan?

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 8 Review

Part three of the War of the Green Lanterns appeared in Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8 and it does essentially what the first two parts did - it transitions all four Earth Green Lanterns from where they left off just before this arc began to a point where the real story can begin.  I don't mean that in a bad way at all, one of the things that I respect about this creative team is that this family of books have managed to maintain their own identity while still feeling like they are connected to each other.  The first three parts have woven together the need to move the characters from where they were to where they need to be for this story with enough action and plot elements to ensure that the books don't seem disjointed with the big picture.

The Story -

We pick up this issue with Guy, Kilowog and Arisia enroute back to Oa and talking about the ramification they've learned from their encounter with Zardor and Sodan Yat.  The three Green Lanterns are mentally assaulted by Parallax due to his return to the central power battery that occurred in the pages of Green Lantern #64.  Because of their previous exposure both Kilowog and Guy Gardner are able to resist being controlled, but Arisia is not so lucky and she heads to Oa.

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Geoff Johns Discusses the War of the Green Lanterns

Geoff Johns has been an extremely busy man this weekend with all the attention being paid to the Green Lantern movie this past weekend at WonderCon.  Amidst all the promotion for the film Johns did have some time to talk about the Green Lantern comics and the current War of the Green Lanterns story arc running between all three of the of the GL titles.

Johns expressed his notion that the current event is an effort to get back to the four human Green Lanterns and focus on the men behind the rings.  As much as this is a story about the threat Krona poses, it is also about getting so involved in doing something that you lose sight of what is really important.  As the writer says, "The point of 'War of the Green Lanterns' really examines that...what kind of life is it when you never come out of the costume?  And if you go to Hal and ask 'Why are you Green Lantern?' he just knows that he's been doing it for so long. He's been up to ten and running in the red, and he needs to really stop and think. The less you do that, the more things pass you by. So maybe that is me really exploring Hal becoming Green Lantern again, becoming involved with all these crazy events and then continuing to just be Green Lantern and lose himself to that ring. It's something he's done before. This has certainly gotten in the way of a lot of relationships in his life."

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 7 Review

                             

One would think that the final issue of Emerald Warriors before we begin The War of the Green Lanterns inter-title story arc would attempt to wrap up Guy Gardner's clash with Zardor, but if anything it leaves everything still on the table.  Between this and the events of Green Lantern issue 62 I'm left thinking that the upcoming mini-event will be driven by the Krona's actions, but Zardor is going to assert himself in a way that will cause much of the events given the pseudo-ending of this story. 

The Story - 

While a pawn of both Krona and Zardor, a mind controlled Sodam Yat pushes Guy Gardner to the brink of death until Guy breaks free.  However his freedom is very short lived and as Guy struggles against a large snake who begins to swallow the Green Lantern whole we learn that Zardor is on to Krona and he believes that Yat is being primed to be Krona's weapon against him should Zardor begin to stopping taking orders from the Maltusan.  Zardor leaves Gardner to his fate as the clones have reached harvesting stage and that takes priority to him.

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 6 Review

Does his choice to keep Kilowog and Arisia in the dark backfire on Guy Gardner?  Is Sodam Yat really responsible for the drain on the Green Lanterns' energy?  We get the answer to those questions and a whole lot of great action in this sixth issue of Peter Tomasi's run on Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors.

The Story -

Last month's issue ended with Atrocitus revealing the pact made between Ganthet, Guy Gardner and himself in front of Kilowog and Arisia, with Guy Gardner back pedaling to explain himself.  Issue six picks up with the continuation of that conversation where Guy goes on to share the events that led up to the alliance between the Green and Red Lanterns, including the acknowledgment that Guy's visions revealed to him Krona's role as the main antagonist in this latest universal crisis.

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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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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 4 Review

Guy Gardner and his team gets closer to learning who is hoarding Rakkonium and the hunt for Sodam Yat continues, only he's not waiting for help to come to him in this week's issue of Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors. 

The Story -

On Daxam the search for Sodam Yat gets rough as his father, the new President of Daxam, uses some questionable interrogation methods to find the location of his son. The Daxamites are desperate to get Yat back so they can throw him in the sun and get superpowers once again and become a power in the galaxy. Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Arisia and Bleez arrive and are denied permission to land - of course Guy Gardner wouldn't be Guy Gardner if he took "no" for an answer, so he and his team make quite an entrance, interrupting the torture, er interrogation, of the Daxamite before he reveals where Yat is hiding.

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 3 Review

More of Zardor's plan is revealed and Guy Gardner makes a fateful decision in the third issue of Pete Tomasi's run on Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors.  The series continues to lay the foundation for what we now know is an upcoming battle of the Green Lanterns and a major throw-down between Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan.

The Story -

On Odym the standoff between Red Lantern Bleez and Green Lanterns Kilowog and Arisia reaches a fever pitch, with Guy Gardner's unwillingness to be held hostage leading to a battle.  Bleez is trying to tell Guy something important but her rage prevents her from really being able to communicate.

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DC Lowers Prices on $3.99 Books

Over on the Source Blog today DC Comics issued a press release of a surprising kind in the day of rising comics prices.  This time a lot of books will be dropping in price from $3.99 to $2.99 with a 2-page  decrease in the number of story pages starting in January.  As a result of this pricing strategy more than 80% of DC's titles will be at the $2.99 price point.

In comments, Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee had the following to say:

“As Co-Publishers, we listened to our fans and to our partners in the retail community who told us that a $3.99 price point for 32 pages was too expensive. Fans were becoming increasingly reluctant to sample new titles and long term fans were beginning to abandon titles and characters that they’d collected for years.” said Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publisher. “We needed a progressive pricing strategy that supports our existing business model and, more importantly, allows this creative industry to thrive for years to come. With the exceptions of oversized comic books, like annuals and specials, we are committed to a $2.99 price point.”

One of the titles affected by this change is Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors.

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 2 Review

Bleez, release me, let me go!

 The second chapter of Peter Tomasi's Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors reveals the identity of our new antagonist while getting inside the psyches of the three main Green Lanterns starring in the title.  Sprinkle in some Blue and Red Lanterns and we have a great sophomore issue.

The Story -

Like the first issue the second one starts with Guy Gardner contemplating his future, this time he wonders how history will judge him for what he's about to do as he gets ready to depart for the unknown sectors.  It's a nice touch with Gardner gazing into giant constructs of the four Green Lanterns from Earth while Tomasi reveals what's going on inside Guy's red headed cranium.  It again illustrates how far Guy has come from those days when there didn't seem to be anything happening there, and I like that he's maturing without losing what makes him unique in his brashness and ego.

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Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 1 Review

I've been looking forward to this first issue of Peter Tomasi's new assignment since he left Green Lantern Corps and especially since the preview pages in Green Lantern Corps #50.    The first issue is out and the book doesn't fail to keep it interesting as the mystery of uneasy alliance between Ganthet, Guy Gardner, and Atrocitus continues to develop.  And we get a new antagonist who's identity is also a bit of a mystery.

The Story - The first several pages of the book are what comprised the sneak preview found in a number of DC's titles the week before, so I won't rehash the events here other than to say that Guy Gardner really shines here during his rescue of some alien physicists.  The captives, however, are none too happy with what they feel was a heavy handed job by Gardner which placed them in jeopardy.

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Green Lantern Corps 50 Review

Mayor's cover to GLC #50

Green Lantern Corps hits a milestone this month with its fiftieth issue.  This month continues with part three of the "Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns" and the first arc by new writer Tony Bedard.  As nice as Ardian Syaf's cover is, if you can pick up the variant cover by Randy Mayor I think it's a bit better, showing Cyborg Superman as the puppet master of the Alpha-Lanterns.

I have to admit going into this issue that I had some expectations since this issue was a big number to hit for a new series.  But I should have realized that even though DC noted the milestone by putting a big "50th Issue!" on the cover, this wasn't going to be a bigger than normal issue with extra pages or anything.  If I had to surmise this issue I'd have to say it's just business as usual for our cast of Green Lanterns, and actually I  was more impressed with the teaser for Green Lantern: Emerald Warrior than I was with the issue itself.

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Green Lantern Corps #45 Review

With Guy Gardner fulling consumed by rage, it's up to Kyle Rayner, Kilowog, and Soranik Natu to rally the rest of the Green Lantern Corps to get Guy under control in this week's issue of Green Lantern Corps, the forty fifth issue by writer Peter Tomasi.

Guy Gardner is one tough S.O.B. on this own, but adding the red power of rage to the mix ups the ante a bit, and it takes all the willpower that the Corps has left to keep Kyle in check on the surface of Mogo.  Readers will remember that the Corps were ripped from the surface of OA by Mogo and pulled to safety there while the Black Lanterns were all dragged to the inner core of the largest Green Lantern to burn in perpetuity in last month's issue.

While the humanoid members of the corps cannot help Guy, it's Mogo who once again shines in this issue.  Mogo forces Kyle to see relive his life through the green and red rings, demonstrating how Guy, like all of us, is the product of all we have experienced in our life.  The two page spread by Pat Gleason does a nice job of showing us some of the highlights of Guy's past, including the famous "one punch" altercation with Batman, his high school footballs days, and so on.  I thought it was really cool how each memory was in a bubble colored either red or green depending on the type of experience.

There's also some use of constructs in the form of Ice and Guy's father.  Without going into too much history, Guy's father was one of those pushy sports dads that really had a bad affect on Guy.  If you're still relatively new to the character and want to know more about Guy's past, Chuck Dixon wrote a four part "Yesterday's Sins" story arc in Guy's solo title from the 1990's that's really good.  It's never been collected to my knowledge, but some online retailers may have them in back issues.  Over at Atomic Avenue, an online comic store portal where hundreds of collectors like myself sell their unwanted books, you can find all four of those issues for a dollar or less per issue. 

Once Munk, or Indigo-2, tells Kyle that they cannot remove Guy's red ring without killing him, Kyle is faced with the prospect that there may be no Hope for Guy, pun intended.  There are some nice character moments between Kyle and Kilowog as Kyle comes to the realization that Guy may not be able to be saved and the Corps will be forced to kill Guy.

Mogo rises to the occasion once again and sucks Guy into a pool of nutrients and begins to filter his blood, absorbing the red infestation in Mogo's.  Now, as cool as it sounds, the one thing that popped into my head was that Mogo has now taken on the Black Lanterns and the red rage within Guy - but could there be side affects?  Time will tell if there are ramifications to this or if it was just a convenient way to resolve both problems with no repercussions.  At any rate Gleason does a great job of showing the hideous thought of having thousands of tiny things writhing around inside and outside your body and Guy has one of the creepiest experiences since he rejected his Vuldarian powers during Green Lantern: Rebirth.

This works and Guy is once again his old normal self as the red ring leaves to find a new host (let's hope it isn't Mogo).  As Kyle helps Guy to his feet we are treated to an uncharacteristic show of emotion from Guy as he embraces Kyle, cementing them as the icon for the strongest bromance in the Green Lantern Corps.

All kidding aside, I think it's a nice show of growth for Guy.  There was a time when I couldn't have cared less for his character because there was so much focus on him being a complete a-hole.  But he's gone from that to being a much broader character than the one trick pony he was year's ago, and I'm glad for that.

The issue ends with a nice scene of the Corps charging up before they get teleported to Earth by the newly arrived Indigo Tribe to join the fray in Blackest Night.

All in all this was a good issue.  It didn't thrill me and I got the overall feeling that Green Lantern Corps #45 was a pause in the story before moving ahead towards the conclusion of Blackest Night.  I don't know if that's due to the skip month in the main event title or not, but I just kinda felt like it was a "pause, let's catch our breath" kind of issue - not that that's a bad thing at all.  Guy's situation had to either be rectified or he had to control the red power of rage before the Corps involvement could move ahead.  But a part of me would have liked for Guy to have resolved the issue a little more independently- I would have liked to see him have a moment like John Stewart did in Green Lantern #49 where he got a chance to shine.

This issue draws us closer to the end of Tomasi and Gleason's run on the title before Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf take over.  Tomasi will be taking Guy Gardner with him on his new Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors title as announced a week or so ago.  So it will be interesting to see how Bedard uses Kyle with John Stewart and Ganthet going forward - and maybe even more interesting is the thought that there may be a new Green Lantern added to the ranks to replace John Stewart as Hal's partner if John is permanently assigned to Oa.

All in all this issue gets four out of five lanterns.

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Big Green Lantern Corps Changes

There was a major Green Lantern related announcement today regarding the Green Lantern Corps title and the launch of a third Green Lantern monthly book.

Over on the DCU blog, The Source, it was revealed that Pete Tomasi will be leaving the Green Lantern Corps title as well as artist Pat Gleason.  While that may sound like bad news, the good news is that Tomasi will be the writer of a third GL title, "Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors", that will star Guy Gardner with frequent appearances by Kilowog.  The art for the new book will be by Fernando Pasarin, who's done work with the JSA relaunch.  Pat Gleason will be one of the regular artists on the bi-weekly Brightest Day book.

Picking up the writing chores of the Green Lantern Corps will be Tony Bedard with art by Ardian Syaf, who did the artwork in the Blackest Night: Batman mini.  Guy Gardner leaves such a whole in the book that it will take two characters to fill it: John Stewart and Green Lantern Ganthet - yes, that's right, Ganthet remains a GL at the end of Blackest Night and does not return to being a Guardian. And...if John Stewart is stationed to Oa - does that mean that there will be a new Green Lantern for Sector 2814 as Hal's backup?

That's great news for fans who like John Stewart, since he's really gotten the short end of the stick and really deserves more time in the spotlight.  With Bedard on as the writer is lends more credence to the rumor that R.E.B.E.L.S. might be the previously announced co-feature in the book, although I still hold out hope that the co-feature will spotlight the other Corps in the emotional spectrum.

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