“This is….totally pointless”

This week’s Green Lanterns #29 is that training issue you knew had to be a part of this story as Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz try to take the six remaining “First Green Lanterns” and show them that there’s more to having the ring than using it for your own personal gain.  As unmotivated and uninspired as the six ring bearers are it takes an act from Volthoom to get them to finally see the bigger picture.

I’m at a loss with this issue because it just drags out way too long to be any fun.  It’s scene after scene of ineffective tactics, from lame lectures to poorly execute training exercises, and by the time the lanterns finally come around to seeing the bigger threat that’s ahead of them there’s little reason to get pumped up by the “oo-rah” group oath scene.  And, once again, the progression of the actual story is sacrificed in favor of character moments which do nothing to make the reader want to rally behind any of them.  It seems in Sam Humphries’ final issues he’s basically phoning it in to fill the pages rather than give us a story that’s worth the cover price.

Humphries even falls back on the ridiculous “Emerald Sight” gimmick again as a lazy way of providing the Lanterns with information about Volthoom’s actions.  At the end of the day this issue isn’t worth the time or effort to get a full review – and truthfully there’s nothing to write about.  The one positive is that at least Eduardo Panseca makes it a pretty issue to look at, although I do wish that the creative team would decide on what color Jessica Cruz’s hair and eyes so we could get some kind of consistency.

Green Lanterns #29 is an entirely skippable issue that spends too much time showing how self absorbed the characters are and draining what little momentum is left from the plot.  The one saving grace is that the book is least visually appealing, but hardly enough to warrant dropping three bucks on it.  Four out of ten lanterns.