Green Lantern #7 is a bit strange in that the solicitation for the issue and the cover are in no way connected to the contents of the issue.  Sure we’re used to comic book covers not exactly being accurate to the book, but in this case, both the solicitation and the cover are in sync with each other, but the content is not. I can only assume that this was an oversight since, after reading this issue, the October solicitation is more in line with what we might be reading next month. So for anyone looking to learn the fate of Kilowog – you won’t find it here.

The issue itself continues to drag out the dual plots of the series, and in all honesty, I just wish DC had split this into two different series for the sake of saving people money who might only have been interested in one of the plots. At this point readers still sticking with this book are at least $40 invested and even now that we’re into the second half of the story we know very little about what story Geoffrey Thorne is trying to tell.

The opening section takes place on the journey to rescue Kilowog on Anacitus. John and Lonar have some dialog before Lonar plucks John out of our time and goes back in history to when the New Gods were the Really New Gods. Seeing younger versions of Darkseid (Uxas), Highfather (Izaya), and the rest is interesting, and Thorne creates some previously unknown history between the New Gods and the Oans. Here Ganthat and the rest of the future Guardians of the Universe unleash the A’Tmatentrym, the weapon we first saw back in this run’s first issue. Thorne also has the Guardians using a few emotions from the emotional spectrum. I haven’t been a fan of this run if that wasn’t obvious, but I admittedly enjoyed the encounter.

Thorne has John interacting with the timeline, revealing himself to the Guardians before John “evolves” to the next level. This ties back to the memory that Saqari accessed in issue four, of events that unfolded during the Green Lantern: Mosaic series. This also adds another dimension to John’s original introduction back in Green Lantern #87, where the Guardians choose John and Hal’s backup. The events of this issue imply that the Guardians may have known of John and chose him knowing at least a bit of his future. John evolves and pops back to the present, ending the first half of the issue.

I felt like Thorne missed some of John’s character is now dismissive John is of Lonar. John has had some experiences with the New Gods and I feel like he would have paid heed to Lonar rather than blow him off. John has met Lonar before (during Cosmic Odyssey) so I just think it odd that John wouldn’t pause and consider what Lonar is telling him considering how over their heads the Green Lanterns are.

The entire second half revolves around the unconscious Keli Quintela and her unconscious mind wreaking havoc when the medical crew on the Thanagarian ship tries to remove her gauntlet. Constructs start attacking anyone not named Simon Baz and only Simon can reach Keli to calm her down. We also see that Iolande, B’Dg, and Larvox are alive and well, plus we see Simon finally putting two and two together when it comes to Jessica Cruz and her new status as a Yellow Lantern as he analyzes the recording of their interactions from issue five. The only bit of actual plot movement is Councilor Fel’s comments that they may have some information about what happened to the power battery.

The issue is really a mixed bag. For me, I felt that the John Stewart part of the story held a little bit of interest, but Tom Raney’s art is not a style I enjoy. Meanwhile, Marco Santucci’s artwork remains strong but other than this serving to highlight the relationship between Keli and Simon I didn’t find any of it particularly worth the price of admission. And that’s my overall feeling about the entire run so far – there’s just not enough going on that’s reason enough to invest in it. Maybe it’ll read better in trade, but I’m not optimistic about it.

Green Lantern #7 is more of the same, and that’s not saying much. In reading Green Lantern for over forty years and being a major Green Lantern fan, I can only think of one time when I was this dissatisfied with the franchise. I hope DC is paying attention to what fans are saying about this book and give us something good after we endure the rest of this first arc. Four out of ten lanterns.