This week the Geoffrey Thorne Green Lantern series released its tenth issue, and here is where the two plots really move closer to merging back into one overall narrative.  The big question is whether or not Thorne will stick the landing.

Jumping right into this issue, the John Stewart plot opens in a rather confusing nature, but we soon realize that we’re seeing versions of John’s potential “future state”. John is put into the position of having to consume the Godstorm and make a choice as to how he’s going to manage his new found power. Among the possible futures in one where John has Parallax like powers which seem to corrupt him in much the same manner as Stewart desires to undo a lot of tragedy. This marks an on-page reunion between John and Katma Tui, his wife who was killed years ago. Fans will not doubt be happy to see her back again, even if only for a cameo.

The problem with John’s ascension is where he leaves the character once the dust settles. The obvious thing is for John to use his power to put the battery back again, sacrificing godhood for the sake of the Corps. I truly hope that’s not the case as it’s terribly cliché and predictable, but given how much of the story has been lacking in imagination I would not at all be surprised that this is where Thorne is taking this. One connecting thread as John’s story starts to dovetail with the events on Oa is that he sees “the Source”, referred to by Koyos once the scene shifts.

On Oa there are major problems with Koyos, Yridian, and the magic users as they cause major problems with Jo Mullein and the ringless Green Lanterns. Fortunately there’s apparently an armory full of mech suits for the Corps to equip themselves with, a silly notion if there ever was one. The plot unfurls a bit more once we learn that Nemosyni has double crossed Koyos despite siding with him at one point. Here’s where the train completely jump the rails for me.

First we learn that the Guardians were fine all along, just under a protective protocol Nemosyni put in place. Why she waits until now to revive them defies logic, but not as much as her other gambit. Thorne reveals that it was Nemosyni who forged Jo’s unique ring, and that sending her off on her Far Sector mission was her “ace in the hole” plan if she needed one. No remember, the Guardians are this ancient, extremely intelligent beings – and her plan was to give a prototype ring to a noob who’s never used a ring before in hopes that she’s somehow become proficient enough to bail her out in the eleventh hour?

The issue looks pretty good visually, mainly due to bringing in ChrisCross and Juan Castro to accompany Marco Santucci. There are some nice visuals sprinkled throughout the book and the art overall is pleasing to the eyes.

Green Lantern #10 continues to propel the series towards the completion of Geoff Thorne’s story. In all honesty I can’t think of a time in the history of the franchise when the writing has been this poor. I fully expect we’ll see John Stewart return to save the day over the course of the next two issues, but in the end I fail to find much to enjoy about the book. Four out of ten lanterns.