Green Lantern #18 brings to an end (okay, not necessarily and end, but closure) to a few of the plots threads that have been running through the series so far. Having taken a number of months off from doing reviews this seemed like a good time to start them up again, so what do I think about how Jeremy Adams dealt with all of the plates he’s been spinning in his run as of late? Let’s dive in.
I’ve felt for a while now that Jeremy hasn’t so much as resolved any major story points he’s laid out so far, but I think with this issue he wraps a number of them up while leaving, and introducing others. Re-reading the series recently has altered the way I look at the overarching narrative in that I think Adam’s has, intentionally or not, built his run more like a television season than a traditional comic series. Some things, like the issue of Kilowog’s “death” have been in play since the very beginning and only now with this issue arrived at a point of resolution. Others, like Carol Ferris’ journey as a superhero, are just getting going. So how a reader feels about the run so far might be influenced by how long it’s taken to get from point a to point b. Rather than view this issue as the end of and arc, I feel like this was a season finale that wrapped up most of the major plots so I hope that those readers who’ve been hanging on waiting for the Thaaros plot to end found this conclusion to be rewarding.
I think Adams and Phillip Kennedy Johnson both started their journey inheriting a considerable amount of baggage from the Geoffrey Thorne run. And while I think I’d have approached it differently myself and just ignored it, I believe that Adams and Johnson are far more respectful about the previous writer than I know I would be. Looking over the run so far I think that Adams has done a good job of coming up with a creative way to move past some of things that were left for him to deal with in a way that throws out the baby while saving the bathwater. By the end of this issue we have the Guardians back, albeit changes in ways that we don’t yet understand, the “Source Battery” is no more, and all of the Earth Lanterns are restored to some sort of familiar status quo with Kyle even being returned to being a White Lantern. I’m still not sure if John is still ascended at this point, but hopefully that nonsense is a thing of the past.
Thaaros and Varron, or Dark Star and Star Shroud if you prefer, end up being the undoing of each other despite each having the power to put the Green Lanterns back on their heels. Dark Star’s ego prevents him from doing things the easy way and instead snatches defeat from the jaws of victory in his hubris to see his followers defeat the lanterns rather than just lay waste to them himself. The battle above Oa is one of the most spectacular battles we’ve seen in quite some time, and watching B’Dg beating on his foes with an acorn axe is…..well, it’s nuts! I have to admit that I find watching Green Lanterns using hand to hand weapons counterproductive, but I understand how it makes the fight seem more brutal. I’m not a fan of it, but I get it.
There are some good character moments here, particularly for Kyle and Hal, as they each tackle one of the major foes. Seeing Hal being the natural leader and how the lanterns rally behind him reminds me of some of my favorite stories of the past, so it felt good as a fan to see how the Earth Lanterns trust him when the stakes are high and some of them want to make a defensive retreat. Kyle’s been one of least utilized Earth Lanterns in this run thus far, so I like that Adams found a way to use him in a way that matters to the overall story and resonates with the journey he took in the Green Lantern: New Guardians series. Jessica Cruz also got a great moment in freeing Kilowog from his fear fueled stupor in a way that mattered to that battle raging outside the chambers of the Unseeing.
Perhaps the biggest winner in this issue though is Carol Ferris, whose confrontation with the Predator is loooong overdue. For those who haven’t been reading Green Lantern for a long time, there was a period of time when the Predator merged with Carol, turning her down a dark path where she killed John Stewart’s wife, Green Lantern Katma Tui (Action Comics #601). As the last remaining Star Sapphire (for now), Carol puts the Predator in his place in a speech highly reminiscent of the words she directed at Aya in the “Love is a Battlefield” episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series. It’s another important step not only in her journey as a superhero, but perhaps in her own journey of self-discovery. Carol hasn’t always been fair to Hal in their relationship and I think that what’s being done with the character only positions Hal and Carol to eventually be the power couple many of us have wanted to see for years.
While the Green Lanterns don’t technically defeat Dark Star and Star Shroud, they do at least get them off the playing field by shoving them through a portal into another dimension where the Old Gods exist. I doubt it’s the last we’ve seen of them, but in all honesty I’ve had enough of them for a while and don’t particularly want to see them return any time soon. They served their purpose, but in all honesty I’m not sure what could be done with them that would make me want to read more of them.
The issue of course ends with an epilogue that points to where we go next. The emotional spectrum is fractured, which sounds like a job for the White Lantern and for the Green Lantern Corps to need to handle the fallout. And of course we have Nathan Broome and his new friend to ponder as well. For those that don’t recognize him, that character is Luciphage, also known as Starbreaker. Starbreaker is an energy vampire, and early form of a Sun-Eater. Yes, a Sun-Eater like the one that nearly destroyed Earth during the Final Night story back in 1996. We haven’t seen Starbreaker since the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 from ten years ago when he was pretty much just relegated as a background character.
More recently we’ve seen Luciphage’s daughter in the pages of The Green Lantern and Green Lantern: Blackstars during the Grant Morrison / Liam Sharpe run from 2019. Countess Belzebeth served as a foil for Hal Jordan during the time and referred to the death of Starbreaker. Being a vampire, well, death is never permanent is it? What most interesting about Starbreaker here is that he doesn’t just consume energy; he can live off of negative emotions as well. Emotions like rage, fear….sorrow. I can’t imaging Nathan Broome knows much about Starbreaker so at this point I’m looking at him as kind of the Renfield to Starbreaker’s Dracula, an unwitting ally who is most likely never going to get the reward he seeks. Thinking of Starbreaker and the fractured spectrum leads to some interesting possibilities, so I am fascinated by where Adams is going to take this.
None of what’s between the covers would be effective without the fantastic efforts of Xermanico and Romulo Fajardo Jr. Xermanico’s art is brilliant, elevated by Farjardo’s awesome coloring job. The work done with facial expressions added more emotional weight to the character moments as well as convey the resolve and determination in the heat of battle.
Green Lantern #18 brings to a close the first major arc of the Jeremy Adam’s era with an epic, action packed finale that brings some plot threads to a conclusion while setting new plots in motion. The art team really delivers a feast for the eyes with some fantastic imagery that makes the most of Adam’s battle for the fate of Oa. With the Guardians returned and the emotional spectrum still a mess, there’s just enough time for the Green Lanterns to lick their wounds and brace themselves for their next adventure. Nine out of ten lanterns.
