Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2: Alpha War
 |
| Hmmm... where would we find two shiny people in a dark room... |
Writer: Peter J
Tomasi
Artists: Fernando
Pasarin and Scott Hanna
Collects: Green Lantern Corps #0, 8-14
Background
Information:
In the last volume, Guy Gardner and John Stewart took on an
alien race called the Keepers- the ones formerly tasked with storing the green
light of willpower. During that time, John was imprisoned and interrogated with
other Lanterns over codes that would allow the keepers to enter Oa, the home of
the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe. In order to stop one
lantern from giving the codes away, John killed him. He then went on to take
that lantern’s body to his home planet where his parents and younger brother
gave him a farewell. Of course, at that point, nobody knew that the lantern
died at John’s hands.
Yep, that’s totally
not going to blow up in his face.
Totally won’t.
Review:
 |
| Quick, shoot the green guys... oh... wait... |
The first volume of Green
Lantern Corps could have been much better, even if it wasn’t bad. I seriously doubt people would be
desperate for a second volume based on the previous one, were it not for the fact
that the series crosses right over with the other GL titles. Good thing that Alpha War seriously ups the game in
Tomasi’s New 52 run; producing a story that rewards you for slogging through
the first volume and ramps up interest in the third.
This volume concerns the fallout of John Stewart’s lantern
killing. The Alpha Corps (the Green Lanterns charged with policing the Green
Lanterns), have footage of the dastardly deed and have come with an arrest
warrant for Stewart. Naturally, Guy Gardner opposes the arrest and you can bet
people are going to smash each other with green objects.
The story is deeply rooted in how bad the Guardians are, and
it almost goes without saying that to people familiar with the years of GL
history. There’s nothing new here in that regard, but there’s a sense here that
it’s finally going to boil over and that makes the volume interesting.
Tomasi also does a fine job at digging into GL history as
references to the Manhunters, Mogo and the Psions. They’re all wrapped into the
story and it’s entertaining in many ways. The battles between the Alpha
Lanterns and the Corps is also well-done in the way it takes advantage of that
history. Let’s face it; the Alphas are able to switch off the Lantern rings, so
Guy needs to pull out something pretty clever. I’m more than happy to read
that, but there’s one issue that bother me.
This book is supposed to be about Guy and John- two equally awesome lanterns that work
together to save the universe. Why, then, does this title seem to be almost
exclusively Guy’s book? Between this and last volume, John’s position has been
relegated to “person in need of rescuing”. That has to be insulting to Stewart
fans, and it smacks in the face of all the work DC did at the beginning of the
New 52 to diversify their line.
The cliffhanger at the end of this book, however, is worth
the price of the book and definitely validates buying the next volume. I won’t
spoil it, but there’s some suggestion here that Guy won’t hijack the whole
title for much longer.
 |
| It never occurred to me that Guy had an even stupider haircut at some stage. |
Somehow, though Pasarin’s art was distorted and not pretty
at all in the first volume, the art in this volume looks a lot better. The
constipated faces aren’t there anymore, nor do they look botoxed. There is
still a lot of green here, and you’re gonna’ get sick of that colour by the end
of this volume, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Alpha War has
successfully validated Green Lantern
Corps. It gets a four out of five people in need of saving.
+ Rewards you for reading volume 1.
+ Draws on GL history.
+ Art looks better.
- Guy steals too much spotlight
Alternate Option: Green Lantern: The Return of Black Hand
If you start this series, you need to read all the GL line.
No comments:
Post a Comment