Green Lantern: Lights Out (The New 52) Review

Green Lantern: Lights out (The New 52)

Hal, Kyle and John get serious hurt, while
Guy takes the time to frolic.

Writers: Robert Venditti, Justin Jordan, Van Jensen and Charles Soule.

Artists: Bard Walker, Sean Chen, Rags Morales, Billy Tan, Bernard Chang and Alessandro Vitti.

Collects: Green Lantern 23.1: Relic, Green Lantern-New Guardians #22-23, Green Lantern #24, Green Lantern Corps #24, Red Lanterns #24 and Green Lantern Annual #2.

Background Information:

So, the Green Lantern event known as Rise of the Third Army/ Wrath of The First Lantern the Guardians of the Universe were killed, and the Green Lanterns are now under control of Hal Jorden. Guy Gardner has been sent to infiltrate the Red Lanterns, becoming their leader. John Stewart is busy training new recruits, and Kyle Rayner is the new White Lantern, and is leading the new Guardians of the Universe on a voyage of discovery.

And Simon Baz? Well, he's apparently disposable.

Review:

Unless you're writing Batman, which, let's face it, is pretty hard to totally mess up, it's hard to envy writers who have to take over a series; especially when you're taking over from writers like Geoff Johns, Tony Beddard and Peter J. Tomasi. Together, these men revived the Green Lantern franchise and made its universe one of the most fascinating within the DCU. Considering that, it's pretty astounding that Lights Out is as good as it is; but don't expect fireworks.

Who's my little guy?

In an alternate universe lived the Lightsmiths. They used and abused the emotional light spectrum. These lightsmiths were more than content to use the power of resolve, faith, terror, empathy, gluttony and fury, for their own selfish purposes. They mocked the scientist who dared to claim that the light was finite, calling him Relic for preaching ideas that were considered out of date.

But Relic was right, the light eventually ran out and his universe died.

Jumping over to our universe, and the Relic has appeared again. This time, he's after the light of this universe's Lanterns, and the various Lantern heroes need to stop him from doing so.

A concept as deep as that one suggests quite a few changes to the GL status quo. Venditti does that, but the road to it seems far longer than the book's seven issues would have us believe. And that's odd, because this book deals with the destruction of Oa, the farewell to the Lantern entities, and various other big changes to the GL franchise. Yet the road to all of this happening, is littered with themes and moments that have happened again and again under previous writers and as you read you can't help but wish that the four different writers here thought, at least once;

"Maybe not spend ages agonising over Carol Ferris and Hal Jordan's relationship, or lack thereof."

"Maybe not hammer the Blue Lanterns as a metaphor for hope leaving the universe."

"Maybe not have an entity possess someone."

"Maybe not have a story that brings in multiple Lantern Corps."

Yet, all of these things are here. I appreciate that Venditti is trying to carve his own path with this franchise, and there are some things he does that certainly suggests he has a plan for the series as a whole. I just wish I didn't feel like I was reading "Geoff Johns-lite" (geddit? lite and light... it's a pun... yeah... is this thing on?).

That said, the writers surrounding Venditti are doing some pretty good things. I didn't expect Charles Soule to blow me away with his work on Red Lanterns, yet here I am blown away by the Red Lanterns chapter of Lights Out. And, if you need any more evidence as to how impressive that really is, that's just one issue in the whole book.

I also liked the fact that even though Hal Jordan is in the front and centre of the book's cover, this really is Kyle Rayner's book. I see Hal and Kyle as equally interesting characters, and I was glad to see that DC let Kyle be the driving force behind this collection.

All the pretty colours...

I feel a little bit conflicted about the art in Lights Out, however. There are no really bad artists here; one of them, Rags Morales, is actually one of my favourites. That said, though, the art really suffers when it comes to depictions of Relic. In the beginning of the book, Relic appears to be about the same size as Galactus. By the final issues, however, we get one that looks about the same size as a Transformer (yep, I've used those as standards of measurement). It's confusing at best, at worst it's a sign that there was little to no correlation between artists and if DC are going to insist on crossing over every Lantern title every six months, they're going to want to be on top of that.

I think the trick to enjoying Lights Out is to treat it as a cog in a greater machine. I genuinely want to see what Venditti and crew do with the Lantern books next, but for now, I'm giving Lights Out a three out of five Lite-smiths (geddit... no? C'mon!)

***

+ A Kyle Rayner centred story
+ The Red Lanterns issue is brilliant.
+ Definitely sees changes coming for the GL franchise.
- Art seems unclear on how big Relic is.
- Relies on oft-repeated clichés of GL.

Alternate Option: Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army/Wrath of the First Lantern

Wait? The Guardians are dead? Find out why with these two books.

Green Lantern New Guardians Vol. 2: Beyond Hope (The New 52) Review

Green Lantern New Guardians Vol. 2: Beyond Hope (The New 52)

"And you know what? Your mask is
stupid!"

Writer: Tony Bedard

Artist: Tyler Kirkham and Batt

Collects: Green Lantern New Guadians #8-12  and Blue Beetle #9

Background Information:

In the last volume of New Guardians, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner received rings from Lantern Corps of all of the emotional colours. It got him on the bad side of the Guardians of the universe and allowed him to inadvertently put a team together consisting of Blue Lantern Saint Walker, Red Lantern Bleez, Star Sapphire Fatality, Sinestro Corpsman Arkillo, Orange Lantern Glomulus and Indigo Tribesman Munk. They raided a giant floating and encountered the archangel Invictus, who charged them with killing Orange Lantern leader Larfleeze.

If you want more information, please refer to my review of Green Lantern New Guardians Vol. 1: The Ring Bearers.

Review:

Beyond Hope does a far better job than its predecessor at tying into the rest of the Green Lantern books, which really helps New Guardians to feel like it’s part of the bigger picture. That said, this collection still reads like it’s about to be cancelled which makes it hard to believe that this title is leading into a crossover event.

So the New Guardians have been charged with killing Larfleeze in order to save a bunch of planets from being destroyed by Invictus. But first they have to charge their rings. This leads to the New Guardians separating to recharge their rings, and get into their own kinds of trouble by extension. For Kyle and Bleez, going to earth means getting into a fight with an assassin sent by the Guardians and meeting Blue Beetle. For Saint Walker, it means fending off an invasion of the Reach from the blue lanterns’ homeworld. For Arkillo, it means returning to the Sinestro Corps’ homeworld of Korugar, only to find that his corps has been decimated by Sinestro himself. Finally, Fatality goes to investigate where the archangel Invictus came from.

In the last volume, Writer Tony Bedard spent most of his time with Kyle Rayner. It was essentially Kyle’s book, and the other lanterns were just in it. Thanks to this different story structure, though, all of the New Guardians get some time in the sun, and you come out liking these other lanterns a lot more. Each lantern here does something cool and that’s pretty refreshing after reading a lot of team books from both DC and Marvel that really only focus on one or two characters.

By far the high point of this book, though is Saint Walkers defence of the blue lantern world against the Reach. Blue Lanterns have limited attack power without a green lantern nearby. Without their green friends, they can only hope to heal and defend. Bedard though, shows that their lack of attack power is hardly a weakness. The Reach’s army is made of beings from other planets who have been possessed by scarabs- small bug like devices that control whoever they latch on to, while giving them a tech-suit with different weapons and abilities. Healing them means disconnecting them from the scarab. It’s nice to see characters without a lethal ability hold their own against a foe that formidable and if anything, this volume made me desperate to see a Blue Lantern series in the future.

My only real problem with this story was that the end of this collection feels like a series cancellation. The decision is ultimately made that a team like the New Guardians cannot possibly succeed, and the team breaks up. That would be fine if the series were to actually be cancelled, but New Guardians is on its 27^th issue by now- it seems strange that the team would break up now. What’s more, that breaking up doesn’t feel all that justified, the one responsible for Kyle getting the rings is revealed, and that causes everyone to leave- it doesn’t quite make sense.

Art here is fairly consistent with the first volume. As a slight improvement, the penchant Tyler Kirkham had for showing Fatality’s cleavage instead of her face is gone, but now he has one panel where only Bleez’s backside does more or less the same job. It happens less than the previous volume, but it still feels kinda tacky.

Beyond Hope is an enjoyable showcase for the non-green lanterns, but does leave you feeling a little deflated. It gets a three out of five replacement backsides.

***

+ Feels like it’s part of the bigger picture.

+ Good showcase of all the lanterns.

+ Feels like a cancelation.

+ Bleez is the new sexualised character.

Alternate Option: Green Lantern Corps: Fearsome

If you read one Green Lantern Book, you have to read them all.

Green Lantern New Guardians Vol. 1: The Ring Bearers (The New 52) Review

Green Lantern New Guardians Vol. 1: The Ring Bearer (The New 52)

"Why can't we be friends, Why can't
we be friends..."

Writer: Tony Beddard

Artists: Tyler Kirkham and Batt

Collects: Green Lantern New Guardians #1-7

Background Information:

One of the biggest elements that Geoff Johns has added to the Green Lantern mythos is the existence of lanterns of all the colours of the rainbow. All of these colours have different emotional attachments. Green Lanterns harness the light of Will. The Sinestro Corps use the yellow light of fear. Rage is the source of the Red Lanterns’ abilities. Blue Lanterns get their power from Hope. Agent Orange, wields the light of Avarice. The Star Sapphires fight with the violet light of Love (point- sapphires are blue, not violet). And the Indigo Tribe’s owe their abilities to Compassion. These different groups don’t typically play nice together.

Why am I mentioning Geoff Johns in a review of a Tony Beddard book? You’ll see.

Review:

So New Guardians tells the story of the fourth Earth lantern, Kyle Rayner. Kyle is an artist, which makes him pretty well suited to a power that utilises his imagination. Unlike the other Green Lanterns, however, Kyle has actually felt a range of emotions outside of will. In the old DC universe, Kyle felt fear when he found his girlfriend dismembered and left in his fridge. He felt love multiple times as the Green Lantern Corps’ resident player (he’s had multiple girlfriends over time).

While nothing’s specifically mentioned about these emotions in The Ring Bearer, that may be part of the reason that rings from every lantern group in the universe suddenly pick him as their bearer. This has the dual effect of irritating the Guardians, the official bosses of the Green Lantern Corps, and irritating every single other Lantern out there. So Kyle finds himself on the bad side of the Red Lanterns, Sinestro Corps, Indigo Tribesmen and Star Sapphire, who each send their own representative to take out Kyle and retrieve the rings. The only one who is really on Kyle’s side is the Blue Lantern Saint Walker, but he’s still after his corps’ lost ring.

Somehow, this all results in a grudging team-up between these multi-coloured lanterns. Grudging team-ups have happened before; take Geoff Johns’ Justice League for example. The difference here, though, is that it works better than Johns’ attempts did. These New Guardians have a genuine reason for not liking each other- their emotional spectrums are so at odds with each other. The Sinestro Corps Arkillo, for example, distrusts Saint Walker because hope is naturally at odd with fear. Where Beddard succeeds, however, is finding meaningful ways for the characters to grow and reconcile their differences. It’s a great way for the characters to truly grow and New Guardians feels a better book because of it.

My only real complaint with the story here is that it feels less connected to the other two Green Lantern books than Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps. In these books, it becomes clear that the Guardians are up to something no good, and that becomes the real thrust of the two titles. In The Ring Bearers, the corruption of the Guardians is hinted at, but never really utilised.

That said, the story is still fun to read. The New Guardians travel to exotic locations and meet and fight a variety of alien life. There’s an underlying conspiracy here, even if it seems less drastic than the one in the other two Green Lantern books. And yes, there’s plenty of great, ring-slinging action. Being an artist, Kyle’s projections tend to be more interesting than most, and Beddard takes full advantage of this. Early on, Kyle saves a falling crane by using constructs shaped as giant construction workers. It constructs like these that really help New Guardians to stand out against other Lantern books.

Art here is distinctive from other Lantern books, but not really distinctive from other New 52 titles. That sounds confusing, but let me explain. In Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and Red Lanterns most of the colours tend to be limited to shades of red or green. That’s fine, but eventually it becomes a bit monotonous. We're still, though, getting a lot of Jim Lee-esque work here. New Guardians stands out because its story allows the for a wider colour palette, and it looks bright, fun and just plain wonderous. My one problem with the art is the handling of Star Sapphire Fatality. Granted, she shows less skin than other Star Sapphires, but artist Tyler Kirkham crops her head out of at least two panels, allowing the reader to see only her breasts. At one point, you’ll even find yourself thinking “Um, why is her cleavage talking? Oh, because we can’t see her head!”

The Ring Bearers is a great utilisation of Kyle’s character as a vehicle for storytelling, but it’s a shame that it doesn’t really connect to the other two Green Lantern books as well as it could have. It gets a three and a half out of five talking cleavages.

*** ½

+ Characters are excellently utilised

+ Action is genuinely fun to read

- Doesn’t connect as well to other Green Lantern titles

- Fatality’s is too sexualised.

Alternate Option: Green Lantern: Sinestro

No Lantern book feels as significant to the franchise mythos than Geoff Johns’ work in the new 52- definitely worth your time.