Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps

Green Lantern: Rebirth 1-6

Here we go, the start of Geoff Johns’ epic GL run.  Taken in conjunction with Green Lantern Corps (which he didn’t write beyond the Recharge miniseries), it’s completely mindblowing in its ambition, starting with the resurrection and redemption of Hal Jordan, the return of the Corps, the introduction of the Sinestro Corps, the revelation of an entire spectrum of ringed corps, then deciding that wasn’t enough and adding black and white rings on top of it all.  I remember it all being batshit crazy and wonderful, and it all begins with this mini-series.

I love the Parallax retcon, explaining both Jordan’s original heel turn and the reason behind the green rings’ seemingly ridiculous weakness to yellow, a decades-old contrivance that never made sense to me.  Everything Johns proposes works for me, and the beautiful art really helps to sell it.  

I love how he draws Stewart's energy signature.

You can always count on a well-timed GL oath recitation

Johns’ description of each Lantern’s powers as an extension of their personalities is evocative and a great piece of character work.  And it looks great.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Green Lantern Secret Files 2005

Darwyn Cooke drawing a nice little Rule of Threes story by Johns is an automatic win in my book.

Cooke is magic.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Green Lantern 1-20

Not bad at all, but as with his Flash run, Johns can’t quite make the main character as interesting to me as his supporting cast.  The various personalities over in GLC make for a much more entertaining read than the main title here, but that doesn’t diminish some really fun plotting.

Grotesquely beautiful

Petty Batman is the best Batman.

The first appearance of the yellow ring, with its twist on the traditional summons, gives me chills:

So good.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good, Nice by the end.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge 1-5
Green Lantern Corps 1-13

I always forget that Dave Gibbons isn’t just the legendary artist of Watchmen; he’s a writer too, and a damn good one, as these issues just reminded me.  Recharge is a glorious action movie with humor and a touch of mystery, and the act three set piece is frankly better than most MCU final battles.  

What'd I say about the oath?

Patrick Gleason is the perfect artist for this cosmic title, mixing gritty energy with the spectacle of multiple alien worlds.

The GLC is often characterized as a galactic police force, and Gibbons adroitly accomplishes the same thing as Greg Rucka and Ed Brubraker on Gotham Central - He juggles a massive ensemble cast where each member of the squad feels like a fully-realized character who could easily drive a story arc on their own.  It’s no small feat, and it’s partly why I like this series better than Green Lantern. 

Up next is the Sinestro Corps War, and I can’t wait.  In fact, that crossover was my introduction to these two titles; the name alone was fairly exploding with possibility when I first heard it, and I couldn’t resist.  It’s because of the awesomeness of the upcoming issues that I originally went back and bought all of the issues that I reviewed today.  (First time around, I stopped after Rebirth.  Like I said, Hal Jordan didn’t do it for me.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good for Recharge, Pretty good for the rest