(The
following review was largely written a week or two after the original publication
date of Green Lantern Corps Annual #1.
It was a time of innocent excitement; it was before news of the GL
creative team departures was widely known.
In some respects this is a last chance to remember what Fantern life was
like before ‘The End’).
I’d
like to take a moment if I may to cast your thoughts back to August 2012 when
DC Comics released the Geoff Johns penned Green
Lantern Annual #1. The oversized
publication did much to maintain Johns’ reputation as the quintessential
mythmaker of the Green Lantern universe.
It was in that issue all those months ago that the Guardians of the
Universe finally revealed themselves as the malevolent force we the readers had
long known them to be. Here too were the
first rumblings of the Third Army that promised to sweep ferociously across the
DCU. In those early moments we were
hypnotically entranced as they assimilated their human victims. The kind of horror you can’t look away from
even though your mind is screaming at you to run. We were also introduced to another breed of
Maltusan, cousins to the Guardians, who showed potential for great things. And, more than all of this, we encountered
the First Lantern trapped in his multi-coloured prison of emotional
energy. Johns’ teased his appearance to deftly
to bait us in a way that only the very best writers can – and he and his fellow
GL creators have continued to tease us ever since.
In
the meantime we’ve been introduced to a new Green Lantern in the form of Simon
Baz and over in Green Lanterns: New
Guardians Kyle has completed his quest to become a White Lantern. While both of these developments are hugely
interesting in themselves little has happened in the intervening months to match
the excitement and invention of that GL
Annual. The story of the Third Army
crept along in an underwhelming fashion despite its colossal opening salvo.
With all this in mind I am delighted to be able to report to you here that the GLC Annual concludes the crossover event
in fine style. Perhaps it is only right
and proper that annuals give a little bit more bang for your buck than their
monthly counterparts. And not just in
page count either. In this issue Johns’
former editor and writing partner Peter J. Tomasi proves he is just as capable
of producing an oversized Green Lantern book that is a compelling page turner
from cover to cover. By comparison it
almost wasn’t worth making us wait so many months for the story to get to this
point.
The
art in the book is not handled by the usual Green
Lantern Corps team. This is likely a
result of time constraints in production but I like to think that it might
partially because the annual is a bit different from the monthly title. Tomasi has to tie together plots that occur
in the four Lantern tiles contributing to the ‘Rise of The Third Army’
crossover and in a weird way the pencils of ChrisCross lend themselves very
well to this task. He manages to take a
little of the tone from each book and melt it down into a very successful
sequence that pays a passing tribute to all of them. It is only a small point but the colouring
from Wil Quintana is a little overstated for my taste. It sounds an odd thing to say but when you
have seen as much green in a comic book as I have you become something of a
connoisseur and the green in the opening page for example is just a little too…
green.
It
is a comic that reads well as a standalone issue even though it is the final
act of a 19 book crossover event. The
sheer numbers of characters featured in the book would be considered staggering
anywhere else but this is Green Lantern where over the last nine years the
projection of epic has been honed to perfection. An intense battle with the future of the
universe as the stake escalates in a rolling crescendo of action.
Beginning
with a murmur, ChrisCross’ rendition of Kilowog trudging through the foundry
tunnels beneath Oa is priceless. This is
one ugly poozer. The likeness of the
veteran lantern from Bolovax Vik is more than a little
reminiscent of Joe Staton’s original artwork for the character way back in
Green Lantern Corps #201 (v.2).
Not long after a
powerless Guy Garnder rocks up to Oa in an armored flight suit created from the
construct of his Lantern buddy, B’dg.
Thinking about this and previous appearances going back to Emerald Warriors and beyond I wouldn’t
be at all surprised to hear that Guy is Tomasi’s favorite Lantern. That is one double-hard GL we are dealing
with.
Fresh from the
pages of Green Lantern, Baz and B’dg
don’t take long to get themselves in the worst kind of trouble. They get sucked into the Book of Black
through the gaping mouth of the First Lantern.
On the face of it this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but it captured
my imagination no end. It’s the first
portent we get signaling the level of control the First Lantern, Volthoom,
could potentially wield over our heroes.
More layers are added to the narrative when Kilowog’s squad of rebel GLs
is revealed to include the likes of regular fan favorites Soranik Natu and Vath
Sarn, who have not been seen in these pages since the DC’s New 52 was launched. Outside of these couple of panels the
characters don’t really do anything of note.
Their appearance is simply a crowd pleaser and in that respect it
succeeds amply.
Again
giving the fans exactly what they want, the largest and most powerful Green
Lantern in the history of the Corps is returned to us when Mogo reforms his
planetary mass and successfully blasts a platoon of deadly Thirdites out of
existence. Soon lanterns of every colour
have joined led by White Lantern Kyle.
Atrocitus’s reprogrammed Manhunters as shown in Red Lanterns arrive to fight shoulder to shoulder with the warriors
of the emotional spectrum.
My
personal favourite moment in the book is a scene where Guy Gardner appears to
attack the evil Guardians single-handed while still depowered and
vulnerable. Cut between panels are
glimpses of Kilowog quoting the Green Lantern oath. His ferocity grows with each line delivered. It becomes clear that Guy’s efforts are only
a distraction as a super-charged ‘Wog forms giant hand constructs to tear the
planets crust in two and free the hundreds of Lanterns from massive Guardian death
trap in the process.
Sensing
defeat at the hands of their former servants is imminent the Matusans syphon more
and more energy from their mysterious prisoner, the First Lantern. The tide of the battle turns quickly and now
it is the Guardians who look to be unstoppable.
As it transpires this last audacious move was their undoing. They drew enough power to weaken the First Lantern’s
cage. Suddenly he breaks free and promises that everything the Guardians
created “will be no more. At the same
time art panel after art panel fades to white as if the very comic itself has
been bleached away. Thus, without a
seconds respite, begins the “Wrath of the First Lantern” and the next
rollercoaster crossover event is set in motion.
It is one thing after another for our Green Lanterns and, as a fan, I feel we are right there along with them. DC Comics and creators Johns, Tomasi et al. have no intention of taking their foot of the pedal on this one. What other superhero comic who handle that sort of intensity and just keep on going? At least over in the Batman, the caped crusader gets a few hours off at the end of each mission to share a cup of tea with Alfred. Our war-hardened GLs have no such luxury…
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