Over the last 5 years or so my consumption of DC Comics has gone from occasional to die-hard. There are certain books which I look forward to each month, but none of them have been able to hold a candle to the absolute guaranteed good reads of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps.
Throughout the last year or so the running theme in both Green Lantern books has been a prelude to the upcoming "War of Light" which is then going to bring about the dreaded "Darkest Night" and the birth of the Black Lanterns. Oooooo - Scary! From all of the preview stuff so far, it's a good bet that the Black Lantern has the ability to raise the dead so we're looking at an interstellar zombie war in the DCU. Oh boy!!!
Aside from having great artwork by Ivan Reis throughout the book, this issue brings to a close to the Rage of the Red Lanterns storyline (Red Lanterns are consumed by rage and can vomit red corrosive blood/light from their mouths to destroy their enemies). The recently revealed spectrum of emotion/light-based power rings is a great idea and so far we've seen Green (Willpower), Yellow (Fear), Blue (Hope), Red (Rage), Orange (Avarice), Violet (Love), and Indigo (Compassion) get into the act. As Hal Jordan - Green Lantern gets consumed by the power of the red ring, the Blue Lantern Saint Walker slips a new blue ring onto his hand and turns him into... something new. You have to read it to see but there's lotsa action, Sinestro getting his big pink ass fried, and best of all, the Red Lantern alien space kitty Dex-Star who spits flaming blood on everyone in sight (this gives a whole new meaning to the expression "angry pussy").
If you haven't been reading Green Lantern, do yourself a favor and pick up the trades for Green Lantern: Rebirth, The Sinestro Corps War and get caught up with the latest stories via the back-issue bins. You won't be sorry and you'll be prepared for all the badassery which will be coming with the Darkest Night.
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I have one question Coach...Why no white lanterns? Is it because they ain't part of that whole ROYGBIV?
ReplyDeleteI pretty much think that's it. They used the color spectrum as the model - damn artists. However, since they are bringing in Black Lanterns later, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the big plot reveal at the end of everything is the White Lanterns being revealed and saving everyone. Makes sense and give some room for more characters later on.
ReplyDeleteBlank pages of action! The White lanterns attack! Maybe they'll reveal a hidden spectrum of lanterns that you can't even friggin' see! Invis-o-book!
ReplyDeleteI must admit, everyone and their mama is all about this title. I'm curious to see what the fuss is about. And I would like to see more of a cat puking corrosive liquid on flying blue elephant men.
But, like you said, a dude (or dudes) who wears a ring and makes hammers and crap out of light doesn't thrill me. Nor does the concept of a flying critter huckin' violet blasts of love or blue hope rays at enemies. When the zombies start happenin' maybe I'll see what's what. For now, it's just too DC - with 30 million characters running around and stuff in space and confuso times.
Join us! The neat thing is that the Lanterns don't all "do" the same thing. For example, the Blue Lanterns supercharge the rings of the Green Lanterns which makes them really useful tactically. But their rings don't really do much unless there are Green Lanterns around. This ties together Hope and Willpower which is cool. I'm going to guess some of the "bad guy" rings interact similarly.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing has been really well thought out and lots of details have been added which is why I'm digging it. They are trying and seem genuinely enthused about what they are writing and drawing. That is worth my $2.99 and with the price of comics today, that's a fucking bargain. You can borrow all of them anytime Ack.
Join us!
Cohen you are no die-hard DC fan. That's the part of the article I disagree with. Do you buy all of the Superman books? Batman books? Wonder Woman? No way. Otherwise, you would be lamenting the fact that the DC Editorial staff has lost their collective minds.
ReplyDeleteCurrently DC is a train wreck. Their continuity makes no sense and they're constantly making their characters less unique by having 12 other guys with Superman level powers.
And what has come out of the year long, teeth pulling Final Crisis? A new Power Girl book. And she's different from Super-Girl how? Bigger tits! BOO! The Batman fight for the Cowl? You mean the amazingly smart and always ahead of the curve Batman didn't plan who would take over for him in the event of his death? BOO! Superman now has a whole city of people just like him? Well, what the **** do we need him for? We have a whole city full of Super people. BOO! The Mighty? Not even part of the DC Universe. Oh yeah, and it's a Superman type guy! BOO!
The only good things left are Green Lanterns and JSA. Poor DC. No Future.
Ah Devil, you wound me. There was a time as a boy that I would not even touch a book from the "enemy". I was a member of the MMMS, read Pizzaz, and FOOM! There was no DC in my heart (except for an occasional Kamandi when there was nothing else and a monster on the cover).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've been reading DC Comics regularly now since the early 80's. Am I the insane super collector that you are? No. I realize there are some books that are just crap.
Power Girl? Are you kidding me man. You should be ashamed to pay money for that 3rd rate blimp titted supergirl knock off.
So, cut me some slack man. I might only buy 4 or 5 DC books a month but I am faithful to what I like. I bought ALL of that shit Aquaman series. 60 issues of nothing just to bring back the real one in one panel in Final Crisis. For that alone I demand respect.
I read all of John Byrne's Demon - for a fucking time-travel story. But I got 'em. That is hard core love there.
Oh, and I liked Final Crisis as a story, but not as a Crisis story like the previous two. I just got the 2 Superman Beyond issues today and it finally makes a little bit of sense. Sort of.
I agree, DC is falling prey to Marvelitis. I used to think of DC as "classier" than Marvel, but they are succumbing to the same problems.
Also, liking the Trinity is not a prerequisite for being a DC fan. I got all of Death of the New Gods. Ass. Collected all of Seven Soldiers. Mostly ass. Collected all of 52 and Countdown. Not ass, especially World War III. Wounded I say.
ReplyDeleteChildren, children. You're both nerds! Plus you each think Lantern Man is good, whilst the majority of the DC library circles the bowl. Happy?
ReplyDeleteYou buy more DC crap than I do. I only buy Green Lantern, GL Corps, JSA on a monthly basis. Occasionally I'll pick-up a Batman or Superman book. I did read all of the 52, Final Crisis, Seven Soldiers stuff with mostly disappointing results.
ReplyDeleteSay what you will about Marvel, but those guys have a plan and do an excellent job of introducing their new books appropriately to each event. And within 12 issues if they don't have a strong following or have fulfilled their purpose, they pull the plug (like New Warriors and Eternals).
Another good indicator that DC is in trouble is that their remaining talented writers and artists are jumping ship to Marvel. Artists Dale Eaglesham, Carlos Pacheco, Adam Kubert, all going over. Kind of sad really. I'd hate to see DC sink to the bottom.
All kidding aside Devil (we are both nuts about comics as far as I am concerned), I don't agree with you about Marvel being more organized and doing a better job. Their big events seem to sprawl through tons of substandard support books (Word War Hulk, House of M) which generally tell stories which are only vaguely connected or entertaining.
ReplyDeleteFinal Crisis was a mess but I think that was more due to Morrison being a non-linear freak more than anything else. As far as I am concerned, both companies are producing mostly substandard stuff all around with a few reliable gems each month. They both need to do more better!
We'll have to agree to disagree. When you have to go online to figure out what Final Crisis met it's more than just a writer's problem, it's a company/editorial one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love many comics being produced by Marvel, Dark Horse, and certain Image books. In the current Marvel universe anything can happen, and that's cool.
Agree/Disagree win. I will give what you said a think and consider it. Same here for the other books, Savage Dragon is one of my favorite reads and Project Superpowers is another fav as well.
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