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Showing posts with label Green Lantern Corps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Lantern Corps. Show all posts
I was sure that someone was going to die during the War of the Green Lanterns story arc. I just didn't expect that Lantern to die. This is your last warning for spoilers, by the way.
So they went ahead and killed Mogo. Now, once upon a time Mogo was just another interesting character in the GL universe. But in recent years Mogo has been built up to be something important and integral. Mogo was the keeper of the rings and decided who would get them.
Where does that leave the Corps? Without Mogo, who decides where the rings go? Who picks the worthies to wield them?
I feel like this story is shaping up to be one of those tales that really does change things. After War of the Green Lanterns there is going to be a change to the status quo. There has to be. Too much has happened in this story to have no repercussions.
I'm excited to see what happens next.
The worst thing about it is this: with all these Green Lantern comics they can't seem to find room for even a single appearance by Doctor Polaris. I don't care which one of those dullards I get to beat up on. My preference is certainly Hal Jordan. But I'm just as willing to crack Kyle Rayner's skulls. I've done it before.
But instead we continue to be fed new villains. Random cosmic figures and non-Green Lantern villains shoehorned into fighting those pathetic ring-slingers. Though my position is paramount, I wonder if the other Green Lantern villains are as annoyed as I. Where is that fool Sonar? What about Evil Star? Does anyone even remember Evil Star?
Setting this all aside, the course is clear: one of those three writers needs to get me a cover spot. Put me on the cover and his life may yet be spared. I'm willing to be patient... But for how long?
I'm sure most of you have seen this image by now:
Secondly, holy crap the hits just keep coming. It seems that everything just keeps getting worse and worse for the heroes of the DC Universe. Nekron was bad enough, but the Anti-Monitor? The Black Lantern Anti-Monitor? That's not a villain who will be easy to deal with.
Still, I have to wonder... If I'm not mistaken the Anti-Monitor wasn't willingly turned into the Black Power Battery. And when he gets out do you think he'll line up like a good soldier and do what Nekron wants him too?
I don't think so. I think when the Anti-Monitor gets free he's going to be trouble for everybody... Nekron included.
I'm going to say this right up front: I did not expect what happened in Green Lantern Corps 42.
It's been a long time since I was genuinely shocked by the ending of a comic. Most things get telegraphed or revealed or are just predictable. And I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who did predict this ending. But I wasn't one of them.
I'll probably come back to this topic later. I don't really want to say much else right now as I don't want to let out much in the way of spoilers.
Plus, I'm mourning. I can't tell you the last time that happened for a comic character either...
The most recent issue of Green Lantern Corps was, by and large, excellent.
But I have one bone to pick. Behold: the panel that was, simultaneously, best and worst of the issue:
But I nonetheless call out writer Peter Tomasi and editor Adam Schlagman: It's Wrigley Field!
Now, this is not a mistake Guy (odious Yankees fan though he may be) would make. This grievous error is squarely on the shoulders of the writer and editor. Or maybe the letterer.
My point is, somebody has to be held accountable. I await the news of resignations. Somebody's head oughta roll...
This may be obvious to the rest of you, but it took me a while to understand how momentous the events of last week's Green Lantern Corps #38 really were.
Consider what happened at the climax of the issue: the Alpha Lanterns, under the leadership of the Guardians (and specifically Scar), execute all but a handful of the most dangerous, viscious scum in the universe.
You really think that's an accident? Does anyone believe that Alexander Nero and that mess of Sinestro Corps members are going to stay dead?
It's pretty obvious that nigh-omnipotent power (such as the Guardians have) doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with good judgment.
Mark my words: every villain killed in that issue is coming back with a vengeance. The Guardians are going to wish they'd stayed dead...
In commenting on last Friday's post about Tales of the Green Lantern Corps and Nekron, a loyal reader has pointed me to an item to be released in stores next week:
TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS VOL. 1Transcendant fakeout? Or supreme vindication?
Written by Mike W. Barr, Len Wein, Paul Kupperberg, Robin Snyder, Kurt Busiek and Todd Klein; Art by Joe Staton, Dave Gibbons, Carmine Infantino, and others; Cover by Brian Bolland
A key piece of Green Lantern Corps history is collected for the first time in this new trade paperback presenting the 3-issue TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS miniseries from 1981! Also included are backup Corps stories from GREEN LANTERN #148, 151-154, 161, 162 and 164-167.
DC Universe 160pg. Color Softcover $19.99 US
On Sale February 25, 2009
YOU DECIDE!
Everybody and their uncle knows that Green Lantern: Blackest Night is coming. It's a highly anticipated story and if Sinestro Corps War was any indication it'll be a huge hit.
The conventional thing to do on comic blogs when a big story is coming is to speculate on it. Everyone knows that I have a bit of a habit of doing that. I like to make predictions. Especially about the "secret villain behind it all." Sometimes I get things half right. Other times I miss things by a quite a bit. But a win/loss record like that isn't going to keep me from speculating on Blackest Night as well.
There is someone behind this Blackest Night build up. I think everyone can agree on that, more or less. Black Hand talks to someone in the shadows, the Anti-Monitor is turned into a black power battery by a mysterious force, and Scar speaks of someone hiding in the black. Who could it be?
Perhaps the answers are hidden in 1981's Tales of the Green Lantern Corps. This three issue miniseries was scripted by Len Wein (who attended the NYCC Green Lantern panel) from a plot by Mike Barr. Let's delve in, shall we?
Our story begins with Hal Jordan speeding toward Oa, having been summoned by the Guardians of the Universe. On his way he is intercepted by another Lantern: cosmic jailbait Arisia, who meets Hal Jordan here for the very first time.
Anyway, Hal, Arisia, and the entire Green Lantern Corps arrive on Oa where they wait for the inscrutable Guardians to arrive and say whatever it is they want to say. While they wait, Hal regales Arisia with tales of his, er, conquests. Specifically, the time he took on Krona. I wonder why he would choose to tell that story?
The Guardians eventually arrive and tell Hal to shut his flapping pie hole. Unfortunately, Hal's wasted too much time chatting up his new friend, and well...
What's that? I didn't bother to post that page? Ah, well then... Krona -- as seen by his blue skin -- is of the same immortal race as the Guardians. He decided that he wanted to see the birth of the universe, did a lot of nasty stuff, and then was doomed to wander the universe formless for the rest of time. That's the short version.
Luckily, that's all you need to know. Krona, understandably, is still a bit pissed about the whole being doomed to wander the universe formless for the rest of time. I suppose I can understand that. Luckily, he's only a viewscreen. Seemingly a bit shaken by this whole affair, the Green Lanterns decide that maybe now would be a good time to charge up their rings. Maybe.
They move on with that classic oath, but something is not right. The central power battery begins to shake violently. And then it...
Neither Guardians nor Lanterns are aware that Krona is merely a pawn in the game of a greater evil. One that a group of advance Guardians are soon about to know all too well...
The Guardians discover the gaping wound in the cosmos through which Krona returned to physical form. And there for the first time they come face to face with their true foe:
Krona is dead. So is this pitiful informant. They are both of them and more besides dead, and yet they live. You see, when Krona was cast out he drifted through dimensions. Eventually he drifted into the Realm of the Dead. The paradox of an immortal in the Realm of the Dead caused a rift between dimensions. As you can imagine, that piqued the curiosity of the Realm of the Dead's boss. This guy:
With each immortal Nekron slays, the rift to the Realm of the Living gets a little wider. And that's Nekron's plan: he wants into our world. I'm sure you can imagine some of the things that a godlike being from the Realm of the Dead might do in the Realm of the Living.
Anyway, back to the story. Krona beats on Hal and the rest of the Corps, then hightails it back to the rift where he starts knocking heads and killing the Guardians that Nekron hasn't already snuffed out. The rift gets bigger and Nekron gets happier and happier.
It starts to work, until Hal Jordan decided to do one of the things he does best: something stupid. He flys through the portal into the Realm of the Dead.
But then, Hal's not a complete idiot (I can't believe I said that). You see, he has a plan. Something Nekron said got those rusty wheels in his damaged head turning. Hal realizes that if everyone who has ever died is in Nekron's Realm... 
Hal gets the deceased Lanterns to fight against Nekron. They can't actually hurt him -- he's too powerful and can't be destroyed. But they distract Nekron long enough for the Guardians to strike out at Krona and his army. Without Nekron's powers propping them up, they fall like a house of cards. The Guardians use their vague powers to close the rift, saving the universe from certain destruction. And then everything goes back to normal.
Which is why I think he's doing the same thing with Nekron. Geoff Johns is the kind of writer who these days will try to reuse an old concept or character before he creates something out of whole cloth. And the parallels are hard to ignore. Tales of the Green Lantern Corps was the story of a mysterious entity summoning up an army of the dead to destroy the living. And as far as we can tell, Blackest Night is going to be the story of a mysterious entity summoning up an army of the dead to destroy the living.
I won't be at all surprised if Geoff Johns takes Nekron (who's quite frightening, despite his silly name) throws him into a mixer with some fixins and then pulls out a villain that keeps me from sleeping at night.
(As an aside, I'll be away from home and without Internet access until Wednesday. So spend some time ruminating on what I've said here today, would you? Let me know if you think I'm on track -- or wildly off base.)
This night, in Thursday Night Thinking:
Do robots feel loss? Do they feel love? I don't have that answer, but I know they think!
It had to happen sometime. When you spend as much time talking to certain people as I do you start to get... Influenced.
I never really had a favorite Green Lantern. I guess I just sort of latched on to Kyle out of convenience. I mean, he was in my favorite Justice League and he wasn't Hal Jordan. But bit by bit I started to realize that Guy Gardner was more than simply an "asshole."
But still, I was hesitant to call him my "favorite Green Lantern." There were still unresolved issues to deal with. Things had yet to come full circle.
Enter: Blue Beetle #25.
All it took was one page to push me squarely into the Guy Gardner fan camp. All it took was two sentences:
And bam. That's it. I'm done. Hal Jordan only wishes he could be that cool.
I think it's safe to talk about Green Lantern #25 and the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War. But just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't read it, well... Spoilers ahoy.
Now, I've never been a big fan of Hal Jordan. I think that's been abundantly clear over the past two years. I've made numerous posts denigrating his intelligence and personal grooming habits. Hell, one of my co-bloggers was a member of Hal's rogue's gallery.
But one thing I have always enjoyed is the work of Geoff Johns. Sure, sometimes his stuff is derivative. And a little too enamored with itself. But over all, he manages to put out entertaining superhero stories month after month that genuinely surprise me. And that's what I'm looking for in my comics.
So it should come as no surprise that despite the fact that Green Lantern is largely about Hal Jordan, I enjoyed the heck out of the Sinestro Corps War. It was huge, over the top, and full of pretty pictures.
And dear God, the villains. So many, and so many good ones. Has Sinestro ever seemed as evil as he does now? By giving Hal better villains, Geoff Johns has made him a better superhero.
It's not only that, however. Even though Hal Jordan is still a pompous, preening ass, Geoff Johns has managed to humanize him. He's made me if not like Hal, then at least respect him. And that's better than most of the real-life Hal Jordan's get (and I've know more than my fair share).
What I'm saying is that somehow Geoff Johns has managed to take one of my least favorite characters and make me excited about reading his adventures every month. I want to find out what happens to Hal Jordan. And that's no small feat.
Okay, so here we go. Fair warning: I finally got a copy of the Sinestro Corps Special and there are going to be big spoilers ahead. Big spoilers.
Still here? Good. Let me begin by saying that although my prediction as to the fronter for the Sinestro Corps was not completely correct, I was nonetheless right. The only entity who could possibly be behind it was indeed the Anti-Monitor. Were there fifty-two Anti-Monitors like I speculated? There don't seem to be. Though the pluralization of some of the "hints" leads me to believe that we may see more down the line...
Still, I was happy to see that one of my predictions has actually turned out to be correct. Of course, that was pretty much the only thing in the Sinestro Corps special that I saw coming. I didn't think they were going to make Kyle Parallax (though how cool is that costume?) and I didn't know they were going to break out Superboy Prime and the Cyborg Superman.
So now we have an army of monsters... 7,200 of them to be exact. Led by an entity (or entities) who may or may not be the same Anti-Monitor who set off the original Crisis. Alongside him are the Cyborg Superman and his army of Manhunters. Together with them, Superboy Prime, one of the most powerful beings in the universe. And they're all backed up by a Parallax possessed Kyle Rayner.
It's clear that this is all going to play into DC's bigger event. But the scary thing? This is just the beginning. There are dozens of issues of Countdown to go. It feels like we've hit an apex, but we haven't. This is all just the tip of the iceberg... And whatever happens, it's going to get worse.
Much worse.
Some of the September solicits are up. And September is looking like a Green Lantern kind of month so far... I know the Sinestro Corps Special comes out this month. But a very interesting comic called Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents Parallax #1 comes out that month.
Ragnell has already covered some of the important points regarding that solicitation. Go read what she has to say. if you're interested in the Kyle side of things. For me, it's more about what the special represents. The solicit says it focuses on "members of the Sinestro Corps." I'd say that's slightly misleading, as I sorely doubt that Parallax is actually a member of the corps.
No, it would probably be more accurate to say that this special -- and the ones to come -- deal with Sinestro's allies. Parallax, Cyborg Superman, and... Who else? Oh, you knew I was going to get to this, didn't you?
With the Monitors coming back, did the Anti-Monitor or Anti-Monitors come back as well? Van Sciver reiterated: "See Sinestro Corps Special #1."
I've been flogging this line of thought for a while, as regular readers know. It's been said that the Sinestro Corps Special will have huge repercussions in the DCU as a whole. The Anti-Monitors are in the anti-matter universe as we speak. No one else has the power to enslave the Weaponers of Qward. We know that an Anti-Monitor can do it. He did it once before.
There is no one and nothing else that makes sense. Sinestro couldn't have done it... When he was tossed back to the anti-matter universe at the end of Rebirth, his ring had been destroyed. Something raised him up. Granted him a new ring and gave him the power to raise a corps of monsters 7,200 strong.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Anti-Monitors are coming.
More hints to the coming events coming fast and furious this week. Over at Newsarama Ethan Van Sciver talks about the Sinestro Corps. Along with that come hints that the said team of yellow ring-wielding maniacs will play an important role in in whatever DC's next event will be. That's part one.
Part two, of course, comes in this week's issue of Green Lantern Corps. Another ship of Qwardians -- exiled to the Matter Universe -- has been discovered. They were destroyed by yellow rings.
To me, this seems quite odd. It is a fact that the yellow ring Sinestro wields was originally manufactured for him by the Weaponers of Qward. And yet, here he is, driving them out of their home universe. At the behest of others, no doubt.
Someone has set up shop on Qward, and replaced the Weaponers as the Anti-Matter equivalent of the Guardians of the Universe. Whoever they are, they have power in spades. They are strong, dedicated to their cause, and in some way connected to the fear entity called Parallax.
Whoever they are, they're going to be huge. And they're going to be right at the center of whatever DC's got planned. Count on it.
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