Green Lantern Corps- New 52

All is new (to some degree) but not well in the GL Universe as this New 52 collection opens with the murder of two Lanterns in their own Sector House in Sector 3599 by seemingly invisible intruders that are immune to the Green Power Ring. With that the mystery is set and we move on to find our heroes, Lantern Gardner and John Stewart having issues with having to find a real day job as a coach and (with some red tape) an architect, respectively. It seems they are coming to accept and realize that they can do more good being a Lantern than having to balance a real and normal life in the process, as according to Gardner, “it’s not all that’s cracked up to be.”

 Returning to Oa, they respond to a crisis on Sector 3599; the water planet Nerro, only to find it drained completely of water with the inhabitants of the planet all piled up with the exception of the bodies of two Green Lanterns skewered for all to see, sending the message to our Corps that this new baddie means business. The planet’s water, as revealed in the succeeding panels, has somehow been transported, or in this case, teleported to an unknown location ruled by a cloaked figure that has “missed the sound of the sea”. He responds to a report of a problem on the planet Xabas. And the problem is really more of Gardner and rest of the Corps trying to prevent the teleporting of another natural resource, this time the trees and forests. They are soon met by a force coming out of the warp hole dressed in black but wielding green energy blades that proves troublesome for our heroes as they are immune to the power of the Lantern ring.

                                                              *spoiler begins....*

Luckily for them, Lantern Porter from Oa with the capability of teleporting fellow Lanterns arrives just in the nick of time and proves to be the much needed reinforcement. But in spite of his best efforts, not all Lanterns were brought safely back to Oa. As it is, Lantern Vandor and Stewart were just some of the GL’s left behind for Lantern Porter was unable to teleport them all back. But in spite of the defeat, Gardner was able to capture one of the new baddies for interrogation and when they couldn’t make any progress, Jonn Jonz aka. Martian Manhunter came in and with his empathic abilities extracted the much needed intel and revealing these new baddies to be called The Keepers. And that they are called such for they are the ones tending to all of the batteries of each and every Green Lantern!

 If you’d recall, the Lanterns safekeep their personal batteries in an undisclosed pocket universe for easy and effortless access. Now it seems these Keepers want more and are after the Central Power Battery in OA. Their existence was only known to the Guardians after the “Smurfs” discovered the existence of the planet called Urak. Its atmospheric core allowed an instantaneous conduit that allowed unlimited retrieval of a battery for every Green Lantern. The inhabitants of the planet were thus provided for in perpetuity, in exchange for “keeping” the batteries safe. But it was only a short time ago that the Guardians, without warning whatsoever, came in and removed each and every battery from the Keeper’s custody and thus severing the connection that has already formed between all the Lantern batteries and the planet as it served as a “crop” and sustained the planet and its people and infused their DNA with an already potent resource of “Will”. Without the Lanterns, the planet began to die.

 This explains why the Keepers pillaged different planets for their different resources in order to stay alive. Meanwhile back on Urak, Lantern Stewart, Vandor and Kirrt are being interrogated, or should I say, tortured by the leader of the Keepers in disclosing to them the Vibrational Matrix signature that will allow them to breach Oa’s orbital force field without alerting the Guardians to their “stargate”. The interrogation which consisted of electrocution on top of three days without food and water proved to be too much even for a stalwart Lantern. And at the last minute when Lantern Kirrt was about to disclose the code and give way, John Stewart does what we say is the unthinkable, which is dispose of a fellow Lantern by twisting his neck and hereby leaving his ring to look for a new recruit. That served as the much needed distraction Stewart needed to break free temporarily from the Keepers and fly out onto the barren field while running on reserved energy.

 And just when it’s back to square one for my favorite Lantern Stewart, Guy Gardner, armed with military weapons, along with the Mean Machine; a group of bad-ass Lanterns camping out below Gardner’s own bar called Warriors underneath Oa, comes to the rescue and engages the Keepers head on. And of course you could count on Gardner to think of a crazy idea and follow thru. He deduced that the only way to fight someone with that much willpower is to not engage it with the same element that fuels it but give it what it lacks, which is the element of FEAR. So he drops a “Fear Bomb” on the Keepers by way of two Sinestro Corps War prisoners kept in one of the science cells. The cells detonate on contact and imbue the Keepers with Fear and had them begging for mercy; which is pretty much the antithesis of how they were moments before.

The situation is soon resolved and decided upon by the Guardians (of course) that the Keepers dig a grave of each and every one of their victims, which according to Gardner is a lifelong sentence. The compilation ends with Lantern John Stewart bringing Lantern Kirrt’s body to his home planet of Lorror on Sector 2451, where not only was Kirrt regarded a hero by his family and also the recipient of a tombstone befitting a Lantern. All in all Peter Tomasi again has done a whirlwind of a good ride with this First volume of the New 52 for Green Lantern Corps that collects Issues 1-7. While I was expecting a cliffhanger of an ending, it was rather an emotional one with John Stewart accepting his guilt at having to kill Kirrt in order to protect the Corps and leaving it out from his report. Lantern Vandorr doesn’t condemn what Stewart had to do but also reminds John that at times the Corps needs someone to act as their conscience and that he is it.

 Stewart for his most part may be racking up his list of high profile body counts by adding Kirrt to this list, as well as the decimation of the Planet Xanshi and most recently of Lantern Mogo, during the War of the Green Lanterns, who if in case you didn’t know was also a planet. But John Stewart, when you think about it, is the best person to handle radical life and death situations like these, for not only has he made difficult decisions and lived through them, his military background also allows him to focus on the task at hand, prevent his emotions from getting the best of him just to get the job done. Now does that make him the perfect emotionless Lantern that some may label him to be?

 On the contrary, he is the Lantern that has a lot of emotion and heart to go around, and is good at having to distill what amount of it needs to be shown, needs to be channelled in order to continue to be good at his job. That’s why it was no surprise that prior to the New 52 and during the Brightest Day crisis, he was offered to become an Alpha Lantern; to which his quick thinking prevailed and allowed him to deny the post and think clearly at the consequences of being one. All in all it was good, for should that have happened, we probably would have one more emotionless sentry going about their duty and only seeing a situation in absolutes; the black or the white. But lucky for us, John still remains human and is willing to navigate the gray areas of being a Lantern. And that I think is a key ingredient why he has survived thus far and why the Universe is all the more better for it.

Can't wait for the next volume that pits our beloved Corps with a nemesis closer to home and more of the ramifications of John Stewart's decision to kill off a fellow Lantern.

Thank you, Peter Tomasi. :) 

Rise of the Third Army - Fascism on OA

The cover is rather intriguing, not to mention enticing right? The Green Lantern symbol dripping like blood or wet paint. What is the Third Army? And where do they fall into the mythos of the Corps?

Most readers, as well as me, found ourselves asking that basic question. But one other question that perhaps needs to be asked is why the Guardians are doing what they’re doing?

Sure, they’re not perfect and much-flawed in their character and decision making processes but in truth, creating the Third Army is only a band-aid solution to the problem. And the problem lies not in the lack of respect that they have started not to get from the Green Lantern Corps after 3 successive crises like the Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night-Brightest Day and the most recent, War of the Green Lanterns but in the heart of the Guardians themselves.

History says that they are peaceful lot and wishing only to be the safekeepers of peace and order in the Universe. But the odd thing is, why should emotion be taken out of the question? Should the presence of peace and maintenance of order be done so in such an emotionless manner that there is no room to be happy at the absence of turmoil and injustice? In previous panels as seen in the War of the Green Lanterns prologue, the Guardians of Maltus, have been wearing the White Symbol for Light and it is in this time frame that they banned Krona and sentenced him to die at the hands of the robot Manhunters because he embraced emotion. And in retaliation, Krona rigged the Manhunters programming and have them kill the entire sector 666 on the planet Ryut, thus paving the way for the birth of Atrocitus, the first Red Lantern and the formation of the GL Corps, just to prove a point. That emotion cannot be taken out of the equation in creating the order that one wants and one seeks.

Of course had it gone the other way, there would’ve been no conflict, no Manhunters reprogramming and much less, no formation of the Green Lantern Corps to replace the “defective” Manhunters.

But getting back on track, this GL annual which is preferred to be read before reading the Zero issue of Green Lantern that introduces the new GL from Earth, Lantern Baz, begins with a decision made by the Guardians and that is the root of all the problems that they have had so far is Free Will. In the past it was emotion, which led to the construction of Manhunters, then became Fear which led them to form the GL Corps that had Willpower as their ally; which after that  became the bane of their existence and had to be curbed because they have started to think for themselves. And so Free Will is now the present target for these pesky Smurfs because according to the Guardians, “We know better than they do and eradicating free will is the logical step in maintaining order.”

Yes, from the emotionless mini-Nietzche’s that they are, the Guardians have embraced their inner-Fascist and deemed that no other order is worth following and enforcing other than theirs.

                                                     ***SPOILERS***

Apart from this revelation, the annual also follows the story arc of Black Hand’s revenge in the current GL issues from 7-12 and shows our Hal Jordan trying to dig himself out of a coffin in the Coast City cemetery after being buried alive by Black Hand only to find Sinestro’s tombstone beside him. But Black Hand ain’t finished, he offers Hal the chance to see his father again, for he can bring him back with the use of his Black Ring (minus Nekron) as long as Hal desists in digging up Sinestro and agree to keep him buried underneath.

While this is going on, the Guardians venture off to another sector to free the supposed “First Lantern” from the Chamber of Shadows. Upon opening, it is revealed that a number of fellow Guardians have equally entombed themselves within the prison to guard the First Lantern. The elderly entombed Guardians stressed that them being inside the tomb was an agreement that they have made eons ago and that whoever comes to free the First Lantern must be destroyed. And thus a battle ensues among the Guardians as the ruling smurfs have need of the First Lantern’s power in order to create the 3^rd Army.

Naturally with more experience, the ruling Guardians win and with the energy within one of the slain entombed Guardian is used and directed at the energy shell it thus frees the First Lantern who is taken out and whose essence is later distilled and siphoned out in order to create the first member of the Third Army who is physically in humanoid form but whose silvery limbs are far from human and whose mind and intellect are bonded and only answer to the Guardians.

By this time Sinestro has already freed himself and upon Hal’s suggestion have managed to jointly summon his own battery so that they both can recharge and eventually gain the upper “hand” against Black Hand. But from a distance, the Guardians have sensed Black Hand’s return and Hal’s connivance with Sinestro and thus aids Black Hand in killing off Hal and Sinestro by sucking them into a Black vortex but not before Hal and Sinestro manage to re-integrate their rings and send it scanning for a replacement. 

And with their aid, the Guardians teleport Black Hand into the Prison of Shadows to await future use in their plan to "save" the Universe. Guy Gardner and the GL Corps would be the next to be replaced along with the other Corps bearing different colors of the emotional spectrum.

And with that, the dices are rolled and the Gauntlet is thrown for a 4-issue crossover in all major Lantern titles; from New Guardians, Green Lantern, GL Corps and Red Lanterns 

And like all other prologues, we are left to wonder whats next in store for the Lanterns of OA and who is the First Lantern and why is he being kept in secret. What damage could he possibly do if he were to get out?

Bring on the Third Army! We are readers are ready and waiting! Go Poozer!

Catching up on Green Lantern -New 52

** spoiler alert ** When I first heard of the New 52 retcon of DC last year, I feared for the worst.

That is, most of us will have to bear with origin retelling of the stories that we have been glued to and following for the past 5 years, or in most cases for the past decade, including major DC events like Inifinite Crisis, Final Crisis, the earth shattering and successful crisis of Blackest Night and the subsequent Brightest Day and not to mention the much polarized Flashpoint.

But good thing for us Lantern readers, the New 52 GL not only takes on a surprising twist but mainly follows events after the most recent GL crisis which was War of the Green Lanterns and the subsequent sequel called Aftermath.

For most readers who have been following Geoff Johns’ (winning) writing streak and take on our Emerald crusader, Sinestro now seems to be the main torchbearer of the GL Corps after the Guardians disowned and fired Hal Jordan following his actions on War of the Green Lanterns, which I felt was rather harsh. But then again the Guardians will always have their way.  

Now, having gone back to Earth and in search of a normal life, Hal Jordan can’t seem to make ends meet and mend the relationship that he so wants to have with Carol Ferris, who at this time has shelved her Star Sapphire status and current Reign as Queen of the Corps of the planet Zamaron. Hal for the better part of the Compiled 6 issues of the New 52 GL, is a displaced and aimless Lantern wanting to relive his purpose as a member of the Corps and one who feels that he can effect change from that elevated status rather than an ordinary citizen of Earth.

Of course, this doesn’t stop him at an early point in the first issue, from jumping through the window of the next door building after witnessing a woman being attacked by a odd looking skinhead that had veins protruding thru his arms and weird tattoo shapes on his head. He simply does this in a beat only to find himself in the middle of a movie shoot and later had to be bailed out from jail by Carol herself. 

Nothing seems right up until Sinestro arrives for a surprise visit and asks him to do everything he says if he wants to have his ring back. As proof, Sinestro wills and contructs an extension of his own ring which naturally finds its way to Hal’s fingers, and transforms him back to the Emerald Warrior we know. But true to his crafty nature, Sinestro has built specific failsafe precautions into the ring, so much so that Hal’s blast directed at Sinestro the moment he receives the ring is proved futile and inert as the Korugarian reveals that the ring cannot turn against its maker. And that Sinestro can easily take the ring and its power away as he easilly as he gives it. 

It seems that Sinestro has need of Jordan’s help to wipe out the members of the Sinestro Corp harnessing the Yellow Power of Fear on his home planet of Korugar. Naturally, Sinestro still feels that he is the sole savior of his home planet and thus proves to be an effective villain, as one other review said, for he is a bad guy who doesn’t seem to know he is the bad guy. Yup, talk about ultra righteous thinking.

Sinestro then gives Jordan a tempting offer that he can’t refuse. Help him get rid Of the Sinestro Corps on Korugar and he gets to keep the ring.

At the same time this “deal” is being forged, another one is being re-written and wraught on OA, as Ganthet, the former Guardian and once leader of the Blue Lantern Corps that channels the emotion of Hope and later self-inducted Green Lantern of Sector Zero, has been taken by the remaining Guardians and stripped off his emotions.
Ironically, the once champion of conscience and emotion for our Emerald heroes now has become as closed minded as his brethren and is in agreement, that in spite of the Green Lantern Corps embodying the sentient emotion of Will, they are not without fault. Hal Jordan, they deem is the example of all drive and without foresight and Sinestro its extreme polarity of all drive but without a shred of altruism. And on top of the past debacle with the Manhunters and the recent Manipulation of Krona in the recent GL War, the Guardians surprised us all that it is time for the creation of the 3rd army and that the Green Lantern Corps needs to be replaced.

That line has just left me in awe and shaking my head in disgust with the Guardians and by the time I got to issue #6, another wave of change can be felt as the original drawings of Doug Mahnke have been taken over by guest artist Mike Choi who continues the task of softening the look of our favorite GL and aptly making him look younger in his drawings as Hal and Carol seem to have, this time around, officially dated again and are enjoying each others company when she brings him to the Aeronautical Museum of Coast City. This both serves as a good chance for the two star crossed lovers to bond once more as Sinestro flies off to the planet Ogoro in Sector 1417, following the defeat of the Yellow Sinestro Corps on Korugar. 

As it is, I’ve neglected to detail how this was accomplished and would hopefully serve as enough incentive to either read or better yet collect, the first volume of the new 52 GL which is aptly entitled Sinestro. On that planet, Sinestro finds the means of locating his once keeper of the Book of Parallax, Lyssa Drax, who now is enthralled by the Book of the Black. He manages to subdue her but not after ripping out a page of the “accursed” book and getting a glimpse of the future, with the Guardians being true to their word of bringing back the 1st Lantern to lead the Third Army against the Green lantern Corps. As part of that image gruelling visage, he also sees his own death along with Hal Jordan's.


This thus brings more questions to the fore as to who the first Lantern is and who are the 3rd army that the Guardians speak of. With a Guardian holding up the White Ring on the panel depicting Sinestro's vision, could the White Lantern Corps be the Army they are referring to and how much of it as well will affect other members of the DC universe should this come to pass?

The compilation ends once more with Thaal Sinestro coming back to Earth, powering up Hal’s ring and summoning him to another mission, just after Hal has finally accepted the state of normalcy that has to happen in his life in order to have that normal life with Carol.

After reading another brilliant and layered compilation effectively brought to us by Geoff Johns, I am so half-tempted to pick up the loose issues that follow. As of this writing, the current issue is #9 and I would have to wait till next year to get on track with Vol 2 of this edition. But patience will always be the value to cultivate when collecting hardcover graphic novels and with Geoff Johns we know we are always taken cared of and will be very much rewarded.

War of the Green Lanterns- Aftermath- 1

After having been left high and dry at the end of the GL cataclysmic event of 2010 which was War of the Green Lanterns, our favorite Corps are left to deal with the consequences of their actions & the task of rebuilding Oa from the devestation of war. But as they would learn in the course of the graphic novel that compiles the 2 issues of Aftermath and Green Lantern Corps #61-63 plus Emerald Warriors #11-13, their emotions also need to be taken care of and rebuilt. As this graphic novel collects these 2 main issues and disparate ones that continue the thread of the Aftermath storyline in other issues, this review will tackle the first 2 Aftermath issues and the second review for the ones will follow after.

This “Aftermath”, opens with the "banishment" of Hal Jordan and the outrage of Green Lantern hothead and Honor Guard, Guy Gardner expressing his frustration at the Guardians act of banishing Hal Jordan and the ironic  mourning of the Guardians over the loss of fellow Guardian and bad guy Krono who almost took control of the Corps at the height of the War. Their supposed "mourning" is equaled by their amazement as to how a Lantern was able to inflict that much harm and kill a Guardian in spite of the safety measures they  incorporated into the Ring making sure that it would never be used against them, much less kill a Guardian with it. Fearing Guy may do something “rash” Kilowog clarfies that Hal was most certainly sent back to Earth after being fired from the Corps. Like an emotional epidemic, one Lantern after another expresses their disappointment with the Guardians. Lantern Hannu drives his point clearly enough, “Why does it take a human to always save you from your mistakes.”

But inspite of the post stress trauma, questions like these will still be unanswered as the Guardians express their control of the situation and leave to further question Sinestro about why at the height of the War, a Green Lantern ring has chosen Sinestro to be part of the Green Lantern Corps again when all his Yellow Ring along with the others, have all overridden their connection with their respective owners and flew to Krona’s hand. Perhaps without Mogo to guide the Rings, the selection process has been changed if not muddled.

And muddling with the rest of their emotions is basically what the others find themselves doing, from Ganthet admitting his affections for fellow Guardian Sayd who is now in the planet Okarra after having been promised to Larfreeze in return for help during the Blackest Night crisis, to other Lanterns condemning John Stewart for killing Mogo and as well as a handful of them like Lantern Voz and Hannu all planning to execute Sinestro, to give him the justice he needs and one that has been long denied him, this Aftermath certainly brings the emotional issues to front as everyone in OA deals with their pain in the best way they know how.

Lucky for some, others still have a leveled head on their shoulders as Lantern Rayner senses Lantern Natu’s status of “Intraceability” and finds himself on the opposing side of a group of Lanterns including Soranik Natu who are hell bent to give Sinestro his due reward. Another brawl ensues with Kyle getting the upper hand, only to stop midway then the blasted door behind him finds a Sinestro tied up and not questioned but with the Guardians forcibly removing his ring from his finger. So much for questioning eh?

This break-in pushes the Guardians to the limit and announces that any more outbreaks of anger, defiance and lack of discipline will not be tolerated. They send everyone out back to their respective Sectors, activate once more the placement of the Honor Guard and Alpha Lanterns in Oa in a final attempt to both rein in and exact control.

In all of this Ganthet is visited by Blue Lantern, Saint Walker who heals Ganthet’s hand while Gardner as well as Kilowog and Kyle and crypt keeper Lantern Morro, deal with the decision that the Guardians have allowed Krona to be buried in the Lantern crypt and remembered for the good that he did as he was also instrumental in the founding of the Lanterns. Needless to say this was met with much opposition but as it is, duty and respect to the Guardians wishes prevailed as Lantern Salaak reminded them all that any move from them to counter his orders is tantamount to mutiny.

Lantern Mogo had a meaningful “burial” as his remains, which basically is debris and fragments from an exploded planet, are brought to the Sun and cremated. The result was a fitting tribute as the Sun incorporated the Lantern insignia and burned for as long as it lasted. What didn’t last though was Krona’s stay in the crypt as Ganthet secretly went down into the holding chamber, and sent Krona’s body into the Planet Ysmault, thereby fulfilling a promise made to Red Lantern leader, Atrocitus and preventing him from launching another War of the Light. But alas, Ganthet’s actions were not wholly unnoticed as he nervously defends his actions to the oncoming Guardians who wanted to speak to him. What is it about this time? Well, we can only guess at the ominous gazes that the remaining Lanterns had when they looked at him. For his sake, I hope the writer’s keep Ganthet, as for one, the Blue Lantern Corps flailing as it is, need a leader and that the Guardians needed someone like Ganthet to keep them honest.

So? Honestly, did I like it? Yes, I did as writers Tony Bedard and Peter Tomasi were certainly up to the task of continuing what Geoff Johns did with the War. Having previously wrote Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns, they were more than able to deal with the emotions and ramifications as well the consequences of the war and showing equal attention to key note Lanterns and how they deal with it. What I didn’t like with Issue #1 was the artwork by Miguel Sepulveda and Tyler Kirkham. Call me a stickler for visual continuity, they didn’t do justice to the great artwork that Doug Mahnke always does along with excellent Geoff Johns writing in major crises compilations. But at least it gets better as Issue #1 moves on with true comic book artwork in the latter part and a new team consisting of Ransom Getty and Andy Smith for Issue #2.

So if you want the entire Aftermath coverage and a true Lantern fan, I need not tell you to get this but if only the first 2 issues interest you, that would be okay too as Issue 2’s semi-cliffhanger with Ganthet and the Guardians are not addressed in any way in the other issues included in this graphic novel compilation and we all wonder what bungle of a secret do these Guardians still have in their closet and threaten to disrupt the fine thread of progress that they are attempting to make following 3 major crises one after the other.

Till then I am keeping my fingers crossed and off to patrol different areas of Sector 2814.

War Of The Green Lanterns - Gotta Love It!

It’s been about 4 years now since I last re-visited Green Lantern and realized why I had this penchance for rings when I was a kid. Fast forward to today and after major yearly crises that has plagued OA and the rest of the DC Universe; I am still hooked and proud to be a Lantern at heart. Reading War of the Green Lanterns this month as it only came out in hardcover and compiles the entire storyline via different issues of Green Lantern and Emerald Warriors; Geoff Johns has once again won my heart and proved why he is the man who wears the DC crown.

Touted as the big crisis following the successful and my favorite GL crisis, Blackest Night and its 3 part sequel, Brightest Day, one would think that there would not be another crisis than can come close to equalling these past 2 big events. And it so happens that they didn’t have to create another villain to spin a brand new crisis that would incapacitate and affect our ring wielding friends because they already have one in their midst. And this came in the form of a renegade guardian named Krona. The hardcover 10-issue compilation collects the different runs of the storyline as it appears in Green Lantern #63-67, Green Lantern Corps #58-60, Emerald Warriors #8-10.

Having met Krona first in the 80’s series, Crisis on Infinite Earths and then have him associated with past DC events like Infinite Crisis and the 2 most recent GL crises, it was but natural that they bring him back to finally tie up loose ends with his fellow Guardians and to give Krona the centerstage attention that he so long desired. (I’m not saying, deserved either)

With Krona’s entrance, it’s also the resolution of the damage that the so called Guardians have had to answer for. From the secrets and lies that they told in order to keep the Lanterns in the dark of what they must not know and limit their knowledge to what they need to know, this war was very much a war among the Guardians themselves and not just confined to their Green “police squad”. Following the events of Green Lantern: Brightest Day, we find our hero Hal Jordan working alongside with the other members of the different corps, branded as such by the Guardians as enemies, in protecting the various emotional entities from Krona’s influence.

So far Krona has succeeded in obtaining all the emotional entities (Ion for Green; Parallax for Yellow; Ophidian for Orange; Butcher for Red; Adara for Blue, Proselyte for Indigo and Predator for Violet) and have “led” this temporary truce-bound group of lanterns to the Planet Ryut; which is in Sector 666, and homeworld of the red lantern leader, Atrocitus. This same planet where his Red Lantern, representing the emotional spectrum of rage, was formed and tragically is also site of the massacre of his people by the robotic Manhunters made by the Guardians eons ago.  According to the Book of Oa that contained a history of the Lantern Corps, the Manhunters were robots manufactured by the Guardians to ensure peace in the galaxy but a glitch in their basic programming caused them to massacre everyone on the planet Ryut and thus begin Atrocitus’ lifelong dream of exacting his revenge on the Guardians.

On Ryut, the multi-colored Lanterns fell susceptible to the Book of the Black kept by Krona and protected by now Black Keeper Lyssa Drak who once was a member of the Sinestro Corps and wielded a yellow Ring that represented the emotional spectrum of fear. The Lanterns were thus given a glimpse into the true secret that the Guardians have kept for so long. The “secret” was actually the omitted and torn out passages or journal entries from the Book of Oa and were replayed in their minds as they are strapped to the book by Black Chains for the duration of their “virtual history lesson”.

As the book shows, Krona was one of the original Guardians hailing from the planet Maltus who sought out the meaning of life; the origin of creation. 

He was a brilliant scientist that dared to question and in his result bungled his own experiment and created the opposite of all life called The Anti Universe. For this and for recognizing the existence and use of emotion to which the Guardians were totally against he was sentenced to death and was in pursuit by the Manhunters. The book further revealed, much to the horror of all that It was Krona who re-worked the programming of the Manhunters and to randomly select a world to kill; a point which he had hoped to bring across to the Guardians that he meant business. That an “emotionless” police force is not without flaws and must be corrected.

Having thus learned the truth, the Lanterns were sucked into the book, but not before Sinestro and Hal detonated their own rings and enabled Hal to be free of the chains that bound him. Which was well and good, had it not been for the arrival of several Green Lanterns lead by Salaak who were commanded by the Guardians to arrest Hal and bring him back to Oa for sanction.

Krona as this time had already returned Parallax, the yellow entity of Fear into the central battery and have begun manipulating the bearers of the Green Lantern ring thru Parallax and was havin them fight against Hal, former Guardian Ganthet (but now a self inducted Green Lantern), John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner.

That basically is the gist of the run of the storyline and I’m stopping here lest I be tempted to reveal more spoilers. Just like my favorite GL crises, The Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, this compilation has all the action that any GL fan has come to love and expect with its own share of character introspection and plot twists. Only when I re-read this a second time did it dawn on me that Hal for all his bravado and will is turning out to be rather Machiavellian in his ways and it is perhaps in this that the Guardians have begun to fear him and regard him as a threat; that he perhaps could be another Krona in the making. But in his defense, Hal is aware of the radical steps that he has taken and in one panel, has admitted he has bitten off more than he can chew at the height of this crisis.

Suffice to say, Johns has given us another reason to love the Green Lantern Corps and what it stands for and in the process have given two major lanterns a shot of soul searching and redemption. If you like your reads action packed and unpredictable  then 

War of the Green Lanterns is a must this holiday season. And although the end certainly paves the way for the new reboot of the franchise by way of the new-52 by DC, I can only imagine the next chapter that all our favorite Lanterns would have to go through following this devastating blow of a war. No one said that war will exempt the brave and the lucky ones from being a casualty. But after this, the word “casualty” is certainly being redefined as the Corps itself is being reshaped and put into the ringer. Power up Poohzers. Time for a new beginning!

Seeing Green and Red...with Guy Gardner

First off, I was never a Guy Gardner fan. It was always Hal Jordan from Day 1. Kinda felt that Guy was the offbeat Lantern; one who couldn't keep his cool and foam at the mouth whenever something or someone didn't agree with him. But in the past 3 years of reading GL and all other tie-ups I've come to accept Guy and all his quirks. And so it was in this spirit that I looked forward to reading this compilation and boy did I like it.

Branching off from the events compiled in Brightest Day:Green Lantern, this compilation centers on the pact that he made between Guardian Ganthet & Atrocitus, and the devestating results from following up on that.

Not to give anything too much for those who have yet to read the other issues of Brightest Day, basically it follows up on the mysterious disappearances of the other entities of the color spectrum as someone seems to keeping them plus the fact that the Green energy of will seems to be on the verge of being siphoned out by another entity located in the Uncharted region that prompts Guy Garder, along with Drill Sergeant Kilowog and Lantern Arisia to check it out.

The host for the Ion entity, Sodam Yat also returns in this issue and figures prominently in the events on Daxam following his sacrifice to go into the planet's sun, turn it yellow and empower all inhabitants of his home planet to have superpowers. He faces the consequences of that sacrifice and how it means to him to follow through after such a choice was taken from him.

All in all it's a good wild ride of a read together with the unlikely partnership of Red Lantern, Bleez, I'm excited for the next compilation and like Guy I'm starting to see Green.....and Red!!!

Power up Poohzers!

Green Lantern Review- Rants and Raves

Watching a movie is like reading a book. People will have different things to say about it, different levels of relatability to it, not to mention, affinity for the subject and whatever prose and subtexts the piece tries to convey. It’s either you like it or you don’t. Of if you are open enough, you try to walk the middle road, accept the piece of work as someone else’s vision and see how it applies to yours.


Watching Green Lantern for two straight days has certainly got me thinking and although at first blush my list of issues about the movie came flaring up with my fellow Green Lantern Corps cosplayers, but watching it a 2nd time last night after cosplaying for members of the press, I feel that I’ve finally am able to talk about it. (breathe calmly)

Off the bat, the movie certainly lived up to the flashy, special effects, slam bang explosive fare of a summer movie. You got the leading man played by handsome hunk, Ryan Reynolds doing the role of Hal Jordan, the cocky test pilot who gets to grow up and assume responsibility for his own life upon being bequeathed a power ring by a “dying purple alien” (Hal’s words not mine) named Abin Sur. He is thus joined by Gossip Girl starrer Blake Lively playing his leading lady and childhood friend Carol Ferris who runs the aircraft company Ferris Air where our hero works and gets much flying cred. Add to this lot, his best friend Tom Komalku who works with Hal in the company and shares knowledge of his secret being the Green Lantern.

Now since I mentioned alien, you know that there are more out there. And they are indeed many more as they are a Corps. Yes like a military outfit charged with protecting different sectors of the Universe. They, like Hal Jordan, each have a ring that is powered by their individual Lanterns and gives them the ability to enforce peace and justice by translating their thoughts into physical constructs. All colored green, of course. 

For the non-comic book reader, and first time initiate, the Green Lantern Corps in layman’s terms is an intergalactic peacekeeping force, or Space Cop group that follows orders from an immortal race of beings called the Guardians who are based on the Planet OA. They are responsible for channeling the use of Willpower as a power source thus the color green. With that preliminary intro out of the way, I would like to begin listing the issues I had with the movie, which would vary from casting, characterization and origin. So SPOILERS ahead, just so you know.


My GL movie issues:


1. Origin of the Big Bad- When I first found out that Parallax was the antagonist in this film, I thought that maybe they were going into it a little too fast and jumpstarting the whole franchise. As readers know, Parallax is a sentient being and the living embodiment of fear. It is represented by the color yellow and is the explanation why the Green Lantern’s ring never had any effect on yellow. Historically, it was only referred to as the impurity in the Lantern battery and its weakness. As Kryptonite was to superman with regards to making him ineffectual, Yellow was to the Green Lantern.

 My issue was that Parallax although was referred to an emotion that willpower was trying to overcome, it was also referred to as a power source and only was thus named Parallax after a lone Guardian, naïve as he was, tried to take on that source and bonded with it. That’s why when we are introduced to it at the beginning of the film, the imprisoned entity resembled that of a Guardian, who till end of the film is not named.

2. Hal and Carol – When Ryan was casted, I thought that he wasn’t the ideal guy to potray Hal Jordan simply because he was already slated to do a movie adaptation of the Marvel character, Deadpool, after winning audiences with his take on the role via the Wolverine movie, a prequel to the X-men movies. Fans had another person in mind. Devotees made videos on YouTube using scenes from the tv series, Firefly that starred, Nathan Fillion, who for me physically looks like Hal Jordan more and he himself is a confessed GL fan. 


But hey, I’m not a casting director so what do I know. So after accepting the Ryan casting, Carol Ferris was next. I don’t watch Gossip Girl so have no gauge why Blake Lively was chosen and had to wait for the movie. But after watching, they could have chosen someone with sharper and edgier looks and tough on the inside and out. Didn’t get that with her. What I didn’t like was the Superman-balcony-Lois Lane-esque scene that Hal had with Carol after saving her life and most of us who watched it groaned in reference to that. For non readers and casual movie goers, it’s just a scene that needed to establish and further heighten the relationship that Hal and Carol have. But for me it struck too close to the Superman and Lois dating sequences. And since most of us reacted that way, perhaps others would too. And groan in disgust as the scene plays out.


After the movie, some of us had issues about Blake’s acting prowess as well. She only has one gameface on regardless of the emotional complexity the scene requires. But it’s not for me to say, it’s for you to gauge for yourself.


 3. Oa and Poozer sessions – I have no real issue with Oa with it being beautifully rendered as it was only except that I wanted more. I wanted to be awed in a wave that comes and ebbs and peaks for me the way when I first saw Asgard when Thor came out. Add to that a sweeping score that complements the wave of images you see on screen. Alas I didn’t get when James Newton Howard’s score accompanied the tour that Tomar-Re gave Hal Jordan through Oa. I take it that they were flying but as one bringing an alien planet to life for the first time for readers and non-readers alike, we wanted to be really toured and not just given the general pamphlet guide.

Of course, while in Oa no official tour is to be taken as you are too busy to be trained as a Lantern by official drill sergeant, Kilowog who in the film was voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan.  Audiences would remember him as portraying Kingpin in the film version of Daredevil. I expected a different actor to be doing the voice of Kilowog as all I heard was Kingpin egging Hal Jordan on in training and not making it any easier for him. Not that training should be all work and no fun, but the Kilowog we know in his own way makes it so, by being all Bark but with no Bite. He’s a professional who takes his job seriously and during downtime, is the sweetest thing you can talk to and bond with. So lesser training time with Kilowog makes viewer wanting more. Hopefully more in the sequel. Yes, I am hoping for error correcting.

 4. Harnessing the Power – As mentioned, Green is the color of willpower and yellow is for Fear. We also know that the Guardians have always shunned emotion and therefore are not open to explore any other color and emotion other than their spectrum. But as suggested and as a recourse option to save Oa, Sinestro suggests that they harness that power source and use the power of the enemy against them. Yes, it’s the same Boromir thinking in Lord of the Rings and use the One Ring against Sauron and that was his undoing. As for Sinestro, you know that you can’t kill him as we see something else of him that dies and he’s Hal’s foil, so no can do. But once more, Sinestro doesn’t get to harness the Yellow power this early on but only after he was banished to the planet Qward following Hal revealing him to be abusing his Green Lantern powers in his own planet of Korugar. But hey, I’m not the scriptwriter, but just a blogging fan.

With all that I’ve ranted so far being a fan, there were still some points where the movie I felt did well; First of all, the imaginative way of creating the constructs for both Hal Jordan and the other Lanterns. As the essence of the ring, is to take whatever the mind of the wearer conjures up, the physical representation of that image is only as imaginative as the wearer and so far from swords that Hal brandishes as he spot trains with Sinestro, to metal frames supporting the boulders that Kilowog tries to pin him down with and the two F-fighter planes Hal creates in the final climax of the film, the constructs I must say were done well. 

Although others went as far as noting that Hal’s constructs were more military oriented like John Stewart; the other Green Lantern of Earth after Hal became incapacitated, but as a whole, I really am good with how the constructs were.

The next thing I liked about it was the choice of Geoffrey Rush to provide the voice of Tomar-Re; the fish-like Lantern of Sector 2813 who was in charge of welcoming Hal Jordan to Oa and his new life. Geoffrey also provided the narrative voice at the beginning of the film, which showed a history of the Corps and who they are. That was brilliant and more Tomar-Re I say. After seeing Tomar-Re, other Lanterns who had me geek out with their appearance were Boodkika, Stel, the round Lantern with tentacles for feet, Apros, and the Lantern that looked like a fly named Bzzzd. 

The casting of Mark Strong as Sinestro certainly also was a good choice as Mark is a character actor and like my other favorite actor, Kevin Spacey, he does the job right. Whenever he is on, he draws the attention to him, much like his comic book counterpart. Now will we see how he becomes the rogue Lantern and later the villain that he is now, commanding his own Corps under a different shade? Well, just wait till the credits and you will be rewarded. 

At this point, my rants are outnumbering my raves as if I were putting the movie down. I am not. On the contrary, it is because I am a fan that it pains me to see these inconsistencies and deviations in the film that were not taken into consideration. Had the director been a fan, like Peter Jackson to the Tolkien trilogy, would the movie have been different and more faithful to the source material? No doubt about that. Being a fan, he would be able to incorporate these nuances and milk the source material for what it can give credence and credibility to the movie, at the same time pleasing fans and earning new ones. Martin Campbell may have directed a Bond film but for that film he came into an already existing and established franchise. Green Lantern, on the other hand, is just getting the much needed boost and attention it mostly deserves. Along with that, should they have gotten Geoff Johns to write or if not, co-write the material like what Marvel did with Thor who had J. Michael Strazynski doing the story? Hell, yeah! 

But still I urge you to still watch the movie for yourself, not to see how the rants I mentioned were played out but to just enjoy the ride of losing yourself in a summer movie filled with effects, aliens and a human striving to be more than who he is and discovering who he can be. Hmmm, much like some of the lives we lead. So chuck your weekend plans and go take a visit to Oa and like me although you may wish for something more, I know you would be at least relieved that this character finally has his own movie, alongside fellow Justice League members, Superman and Batman. Oh and Wonder Woman whose kitsch 70’s series still is the benchmark.

Green may be the color of will but it is also the color of fertility and abundance. I hope the movie earns tons so that the bigwigs can go back, re-asses and give it a better and second push. In short, give us Sinestro Corps War and...and...ah….Blackest Night? 

But like the Lanterns and any other who knows his duty, my duty is to the Corps, no matter what, inconsistencies, miscasts or whatever. I am still a reader, a follower, a person of will and yes….a Lantern…forever! Let's Go Poozers!