Three Stories, One Great Collection, Saturday, July 31, 2010

"Green Lantern: Rebirth" help clear the table for the return of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. With the deck cleared, "No Fear" gave us the monthly adventures of Hal, a combination of classic Green Lantern stories with a modern sensibility. "Revenge of the Green Lanterns" continues that trend while serving as a harbinger for things to come in Geoff Johns' Green Lantern saga.

The collection consists of three stories. The first picks up where "No Fear" left off, as Hal and Green Arrow go after Mongul Jr, the son of Coast City's destroyer. This story runs concurrently with the beginning of Johns' "Infinite Crisis" and shows what Mongul was after in the Justice Legague's Watchtower. It also gives a nice look at the Hal/Ollie friendship in the wake of "Green Lantern Rebirth" and is illustrated by Carlos Pacheco, who's crisp, stylized art is a perfect fit for the mythology.

The second story sees Hal and Batman working together -- albeit reluctantly -- to bring in a new Tattooed Man, who is murdering Gotham criminals. The story is a sequel to "Green Lantern: Rebirth" and deals once and for all with the mutual dislike between Hal and the Dark Knight. Ethan Van Sciver handles the art duties for this story, and his work is detailed and appropriate for this continuation of a subplot he helped set in motion.

From here, the action jumps ahead as a result of the "One Year Later" crossover that followed "Infinite Crisis". In the titular "Revenge of the Green Lanterns", Hal has emerged from months spent as a prisoner of war and as an international fugitive due to refusal to recognize the Freedom of Power Treaty (established in "52"). His problems become minor concerns when Green Lantern officer Tomar Tu of Space Sector 2813 crash lands on Earth. Problem is, Tomar was killed during "Emerald Twilight", murdered by Hal when he was possessed by Parallax. Hal believes that the other Lanterns he `killed' may still be alive too and defies Guardian orders to locate them. Ivan Reis jumps onto "Green Lantern" and his detailed, epic pencils serve as a prelude of the quality work to come. The mystery is intriguing, the characterization is spot-on, and Johns also begins laying the seeds for the "Sinestro Corps War" crossover.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Saga continues!, Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Revenge of the Lanterns really pics up where the last volume left off nicely. Following up on the redemption storyline, Hal really has to contend with not only readjusting to the ways of being a Green Lantern but the fact his legacy is no longer "The Greatest Green Lantern" but rather "The most untrusted" something only Sinestro had accomplished before him. Hal fights his way to save his old comrades and prove himself to be the best Lantern!

Rating: 4 out of 5

How is Hal's Recovery Received by the Corps, Tuesday, January 26, 2010

That is the main question that is answered in this book. The main story is how the GL Corps treats Hal as well as Hal's attempt at redemption by saving the lives of many GLs he thought he had killed as Parallax. There is a side story with Green Arrow that could have been left out and another with Batman to show how he accepts Hal.

I liked the Batman story. It wasn't great but it had amusing parts (especially when Hal stated how he would take down the villain). There was a back-story with the Global Guardians, but it was not fully explored (possibly mentioned in a later book).

The main story was excellent. It was believable. here was this man who single-handedly brought down the Corps. Who betrayed everyone and killed many. Not everyone will be happy with his return (even with the explanation of how he was controlled). Friends died at his hand. It is more believable that Batman would forgive before some in the Corps and Johns explored this.

The only reason for the lack of 5 stars is the unexplored Global Guardians part of the story and the only slightly more mentioned part of the capture by the Russians.

If you are a GL fan it's a no brainer.

Rating: 4 out of 5