purple reign

drive-by readings

Green Lantern #57 (DC) "What Happens in Vegas" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Tom Nguyen Keith Champagne Randy Mayor Gabe Eltaeb Nick Napolitano Mahnke/Hi-Fi (cover) Ryan Sook/Fernando Pasarin/Joel Gomez/Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: after a brawl stretching from Minnesota to the Sin City, Star Sapphire of Sector 2814 (a.k.a. Carol Ferris) corrals "The Love Predator" (which is definitely different from Ah-Nuld's nemesis) and makes a stand about it, earning here the title of queen of the Star Sapphires, whose erstwhile queen conveniently decides to croak at that particular moment.
oh shit moment: Carol kisses the Predator (John Walsh and Chris Hansen just tore their hairpieces out) and Hal's jaw tenses. for one moment there, he was going to go Parallax again. or not.
what's next: next time you get arrested for stalking your ex-girlfriend or your crush, you can blame the Love Predator. no, really.


you don't have the proportions, Larfleeze.

humanize

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Green Lantern Corps #51 (DC) "Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns Part 4" Tony Bedard Ardian Syaf Vicente Cifuentes Randy Mayor Steve Wands Ryan Sook/Joel Gomez/Fernando Pasarin/Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: lemme get this straight: Cyborg Supes turned Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns so they would attract the attention of Ganthet so he can turn them all back into mortals, especially Cyborg Supes? and you thought Lost was convoluted. anyhoo, with the little juice his ring has left, Kyle grabs Lantern Hannu as an equalizer, and just in time because Boodikka shows up. her final sacrifice is to power up the GLs.
oh shit moment: Qward? White Lantern stuff? ooooooooooooooo.
what's next: for Stel! for Grenda! for the Corps!!


naaah, that's centuries of not eating healthy, you blue pig.

a green can of whupass

drive-by readings

Emerald Warriors #1 (DC) "Last Will" Peter Tomasi Fernando Pasarin Cam Smith Randy Mayor Steve Wands Rodolfo Migliari (cover) Lee Bermejo (variant cover)

what we learned: recently-voluntarily-demoted-to-Lantern Ganthet has recruited Guy Gardner and Atrocitus for some great mission (which would probably lead to the next GL crossover), and this debut issue reminds how much of an asskicker Guy can be. but this time, he's using his brains more.
oh shit moment: who's the purple guy with the flaming sword?
what's next: wasn't a big Guy Gardner fan because he's a natural dickhead, but recent years of GL and GL Corps have turned me around. i hope he doesn't bite the bucket in this series. or become a full Red Lantern (tell-tale blood on lips).


no, no, no! they're Skrulls! except they're blue!!

NYPD Green

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art from Emerald Warriors #1

resistance is futile. no, not really.

drive-by readings

Green Lantern Corps #50 (DC) "Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns Part 3" Tony Bedard Ardian Syaf Vicente Cifuentes Randy Mayor Carrie Strachan Steve Wands Patrick Gleason/John Dell/Mayor (variant cover)

what we learned: the Cyborg Superman (the anti-thesis of regular comic characters because he wants to die and he can't) is still up to his shenanigans (well, give him credit, he does want to kill himself) and goes through a convoluted plan to turning Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns just to attract the attention of ex-Guardian-now-Lantern Ganthet. hmmmmm, so who's the mysterious dude who told Henshaw these things?
oh shit moment: Ardian Syaf goofs on Ganthet's hand - i mean correct me if i'm wrong (see below).
what's next: paging Dr. Kevorkian!! we have been paging you since 1992, dammit!!


yes, you're right. no, your left.

aaaaaaaaaaand ... we're back.

the DC Universe is so circular. who are they gonna bring back next??



/uhh ... Batman?

snaps: Green Lantern Corps #44

... where we see how badass a planet can be. especially a Green Lantern planet. also, the throwdown between Red Lantern Guy and his Green buddies is for next issue. stay tuned.

now we know who's the top and who's the bottom.


Guy easily aced his Ax Men audition.


how? well, there are these things called laxatives ...


Mogo sucks!! Mogo sucks!!! Mogo sucks!!!


this time, the grass smoked the hippies.

love & rage

drive-by readings

Green Lantern Corps #43 (DC) "Red Badge of Rage" Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason Rebecca Buchman Tom Nguyen Randy Mayor Steve Wands Ladronn (variant cover)

in just one issue, we get the best emotional impact of Blackest Night to the Green Lanterns, and its not even in the main series or the core GL title. it's just like that time in the Sinestro Corps War when all Kyle and Hal broke free of Parallax and all four major GLs yelled the oath.

with Kyle having been apparently felled by those black lantern zombies, best friend (whodathunk really) Guy Gardner goes into a berserker rage, takes a Red Ring in stride and proceeds to unleash hell on all their enemies. if that's not friendship, i don't know what is.

on the other side of the equation, Soranik Natu's love for Kyle attracts the attention of Sapphire, and the power of love brings him back from the brink. awwww, isn't that sweet? no, seriously it is.

not sure what are the ramifications for Guy running amok, though he hasn't harmed any Greens or innocents anyway. besides after this, will there be still any Guardians to be in charge of the Corps? or for that matter, will they be even in charge of anything?

Peter Tomasi is making a case for the Baseball HOF. because he keeps knocking these issues out of the park.

fist, meet mouth

Soranik Natu, matchmaker.

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Green Lantern Corps #41

well, i didn't know that!!!

"you are a sorry excuse for a drill sergeant, Killowog!!!"


"that's why i call you Brillolog!!"



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Green Lantern Corps #41

unmellow yellow

drive-by readings

Green Lantern #46 (DC) "Feared" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Tom Nguyen Randy Mayor Gabe Eltaeb Rob Leigh Hi-Fi Andy Kubert/Alex Sinclair (variant cover)

what's the best thing about this issue? the inevitable showdown between Sinestro and Mongul. and guess who wins!

Blackest Night, as an event, seems to be overburdened by its own hype. i mean the series itself is something worth following, but the nature of the whole thing demands it has to spill over to the DC Universe, inadvertently making it like DC's version of cough, cough, Marvel Zombies, with a twist. Blackest Night is inherently a Green Lantern story, but by encompassing all the major titles (incidentally, where's Blackest Night: Wonder Woman?), i have the feeling that it kind of overreached a bit.

of course you need to tell other stories that may be tangential to or build something toward the main storyline. here we have the beginning of the melding of colors - Green Lantern, Sinestro, Star Sapphire and Indigo-1. Blue should not be a problem, but Red (Anger) and Orange (Avarice) may need a little more prodding to play ball. along the way, Hal Jordan, all coiffed up and ready to fight, has time to flirt as well (hel-lo, Carol!). hey, perks of the hazardous job. the Indigo Lantern said it best (referring to our flyboy): "Despite what the Zamarons preach, love cannot conquer all - you are a living example of that." of course, he is. he's the one who has one night stands with like half of the Birds of Prey.

next issue promises to be more of relationship exploration, as more dead friends come back to life. Arin Sur? who's Arin Sur? exactly. you sly Sinestro, you.

drive-by readings: Green Lantern #43

Green Lantern #43 (DC) "Tale of the Black Lantern" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Randy Mayor Alex Sinclair Eddy Barrows/Nei Ruffino (variant cover)

pretty neat origin story for who's to be the Black Lantern. William Hand, from the Coast City Hand clan of embalmers, fits into the embodiment of all that is dark, aided by a renegade Guardian who's like Gollum with more intelligence. the covers are actually misleading as the eventual throwdown between Black Hand and Hal Jordan is yet to occur. Doug Mahnke continues to be one of the most reliable pencilers around, and that shot of William blowing his own brains out was sick! Blackest Night better be a rip-roaring tale to take some interest away from Marvel's Dark Reign, or else!