GREEN LANTERN #25 REVIEW

[Robin Lewis]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/sinestrovslantern.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/sinestrovslantern.gif" hspace=10 align=left alt="Green Lantern #25"></a>Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
Story Title: The Sinestro Corps War (conclusion)

As the Sinestro Corps War concludes, we get a glimpse of the upcoming Lantern rainbow nation.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira & Ivan Reis
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Colorist: Moose Baumann & Rod Reis
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor: Adam Schlagman
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Published by: DC (http://www.dccomics.com)

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The Wildstorm line has practically died on the vine, the follow-up to 52 has been given some of the most brutal critical kickings meted out to any title so far this year, Amazons Attack managed to be both tedious and confusing and for the majority of the year Marvel have beaten DC in the sales charts like a red-headed stepchild. For DC this hasn't been a good twelve months. Oh, sure, next year they'll have Grant Morrison making hopefully a more intelligible event than Infinite Crisis with the surely misnamed Final Crisis, but that's next year. For now, the one bright light in their schedules, the thing that's been rewarded with both critical and commercial success, has been Geoff Johns' Sinestro War. From its outstanding opening salvo in the Ethan Van Sciver illustrated special to each of the packed installments in both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, the quality and pace have rarely dipped. Surprisingly, even the tie-in specials (which haven't blown other books off course, and have instead been limited to their own series of one-shots) have gone out of their way to add depth to plot-strands that would otherwise have received short shrift in the main books, and thus justified their existence in a manner not often seen in the history of crossover cash-ins. The art on a couple of these tie-ins was well below the quality of Green Lantern, but when that title is being drawn by Ivan Reis at the top of his game that isn't surprising. This issue, Reis is joined for a few glorious splash pages by the peerless Van Sciver, and Johns lets them both cut loose and draw the kind of widescreen technicolour superhero craziness that reminds you that sometimes the epic events the big two put out are something to be looked forward to rather than dreaded.

All the elements have been set up for the big finale, with the bad guys descending to Earth in force and the beleagured Lanterns forming up in a last line of defence. Lethal force has been given to the Lanterns as a last resort, and the Anti-Monitor has set up shop on the surface of the planet so that he can get busy with the destroying and the annihilation that is his thing. Reis and Van Sciver give us some truly wonderful depictions of the action, packing a huge variety of bodies into each image and giving the battles some truly stunning impact. Smackdowns are rendered with style, and Johns has room in this supersized issue to provide plenty of them. Climactic showdowns are given the appropriate amount of weight, and the whole thing is brought to a satisfyingly epic conclusion. This is that rare beast, the final chapter in a crossover that delivers on the promise of early installments.

It's not perfect, but its flaws are blockbuster flaws. When you've thrown everything against the wall as Johns has done over the past few months a few things are bound not to stick. The Anti-Monitor's part in all this feels underwritten and a little superfluous. He's supposed to be the most terrifying bad guy in the history of the DC universe, but here he appears relegated to the role of giant bad guy who just needs to get hit hard enough to put him on his back. Much more successful is Johns' use of the Cyborg Superman, giving him a wonderful little arc of tragedy that rounds off the character very nicely. Superman Prime is likewise well-done, mixing the reckless violence and stunted adolescent stroppiness that make him such an unnervingly unpredictable and capriciousness bad guy. And then there's Sinestro. Coming on like David Niven with deep sunburn, the head of the yellow Corps has been the epitome of the moustache-twirling villain, even having his very own 'Foolish heroes, you've played right into my hands!' moment towards the end. They've been a remarkably impressive set of enemies for the Lanterns to take on, and the only problem with them is that after Johns built them up so brilliantly seeing them taken down over the course of one issue feels just the tiniest bit anti-climactic. Just the tiniest bit, though. By and large, Johns makes us feel that the victory is hard-won, and wisely keeps the cameos from the rest of DC's gallery of heroes to a minimum, making it clear that while everyone is invited to this party what we're really interested in are the Lanterns.

Johns has certainly packed in a hell of a lot of development for the Lantern universe in this story. From the divisions among the Guardians to the changing of Ion's host to the new laws governing the Corps, you certainly can't complain that the crossover has been without consequence. The Green Lanterns have gained a new and fearsome foe that is their equal in size and power which should, although defeated for now, provide ample material for future stories. In the best tradition of comic book epics this story is done, but future stories will inevitably spring from it and it's difficult to think of a more wholly successful crossover in recent years.

There are a couple of epilogues in Green Lantern Corps #19 and the final Tales of the Sinestro Corps one-shot, but the main storyline is done. Next up we'll presumably have Johns laying some groundwork in for the next big Lantern event, one that looks as though it's going to add five new colours to the Lantern spectrum, and one extra twist with the arrival of the mysterious Black Lantern. Green Lantern has been revitalised by Johns over the past couple of years, and he shows no signs of letting up yet. The occasional issue of All-Star Superman aside, Johns has made Green Lantern into a real contender for the title of DC's most consistently fine superhero title. The Sinestro Corps War has turned me into a regular DC buyer, which is something I hadn't thought likely when the year started. More than that, it was good enough to make me go out and hunt down every Green Lantern back issue up to the start of Rebirth. That story was the start of Johns' trilogy of Lantern stories, and the final one is heading our way in 2009. That seems like a long time to wait, but with The Sinestro War under his belt Johns should feel secure that he's earned the right to expect us to join him for the final chapter.

OVERALL:
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Buy Green Lantern #25 online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=25016)

[Marty P]

Can't wait to read this!

I have to agree with the review; so far, every issue is worth it, even the one-shot specials! :cool:

I must admit I am a bit worried that the multiple color Corps will be a bit overkill though....

[Ovid]

Good review, Robin. :)

Things I liked:

1) Sinestro's moral victory.
2) What happened to Ganthet and Sayd.
3) The no-powers brutal fistfight between Sinestro, Hal and Kyle.
4) Even the more shortsighted Guardians getting their moment of heroism.
5) All the funky alien designs.

Things I didn't like:

1) The corps inflation - the GL Corps felt more special when they were the main men. The Sinestro Corps made sense as a corruption of them, but with at least 8 and possibly 9 in total, they feel less unique.
2) Zombies?!!

[david r]

The reviews on this issue have been amazing. I may start picking up GREEN LANTERN because it sounds like this is something I don't want to miss !! :glhal:

[Greg Reeves]

Just absolutely awesome.

[HandofGod]

well to be honest multiple colors have existed in the GL universe before this
I.E
Zamarons and their new purple battery
Black spectrum powered anti-green Lantern corps from Qward
the negative version of Hal Jordan the Red lantern
be cool to see the other ones

[ursabearX]

I loved thios storyline, the multipe Corps looked freaking cool, so Im guessing that Indigo, Blue, Green and Purple are the "good" Lanterns and the Red, Yellow, Orange and Black are the "bad" did I miss any colar in me Lucky Charms

[gnosis]

I don't think the new corps can be judged in terms of "good" or "bad" exactly, but rather positive and negative emotions and keeping those emotions in check. From what we have seen and been told it looks like you have green at the center (just like in the order of the spectum of visible light, ROYGBIV) and the further away from the center you go the more the emotion dominates the ring bearer. This explains how a group basing themselves on a "positive" emotion (love) can be villains like Star Sapphire. Going by this logic, that would make the Sinestro Corps the mildest of the the groups on the red side of the spectrum, so I am really curious as to how messed up the Orange and Red Lantern Corps will be.

I am also curious to find out what the Black Lanterns will represent. Black is made up of all the colors mixed together so maybe the Black Lantern Corps will somehow incorporate all the emotions of the other Corps. This also could lead to the possibility of a White Lantern Corps where they aren't affected by emotions at all (white being made up of no colors).

[ursabearX]

Interesting white laterns reminds me of Phoenix "crown-white" etc.

[BlackSamurai]

...Black is made up of all the colors mixed together so maybe the Black Lantern Corps will somehow incorporate all the emotions of the other Corps. This also could lead to the possibility of a White Lantern Corps where they aren't affected by emotions at all (white being made up of no colors).
Not to 'nerd it up' too much, but you've got it a little in reverse. When dealing with light (and as spectrum and energy, we are) combining all 'colors' produces white. All visible light is a portion of white light, and a rainbow is the separation of the spectrum by water molecules, same as a prism would cause. Black is the absence of light, so by extension, sort of an absence of energy (it not being the case because there is also invisible light; infrared and below, and ultra violet and above). We can safely say the stories are only interested in the traditional breakdown of light, the 7 spectra, and now the absence, black - which will make sense that the Anti-Monitor would be linked to it since instead of an absence of energy somehow defying sense (even for comics) to BE an energy, we can delve into anti-energy: canceling regular energy/light in the simplest of applications to produce a visible stream of black.

In this regard, the 'Black Spectrum' would have no emotion representation or influence and that relates to not being alive. So much as it will be a tired concept with so much 'zombification' already in the media, the Black Lantern sensibly relates to or uses the dead. And I will be first to say that I am neither knocking the use of 'undead' nor hitting on the writer for lack of originality; things can't, don't and shouldn't always have to be original in a medium so large and varied as comics, we just want good stories and he's given a good track record of delivery.

Now, with color as opposed to light, where absorption and reflection of wavelengths of light produce color in physical objects, all color can be broken down to CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) just as light relies on RGB (Red, Green and Blue) as foundation. Color theory gets explained different at different levels of schooling and such, so eventually the idea that Red, Yellow and Blue are truly the building blocks of all color gets dispensed with. With just combined colors, excluding black - the supposed non-color color - the best one can get are a series of browns. The surface white, which is the absence of color in that sense because white objects/surfaces reflect all wavelengths of light, is not to be confused with white light.

If there will be a White Lantern introduced, know that he/she/it would be the summation of the entire spectrum. Such a character would hypothetically be as balanced as the green because the extremes should cancel each other out, but in the tradition of comics, that also means that would be one extremely powerful character and the root of all the other spectra. As is with powerful characters, white doesn't have to mean good either even if balanced, or their representation of good may just be too extreme and clash with both the good and evil anyway.

I mean to offend no one with this light and color clarification. Just have the knowledge that came with science classes, being an artist and being a graphic artist well versed in both print and light based work, so color theory is something I am very familiar with. The info is also out there on the web, but a neat little test of light for anyone who wants to or is now learning the difference between light and color, can get three light filters (colored light paper can work too to cover some flashlights) of Red, Green and Blue, and shine them altogether on a white surface (preferably in the dark) and see the combination come out as white. Check out the combos of twos as well to see what Red and Green light create together (or play with a color slider in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator in RGB mode to see it happen on screen, and check the CMYK slider as well to compare the difference).

That all being said, I did have one opposing opinion to the idea that all characters could come out and play but it was really the Green Lanterns' soap box. I like that no outside character came in and overshadowed the Lanterns in their own book, but it was eerie to watch Superman Prime so easily dismiss Superman, Power Girl and Super Girl (and I guess I should add in Krypto and Martian Manhunter too) even all together. And for Superman to be drawn into so many panels without a single word about anything. Not that he should have been the one to resolve or even hold off Prime, but I think the story would have done better to show him and the other Kryptonians (and the Martian) tied up with yellow lanterns or something. Even his fight with the Daxamite, Yat, seemed unfairly portrayed because with comparable physiologies, I would've preferred if a yellow ring or some other in-story extra feed of power would equalize Prime to a ring wielding, Ion infused, Kryptonian comparative Daxamite. I've known of Mon-El of Legionary days of yon and hints at him in more recent days (he gets written out of all the Legion stories so quickly, I guess because they don't want to deny Ultra Boy some status so soon) and I knew what to expect with Yat and loved the idea of him. (I also see the Corps sneaking in present day incarnations representing the races that will be in the 31st Century Legion, here and there as rookie ring slingers).

It's great to explore the idea of what it's like when beings with already great natural or previous powers also tote a power ring, (a la 'Elseworld' stories of Superman being a 'Lantern) but I find that so far only one aspect has been allowed to shine at a time, with super strong and durable beings barely utilizing the ring, or the ring being used with no mention, display, or back up of formidable powers the bearer also has. Granted, as a GL rookie Yat may not have been in he presence of a yellow sun enough to be truly on Superman, let alone the seemingly way more powerful Prime, levels, as evidenced by his 'first time' with the heat vision, but his being able to walk out of the explosion when he fell the living city attacking Mogo should have been evidence that he not fall so pathetically to Prime (no matter how much it was made to look like a drag out, all out, brutal battle)

[gnosis]

Thanks for clearing that up, having the Black Lantern being the absence of emoiton makes more sense given the little we've seen.

[Jordan T. Maxwell]

hot damn, this was awesome! i could practically hear a John Williams score playing over everything. epic and wonderful, and i'm actually looking forward to the multiple Corps (and the discussions amongst fans of which Corps they'd be in. :LOL: ).

and hell yeah, ZOMBIE LANTERNS! that whole epilogue/trailer was just so freaking cool, i was giggling after i got done reading. :cool:

[Greg Reeves]

Anyone have Green Lantern #6 (current version)?

I'd recommend reading that. It mentions Death and it being the far end of the emotional spectrum. It also indicates someone who may very well be one of the heralds of the Black Lanterns.

[Marty P]

Heh, guess Geoff had the Color Corps in his head all that time.


Cool.

[JXXX]

That guy just keeps coming up with fresh stuff. The cool thing is that each time I think "that's so obvious. I can't believe nobody ever thought of it before."

About the black lanterns, the Oans indicated that the new lantern corps is aht leads to the blackest knight. What do you think that means?