It was a Green Lantern week this week, with both monthlies falling on the same week (not quite sure how they got synchronised).

Both delivered solid reads, although I’m slightly more inclined to say that GLC was my favourite issue of the two. We get the Star Saphires revisited as their role in Blackest Night starts to be revealed, some quaity character time with Guy and Tora, and Kyle and Soranik joining a group of GLs trying to track down the Sinestro Corps member they think is masterminding the recent attacks on the family members of GLs. Peter Tomasi as usual proves he has an excellent grasp of managing the large cast on this book, and its impressive how he’s managing to provide such a dense read. There’s so much going on.

As part of the Star Saphire build up we find a couple of newly weds, who’re enjoying a trip when their ship runs afoul of Mongul (I love how his severed arm hovers beside him courtesy of his rings). Mongul kills the husband, and leaves the wife alone. Trying to kill herself, unable to face life without her husband, the depth of her love attracts one of the newly formed Star Saphire rings. And we also learn the Zamarons seem to be trying to get the Guardians attention, causing them enlist Guy, Arisia and Sodam to escort them to the Zamaron homeworld.

There’s a lot going on here, and its a testiment to Peter Tomasi’s writing that it doesn’t all end up a jumble. Can’t wait for the next issue of this arc.

Meanwhile, over in GL, Geoff Johns brings the Secret Origin arc to a close.

I’ve been a bit unsure about this arc. While the Blackest Night background has been very nice, and I’ve loved the new take on Hal and Sinestro, its still managed to feel like a bit of a diversion from the Blackest Night buildup. However, there’s still a lot of good stuff here. The scene with Hal standing up to the Guardians, and accusing them of being afraid of the Lanterns is a great one, and I loved how the seeds of Sinestro’s fall were laid by Atrocious. I’m really looking forward to the Rage of the Red Lanterns arc picking up on these aspects of this story as they’ve been the bits I’ve enjoyed the most. Its interesting to see the Inversions manipulate Sinestro into his own downfall, in the same way they did Abin Sur.

The interesting thing that keeps getting underlined, is the notion that Sinestro is the Greatest Green Lantern of all. In previous runs, this is a role that had been assumed by Hal (after Sinestro’s fall) with the implication that Hal had exceeded Sinestro’s accomplishments. However I’m getting the vibe that that’s not necessarily the case anymore. Its certainly interesting when you consider that Sinestro’s primary motivations at the moment seem to be to change the GLC to prepare it for the oncoming Blackest Night. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Playing catchup here a bit. Wizard Universe has a great glimpse at some of Shane Davis’ Red Lantern designs for the upcoming special.

I love these small sneak peaks, and enjoyed the Final Crisis sketchbook in the same way. It looks like Davis has had as much fun designing Red Lanterns as Ethan Van Skiver did the Sinestro Corps, and similarly, it looks like there’s some pretty nasty characters here.

As I’ve said before here, I was a big fan of Mystery in Space, and Shane’s artwork on that series, so I’m really looking forward to seeing his work on Green Lantern. One thing you’ve got to say about GL is that since its relaunch, its been attracting some of the best artists DC have. At least, its certainly been attracting most of my favourites.

Geoff Johns has also been dropping some teases about the Black Lanterns, and confirmed that Ronnie Raymond (the previous Firestorm) is going to be a Black Lantern.   It’ll be interesting to see how the various DC heroes end up encorporated into the various Corps.   Something I suspect will play heavily into the discussions that had been mentioned before (by Dan Didio I think) as to whether Blackest Night is going to remain a GL-specific crossover, or be branched out into a DCU-wide crossover.   While the prospect of seeing various familiar characters recruited to the various Corps could be fun, I’d hope that even if it gets pitched as a universe-wide crossover, the structure is kept similar to Sinestro Corps, with the focus remaining on the GLs and only a strictly limited number of books containing the meat of the story.

Singing the praises of Peter Tomasi’s work is a regular feature in this blog, and the latest issue of Green Lantern Corps is no exception.

If I was to make one complaint, then it would be that this arc felt a bit short. After the mammoth ring quest arc, the quick capture of the quintet was slightly jarring, but since we’ve got the Star Saphire arc kicking off next month, I won’t complain.

In truth, I’m looking forward to this next arc a lot. I liked the changes Geoff Johns introduced in the Green Lantern arc and I’m pleased to see them being picked up again. Not to mention, it’ll be nice to have an issue where the Sinestro Corps take a back seat. If you consider how much of this book was spent putting in place things for the Sinestro Corps arc (like Ranx) and now dealing with the fallout, I’ll be glad to see other factions in the Blackest Night getting some focus. Especially since I’ve been really enjoying the Red Lantern buildup over in Green Lantern.

This title was still good fun. I like the character of Saarek, and can’t believe I didn’t twig to how he could play into the Blackest Night until he was approached by the scarred guardian. There’s something going on there and I imagine it’s not going to be good for Saarek.

Nice to see Tora turn up on Oa as well. Nice and unexpected since our focus had been on Guy counting the days till their date

So this week brings us the penultimate part of Secret Origin.

I’ve been very hot and cold on this arc. The initial issues didn’t really work for me, and it wasn’t until Sinestro turned up that I started getting into this story. This issue is another great part of the Sinestro/Hal story. We continue to see them bond as good friends, as Sinestro forces Hal to take a good look at himself. Leading to a poignant scene between Hal and Carol as Hal’s forced to admit he’s never been there for his family, and making piece with the memory of his Dad.

There’s some good comedic interplay between the two GLs as well. The power battery scene from the preview is a great laugh, and helps to build the respect these two have for each other.

The only real problem I had with this issue is when Hal manages to save Sinestro by overcoming the yellow impurity. I’m really unsure where Geoff Johns is going with this. I preferred the Parallax retcon when the idea was that it was just accepted there was a yellow weakness, and no one could overcome it. Given that Hal overcame it here, you’re left wondering why he never overcame it again and got closer to figuring out what it actually was. I’m inclined to think this was something best left as it was. I have to wonder if its meant as an analogue to Emerald Dawn’s scene where Hal absorb’s the power of the central battery. An indication of just how good a GL Hal will become.

The issue ends with Hal and Sinestro recalled to Oa, as Sinestro’s lingered in sector 2814 too long and must face disciplinary action. There’s been no hint as to what’s actually going on on Korugar, and I must admit, I hope that it doesn’t come up in the next part. Whereas Emerald Dawn II had Sinestro being discovered shortly after he meets Hal, given the new relationship between them, I think it’d be more fun to leave that part of the story for a follow-up. Let’s have Hal and Sinestro as comrades in arms for a few months. Potentially, it could play that Sinestro’s dictatorship of Korugar comes about as a result of his run in with Atrocious and the Blackest Night prophecy.

Overall, I suspect I’ve probably been a bit harsh on the early issues of this arc. I think that re-reading it, I’m going to enjoy it a lot more and that part of my bad reaction was that I felt that it was going to be too much of a diversion from the Blackest Night build up and I’d have preferred looking forward rather than back. Of course, as it turns out, this series is a key part of that build up, and I’m left a fairly silly-looking fanboy

This interview with Ethan Van Sciver drops a few tantalising tid-bits about the upcoming Flash Rebirth and Blackest Night.

For me, the most interesting thing was something I’ve been expecting.  He confirms he’s designing a new costume for Wally West.  I figured it had to happen.  With Green Lantern, all the GLs had their own variations on the uniform, whereas Wally’s outfit has always been kept very similar to Barry’s.  I was assuming that if Wally was going to stay an active hero (really, he’s been the Flash for so long, it’d have caused real problems if he wasn’t still a part of the book) then he’d need a new look to differentiate him from Barry, so its nice to see that confirmed.  I just hope its not a rejig of his Kid Flash outfit.  I know it was popular, but I’ve never been a big fan of it.  Besides, it’d scream “Kid Flash”, and I think its safe to say Wally’s past that.  I hope its something completely new.

There’s also some tantalising hints about Blackest Night, with Ethan confirming that he’s redesigning a bunch of DCU characters as Black Lanterns.  With so many heroes returning from the grave recently, I wonder who’s turning up as a Black Lantern, and he confirms that there’s going to be least one major shock member.

Unsurprisingly, Ethan’s also designing the various new Corps.  With his stellar work designing Sinestro Corps members, I’m expecting him to produce some really great new characters.