Reilly2040's Blog

Its another cracking finale to a Green Lantern arc, this time offering a little more closure than the Rage of the Red Lanterns arc, which followed much more directly into Agent Orange.

The resolution to last issue’s cliffhanger caught me by surprise, but made complete sense given what we’d previously seen of the blue rings.  However, it was also a slight disappointment, probably in part due to having seen the exact same trick pulled off by Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI13 last week.

Talking of Hal’s Blue ring, we finally got the reveal of his hope which activated the ring, and it was a great moment.  Whereas most had been speculating about his Dad’s final words or something, instead it turned out to be something fairly inconsequential that activated the ring.  A throwaway thought.   Again, its something that rang very true.  However, we also see that the ring shows Hal a glimpse of the future (suggesting that’s his true hope), and aside from the glimpse of Sinestro we saw, I have to wonder what else might be revealled that he’s seen later down the line.

Hal specifically glimpsing Sinestro saying they need to work together may also provide some insight into Hal’s hopes.   We know from Secret Origin that prior to his fall, Sinestro and Hal were friends as well as mentor and student, so perhaps this also hints that Hal still secretly hopes Sinestro can be redeemed one day and he can have his friend back (although granted this flies in the face of his “KILLKILLKILL” Red Lantern moment).

There are various other nice moments as well.  We get a good character piece with Fatality and John Stewart where she tells him he must forgive himself for Xanshi, but also interestingly hints that Xanshi wasn’t as innocent as he might’ve believed when it comes to the war of light.  Intriguing, and obviously Geoff must have a plan in this direction.

The ending of the issue also gives us two big moments.  The Guardians sell out the Blue Lanterns by telling Larfleeze where Odym is and we see the Blue Lanterns about to come under attack.  Of course, this is very bad, as despite the blue light’s effectiveness over the orange, we know that beyond basic life support and flight, blue rings are inactive unless there’s a GL in range.  Wonder if we’ll see Hal or Kyle get an SOS from Ganthet.   Of course, we also know that Atrocious was last seen leading his Red Lanterns to Odym as well.  Since Larfleeze has a love of new, shiney things, I imagine he’ll be wanting a red ring as well as a blue, so that may buy the Blue Lanterns a chance.

You do wonder what’s going to happen with the Guardians after Blackest Night.  Really their actions in recent issues have been unforgivable.  Kyle’s going to be regretting resurrecting them after the damage they’re doing.

And the final pages of the book give us a great lead-in to Blackest Night.  I loved how they picked up directly from events in GLC with Ash and Saarek.  Sadly it looks like these are another two classic GL casualties, but the giant arms reaching out to grab them was a great scene.  Again, we’re also given a tantalising hint, as the ring identifies the planet with the Black Lantern as “Classified”.  So its definitely charted by the Guardians.  Do they already know of the planet’s significance and are hushing it up from the Corps?  Or has Scar quietly classified it without the other Guardians knowing?

While Hal still struggles with his blue ring, and the rest of the Corps and Guardians struggle against Larfleeze’s Orange Lanterns, we find out of the truth behind the ban on the Vega System.

This is very much a talking issue.  Aside from (as predicted) Fatality flying in to rescue John from the Orange Lanterns, the issue is largely occupied with Hal and Larfleeze.  Captured and unable to fight back due to his conflicting rings, and Larfleeze’s raw power, Hal needs to stall for time until the Corps gets there.  Fortunately for him, Larfleeze is entranced by the blue ring.  Its something new that he hasn’t seen before, and he wants it.

Hal (knowing the Guardians have been holding out on them), uses this and agrees to give Larfleeze the ring in exchange for the truth behind his deal with the Guardians.  We discover that Larfleeze and his gang stole various items from the Guardians back when they were still on Maltus, including a map and a mysterious box that the Guardians were keen to get back.   

They followed the map to Okarra, where they found the orange power battery in the temple, just as the Guardians arrived.  The gang’s numbers dwindled until there was only two of them left, and eventually, unable to combat the orange light, the Guardians made a deal.  They’d allow one of them to have the Vega System to himself, in return for the box they stole.   Larfleeze agreed and killed his remaining partner to become the sole owner of the Orange Lantern, and reveals to Hal that the box he’d stolen contained Parallax. 

Having told his story, he goes to get the blue ring from Hal but, of course, it can’t be removed.  Screaming that Hal is a welcher, Larfleeze then just cuts Hal’s hand off to claim the ring for himself.

Another good issue, marred slightly by having several different art teams throughout the book.  Each team actually produced really nice work, however the jump between the teams was a bit distracting in places, reminding me of one of the later GLC issues during the Sinestro War which had had similar problems.

Phillip Tan’s art again shines during the introductory scenes, with Hal held captive as Larfleeze is guzzling down his feast.  Tan really shines at these creepy, monstrous scenes.  

Geoff’s really excelling in creating these various Corps and making them all feel different, and I really enjoyed the backstory into how Larfleeze became Agent Orange.  However, there’s obviously more to this story, as Larfleeze stumbled upon the orange lantern in its temple.  Who created the Lantern and the Temple?  And he suggests that the Guardians had encountered the Orange Light before.   I wonder if this will be explained or hinted to in the final part of the story?

The only other thing I really found jarring was the small scene with Sinestro where he discusses attacking the Star Saphires.  Now we know from the Blackest Night solicits, that this is what’s going to happen, but the last time we saw Sinestro was in the last issue of GLC, where he leaves to go confront Mongul.  Now, this might get explained in the next issue of GLC (Sinestro turns up, beats down Mongul and reclaims leadership), but given both storylines are supposed to be happening at the same time, it threw me a bit.

With this Blackest Night buildup Geoff’s really firing on all cylanders.   I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this arc where it’ll be interesting to see how exactly they contain Larfleeze (or are they just going to end up legging it and hope he doesn’t come after them?), and what Hal’s hope is (and how his hand gets reattached).   I’m hoping for a bit more John and Fatality as well.  Aside from the odd page here and there, he’s not really had much to do, and the John/Fatality relationship is one that deserves some focus as it was built up really well during Kyle’s run.

Picking up from the preview from earlier in this week, the GLC and Guardians are cleaning up the Vega System while the head to Okaraa to confront Larfleeze and the Orange Lanterns.

This issue is very much focused on introducing the nature of the Orange Lanterns, which is unlike any other Corps we’ve encountered. As many suspected from last issue, the Orange Lanterns are revealed to be constructs, created after the original being has been killed and consumed by the orange light.

The real loss in this issue is the nomad Green Lantern, Gretti.   Once again, Geoff Johns has brought back a classic Green Lantern, only for them to be brutally killed.   I appreciate death would be a big part of the GLC, given the War of Light and the dangers they face, but unfortunately I think this is becoming cliche.  I’m still not completely sure what the point was in resurrecting the Lost Lanterns for example.  Sure, it completely exonerated Hal of their deaths (although that was Parallax anyway – now established as a separate entity), but since they reappeared all they’ve done is get killed off.   All save Arisia, who’s been thankfully moved to the GLC title and paired with Sodam Yat.

In this case especially, it feels like a real waste of an interesting character.   I was very much enjoying the idea of a nomadic GL, barred from entering his own sector and now forced to go against his nature and beliefs and return to it.

Interestingly while The Guardians are in the Vega system, Scar has remained behind, thanks to her illness.  I’m guessing the Guardians keep this quiet though, as none of the GLs on Oa seem to know she’s still there, as they think in GLC that all the Guardians are off-planet.   We, of course, know she’s stayed behind to cause the Sciencell riot, after stirring things up sending the other Guardians after Agent Orange.  It nicely explains how she appeared separately from the other Guardians during last months issue of GLC.

Hal meanwhile continues to struggle with the blue ring.   There’s a nice laugh when he tries to think of things he can hope in, tries world peace and the ring responds “Insincerity detected”.   The ring keeps throwing him off, and results in him crashing to Okaraa.  Here Gretti meets Hal (prior to his death) and is shocked to find his GL ring’s power being boosted (so we know that blue rings will also provide GL power boosts without being activated).   The interesting thing here is the way the Guardians warn him to stay away from “the blue lantern”.   They’re clearly washing their hands of Hal as long as he wears the ring, and Hal himself comments that they’ve only brought him along as they’re curious to see a blue ring in action and gauge its power.

Of course, as they approach Larfleeze’s forrest, it doesn’t take long before he sends his Orange Lanterns to act the GLs, and the GLs and Guardians are quickly overmatched, as the orange light just absorbs their constructs, showing exactly how the orange light gave the Guardians and the Corps so many problems in the past before the truce was signed.  Of course, Hal and John don’t let it go unnoticed that the Guardians had known about the Orange light all along and kept it quiet.

Gretti quickly becomes a cropper to one of the Orange Lanterns, and John finds himself facing off against the Orange Lantern version of Gretti.  While I may complain about the death of veteran GLs becoming cliche, there’s no denying its an effective scene, when the new, more monstrous-looking version of Gretti appears.

The ending of this part I really enjoyed as well, with Hal’s blue ring continuing to cause him problems, however this time its because Larfleeze detects it as something new and different, and so, obviously, he wants it, grabbing Hal and dragging him down to face him.  Of course, it seems pretty obvious that Hal’s going to manage to trigger the blue ring next month, and it’ll be key to driving off the Orange Lanterns, but I really love the way its been used so far, and you really have a strong feeling for how much its screwing up Hal, who’s usually in his element as long as he’s got his GL ring on his finger.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is Fatality.  Her appearance is pretty much a cameo, but it reminded me very much of Miri over in GLC, who also made various cameo appearances before turning up in the last issue of Ring Quest to tip the balance against Mongul and Mother Mercy.  Here I’m willing to bet that the combination of her appearance and Hal’s blue ring will be what tips things against Larfleeze.  How her appearance affects John is something I’m very much looking forward to, but after her appearance being pretty much a cameo here, I’m not expecting a lot of page time to be given to it next issue.  Really I’d like to have an issue dedicated to John and Fatality, similar to what we got during Winnick’s Kyle run, but I can’t see it happening here, especially with Blackest Night about to kick off.  Hopefully they’ll get some focus during the event though.

The issue closes out with a nice “Tales of the Orange Lanterns” story.  It helps reinforce the points made about the nature of the Orange Lanterns in this issue, and is a fun throwaway story.  I’d have perhaps rather seen the pages go to John and Fatality though, especially given their focus on the varient cover.

IGN have put up a preview of this week’s issue #40, and it looks great

Philip Tan’s artwork continues to shine in this storyline, and I love the scenes of the GLC arriving to clean up the Vega System, now that its no longer off limits.   The implications this will have with the Spider Guild should be interesting to see, although its now being made clear (Geoffconed) that the Spider Guild were just a cover for the real reason the GLC was staying out of the Vega System.

This is the really interesting aspect of this story arc.  We now know that the reason the GLC have stayed out of the Vega System is because its home to Larfleeze and the Orange Light.  Infact, in these preview pages one of the Guardians makes it clear that the reason this happened, is because the GLC were delivered a sound beating the last time they encountered the Orange Lanterns, before coming to the truce.

This is a very interesting statement to me.  That the Orange Lanterns are potentially that much more powerful than the Green Lanterns.   We know that the Guardians themselves also go to Okaraa, presumably to add extra firepower rather than just let the GLs get slaughtered again.   I’m guessing this is going to be where Hal’s blue ring will be vital as well.  Presumably once they meet up with Larfleeze, the fight is going to be pretty one-sided until Hal eventually finds his hope, activates the ring, and all the GLs in the area suddenly find their power boosted.   

Whether this will be enough to sway the Guardians towards the value of the blue light will be debatable, however it should mean that all the GLs present will realise that there’s a lot of benefit to be had in teaming up with the Blue Lanterns, even if the Guardians are against it.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the issue a lot.  Nice to see the preview is only 6 pages as well.  I’ve noticed the length of these previews (generally speaking, not just GL) has been steadily increasing for a while now, and I’d noticed that it was starting to impact my enjoyment of the books themselves.

Continuing on from where Rage of the Red Lanterns left off, the new arc in Green Lantern, called Agent Orange picks up with the Controllers in the Vega System looking for the Orange Lantern, while Hal is on Odym trying to get Ganthet to remove the Blue ring he’s stuck with.

However Ganthet is powerless to remove the ring, and while Sayd creates a new ring for Saint Walker, Ganthet explains that Hal must find his hope to power the ring, drain its charge, and only then will he be able to remove it.   We also discover that Ganthet had never intended Hal to be a Blue Lantern, instead wanting him to remain a Green Lantern and use his willpower to power the Blue Lanterns.

Its not long before Hal’s pulled back to Oa by the Guardians who are none-to-pleased about Hal’s new blue ring.   Interestingly however, even they are powerless to remove it.  John turns up to help out Hal, but they’re all scattered when Larfleeze, holder of the Orange Lantern attacks Oa, as he blaims the Guardians for the Controllers trying to steal his power.   Scar arrives and declares the Vega System no longer off limits, and proposes the Green Lanterns and the Guardians go after Larfleeze.

This is a great issue.  The opening scene with the Controllers attempting to find the Orange Light and ending up slaughtered by Larfleeze and his Corps was very creepy.   Thanks in large part to Phillip Tan’s great artwork.  Its a pity we’re only getting him for this one story, although maybe we’ll get lucky and he could do some fill-in arcs after Blackest Night.

Interestingly the Orange Lanterns themselves appear to be only constructs, spawned from the Orange battery.  Makes sense for a power that’s based on avarice that there’d be no sharing.   I’m looking forward to the nature of the orange lanterns being examined in the upcoming issues.

We also really feel for Hal in this issue.  He’s desperate to get rid of the blue ring, and you get a tangible sense of how the two rings are battling over him.   Its interesting that the ring is so powerful that not even the combined power of the Guardians could remove it.  Of course, we also get the usual scenes of the Guardians being, frankly, dicks here.   They refuse to listen to Hal’s explanation of the red rings taking people against their will, and we also revisit the Guardian’s unwillingness to play well with the other Corps.   This is in stark contrast to Ganthet who announces that he and his Corps will be looking to align with the Indigo Lanterns, to help build a powerbase in preparation to support the Green Lanterns during the Blackest Night.

At this point we’re really expecting a big reality check for the Guardians come Blackest Night, where they find out how Scar has played them, and how, if not for Ganthet, they’d be in a lot of trouble.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of this arc.   The Orange Lanterns seem to be markedly different to every other Corps we’ve seen so far, and I’m looking forward to the reveal of their nature.   In fact, its one thing I’m really enjoying about this War of Light, is how Geoff is giving each Corps its own distinct feel.