Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Green Lantern #45
DC Comics
Johns, Mahnke & Alamy
Green Lantern jams in so much in this issue you'd think it was almost too much story to cover in a single comic. However, it appears the general idea is to give a sense of complete desperation on the part of the good guys by showing just how bad the situation has grown for all of the various colored corps. From that perspective the issue is a success. The side plot, which takes up the bulk of the issue, is between Sinestro and Carol Ferris. It's a good enough subplot, but the overall injection of Ferris in the story doesn't necessarily line up when she faces off with one of the chief villains in the GL universe and nearly defeats him. Still, this is a very good issue.
The issue begins with some scenes around the Green Lantern Universe. It's made clear by the third page that not only deceased beings are raised from the dead, but also planets as John Stewart has a big ghost come back to haunt him.
As the issue moves to the Zamaron, home of the Sapphires, we find out about two Earth beings that were brought to Zamaron to power the Sapphires. This was almost buried in the packed issue but it's worth remembering. What couple from a long time ago would have been brought from Earth to Zamaron?
While on Zamaron, Sinestro shows up to spring his corps that are there held as prisoners in hopes of converting them. He faces off with Carol Ferris. As pointed out by the text in the comic, Carol is experienced as a Sapphire and is best suited to fight Sinestro. But come on. How can she possibly battle Sinestro? Well, she does. It generally feels like they are fighting simply to allow Carol's story to be heard while she digs up a little nugget about Sinestro. So it appears that not only does Sinestro have a daughter but he also has a lover out there as well.
The Carol Ferris part is made more complex because her purpose is rarely anchored in any one given storyline. Sometimes she is the girlfriend, other times the ex-girlfriend, sometimes the boss, sometimes the evil enemy, sometimes the not-so-evil Sapphire. She pretty much is molded to how ever she is needed to be to fit the current story. Even Sinestro makes a comment about her being possessed one or two dozen times by the Sapphires. Her character is just impossible to take seriously because she gets placed into so many different roles. Thankfully, she doesn't defeat Sinestro, but instead is witness to the Black Lanterns showing up.
The comic basically ends with each of the colored corps being overrun with Black Lanterns. The ending of the comic is terrific as each corps deals with the problem in their own unique way.
The artwork is tremendous. The fight between the Sapphires and Sinestro is very good but it isn't even the highlight. Frankly, I found the Orange Lantern scenes to be the best because of the constructs and the sheer shock that is shown in the facial expressions. Also, the craftiness of some of the Black Lanterns that were showing up I found to be awesome. If you have followed Green Lantern for a while you are sure to find some outstanding nuggets in here.
While some might complain about the amount of information in this issue I found it to be the strong point. When you consider this issue has no Hal, Guy, Kyle, Kilowog and barely has any Guardians it covers so much relevant ground with regards to the war of light and the Black Lanterns advancing their battle lines. The issue gives tons of background on Carol Ferris, which could be very important but might seem a little bit overkill here. It's just such a quality comic and serves as a more important entry in the Blackest Night event than the mini series issues in my opinion.
While the Blackest Night mini series is catered towards the greater DCU fan base, this comic is very much crafted for those readers that have been following this title all along. There are plenty of scenes in here that you really have to comb through to find all of the goodies packed in the panels. This issue moves fast despite providing a ton of information. You'd be hard pressed to find a more entertaining comic with this kind of storytelling and amazing artwork.
4.5 out of 5 geek goggles
