Like most of us have at one time or another I had the recent displeasure of finding myself flat out broke. Bills were coming in red, the car needed servicing, blah, blah, blah…You get the picture. As I said, we’ve all been there. Something had to give and unfortunately that something was life’s little luxury known as my weekly pull list. To be fair, my pull wasn’t extravagant by many peoples standards (geek people at any rate). I was picking up about twenty-five books a month plus the odd graphic novel here and there and an occasional digital if something grabbed my eye. Mostly though it was printed monthlies from my LCS. When life hit the fan I cut the monthly pull down to no more than eight or nine books including, of course, my four cherished Lantern titles. Larfleeze, I’m sorry to say, didn’t even make the cut. For a GL completist like myself that hurt!

Faced with this sudden gap in my reading output I became listless quite quickly. Comic books are my escape from the daily hum-drum. A fantasy land that I can climb into for half an hour and put life’s pressures behind me. So it wasn’t long before I had worn a track pacing the carpet and wondering what to do with my newly found self-inflicted spare time. It was then that I realised there was light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve been collecting comics on and off for about twenty years and in that time I have amassed a fair sized collection. I spent the first ten years mostly combing the back-issues bins picking up the comics from my childhood that I’d missed first time around. Now I don’t know about you but I store my comic boxes in a cupboard out of the way and as a result I don’t actually revisit them very often. Trades and graphic novels are on a bookshelf and have been taken down and read many times but my single issues mostly get read once or twice at best before being tucked away never to see the light of day for many a long year.

So with great enthusiasm I left my thinning carpet and clambered the stairs to the storage cupboard at the top of the house. Heaving down the dusty old unlabelled short-boxes (I prefer them to long-boxes because they shove into dark corners more easily) I realised I was in possession of a poor man’s treasure trove. I’d read some of these books so long ago that I’d practically forgotten about their existence. I could have been reading some stories for the first time for all the recollection I had of them, while others felt like I was being reunited with long lost friends.

Grant Morrison’s run on JLA included Darkseids return in the Rock of Ages

Grant Morrison’s run on JLA was a particular highlight. I’m not a great fan of Morrison’s more recent work but his Justice League line-up is THE preeminent super-team as far as I’m concerned. He may have had to deal with Superman unexpectedly turning into an energy being early in the run but he managed to hold on to most of his heavy hitters, as well as showing an understanding of Plastic Man’s true potential that hasn’t been emulated before or since.

Another one I pulled out was War of the Lanterns which was the last big Green Lantern event before the New 52 reboot of the DC universe. I recall this was largely considered to be underwhelming at the time of publication. I enjoyed it myself but it didn’t have a great impact on me despite the loss of fan favourite Mogo, the planetary GL. Two years further on and this time around the crossover has taken on a much greater significance. It is packed full of nuances and foreshadowings that passed me by on first reading.

I spent a very enjoyable week reminding myself why Lobo was such a runaway success in the 90s. I own virtually all of the original mini-series’ from Giffen, Bisley and co. as well as most of Alan Grant’s subsequent ongoing series and it was a lot of fun to tuck into the slipstream of The Main Man’s spacehog (a customised Spazfrag666 if you’re asking) as he smashed and crashed his way across the galaxy.

One of favourite comic book genres is the alternative universe stories found, for example, in DC’s Elseworlds series. I’ve spent time with Robin 3000, and with Kyle Rayner battling gangs on the mean streets of old New York. I cheered along to a strapping blacksmith called Kal in his medieval battles with the evil Baron Luthor. In a fit of nostalgia I read all six issues of Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier in one sitting and was immediately compelled to seek out and devour my collected edition of James Robinson’s equally wonderful The Golden Age.

Super Kal prepares to smite Baron Luthor in this classic Elseworlds tale.

And before you start thinking it’s only DC Comics who feature in my back catalogue (although let’s face it, it mostly is) there where a few Marvel books that caught my attention as well. I revisited the first ten or twelve issues of New Avengers before turning my attention to my extensive Punisher collection. The Punisher was the first ‘superhero’ I was seriously into. I’m aware Frank Castle is neither super, nor very much of a hero in the traditional sense but that is what I loved most about him. Punisher comics were my gateway drug. They should have come with a warning, “Reading this comic could lead to cape addiction”. My own slippery slope went Punisher (non-powered hero), even more Punisher (still a non-powered hero), Batman (non-powered hero with a cape), and finally Green Lantern (hero with super-powers on a cosmic scale) (no cape!). As a result my oldest boxes contain a plethora of dog-eared War Journal and the like.

I also came across a mini-series I’ve never heard of but apparently own all four issues of nevertheless. It was called Sabretooth: Open Season and it was pretty good actually. A bit of a different spin on the villain’s story. Just odd that I’d never seen it before…

The other thing I’ve been getting a kick out of is reading some of the one-shots that I’ve pulled at various times. I am a total sucker for a ‘done-in-one’ comic. I’ll happily pay extra for the certainty of an immediate pay-off. And once I’d stacked a few such tidbids up on the reading pile I could gorge on a veritable smorgasbord superhero action. The worlds of Daredevil, The Flash and Supergirl all merged into one dreamlike state as I read late into the night.

I’ve decided my ‘Rip Hunter-esque’ journey through the years with comic books should continue even if I ever do manage to sort my finances out again. I’ve been having a great trip down that wormhole called Memory Lane and I’ve been asking myself why I didn’t do it sooner. I spent a heck of a lot of money on comics in my time and it seems ridiculous that I have, for all intents and purposes, been treating them as single use products. So if you’re in the same boat as me where cash is a little tight at the beginning of a new year, I can’t recommend highly enough that you dive into your storage boxes and reacquaint yourself with a few of your own forgotten friends. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

(That said, if your wallet is feeling uncomfortably light but you can’t live without brand new comics in your life I’m sure you’ll be able to find a money-stretching bargain or two at Inter-Comics to sate your appetite – for medicinal purposes only, of course)!

For more Green Lantern reviews, news and thoughts you can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 was unofficially branded Green Lantern Day.

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 was unofficially branded Green Lantern Day. Due to last minute changes in their publishing schedule DC Comics released Green Lantern #16, Green Lantern Corps #16 and Green Lantern: New Guardians #16 all on the same day. The excitement amongst Lantern fans was high and, given the recent disappointment of all three titles, I am pleased to report our excitement was suitably matched by great improvements in quality and storytelling.

Green Lantern #16 marks Simon Baz’s first real introduction to the Corps.

For the first time since ‘Rise of the Third Army’ began 13 issues previously we finally got two books where the story lead naturally from one title to the next in a way that fans would traditionally expect of a crossover. While GL:NG continues to tell its own story with Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern and GLC form a two part story in which our heroes begin to turn the tide on the Guardians’ mindless forces. I suspect the event was produced with the specific goal of making each book able to stand on its own so that readers weren’t put off by feeling obliged to pick all four participating titles. For me, however, this diminished the appeal. I was getting all of the books because they shared the ‘Rise…’ banner and the fact that they lacked cohesion was ultimately a factor that detracted from my overall satisfaction.

Veteran Lantern B’dg has arrived on the scene looking for Hal Jordan and is surprised to find Baz wearing a power ring that had been shared by Hal and Sinestro.

Thankfully I can put all of that bad feeling behind me now. Green Lantern #16 marks Simon Baz’s first real introduction to the Corps. Veteran Lantern B’dg has arrived on the scene looking for Hal Jordan and is surprised to find Baz wearing a power ring that had been shared by Hal and Sinestro. He is even more surprised to discover it depowered and on the finger of Earth’s newest recruit. And so begins Green Lantern ring slinging 101 – class is in session.

One of the main focuses in the issue is building Baz’s reputation and proving he is worthy to be a member of the Corps. Rather than go with FBI agent Fed to prove his innocence of the terrorist charges that have been levelled at him, he puts his GL mission first and follows B’dg in the search for Jordan. In the meantime Fed places a call to Amanda Waller. Cue introduction to JLA, the newest offering from DC Comics coming out in February.

Luckily squirrels from across the universe all speak the same language!

Before he can do anything Baz needs a ring charge. Luckily squirrels from across the universe all speak the same language and the furry B’dg is able to get directions from the local wildlife to where Hal and Sinestro dropped their lantern in Green Lantern Annual #1, right before the Guardians helped Black Hand banish them to the Dead Zone. I don’t know about anyone else but I get goosebumps every time the oath appears in a GL book and now is no exception. Baz, of course, doesn’t know the oath so in a novel twist the lantern itself takes over the master class and says the sacred words for him, “Beware YOUR power, Green Lantern’s light!”

In a novel twist the lantern itself takes over the master class and says the sacred words for him.

As with most geeks, I’m a bit of a stickler for accuracy in my comics so correct me in the comments for this post if you think I’ve got the next bit wrong. We see B’dg returning the lantern to the pocket dimension it was removed from. Now we know from the first arc of the current Green Lantern Corps run that GLs no longer use a pocket dimension for storing power battery (Hal kept his in his locker at Ferris Air). So does this mean that B’dg has just sent Baz’s lantern back to Sinestro’s ‘Batcave’ hideout?

In any case, he unravels the message that we saw stored in the ring in GL #12 which basically gives us a recap of what happened to Hal and Sinestro in the annual. He pockets the Book of Black and then makes the mistake of telling Simon he cannot keep the ring, that it must be returned to Hal Jordan. As you would expect of any wielder of willpower Baz takes this as a challenge and sets off on his own mission which will test the ring’s powers to the limit. Along the way he effortlessly conjures up a phone construct and calls his sister to meet him at the hospital.

Simon Baz’s plan is to do the impossible. To use the ring to wake his brother-in-law from a coma.

Simon Baz’s plan is to do the impossible. To use the ring to wake his brother-in-law from a coma. B’dg tells him the ring can’t be used to raise the dead or cure any ill. We’re not living in the silver age any more where the Green Lantern Power ring changed at the whim of a writer from one week to the next and all things were possible. Nevertheless Simon summons up all of his determination to force the green energy it into his best friend’s motionless body. The writing and the art complement each other brilliantly here. Geoff Johns doesn’t rush the pace, giving time for Doug Mahnke to depict a true effort of will.  Sparks crackle of both men and tears stream down the Lantern’s grimaced face. Just when all seems fruitless Nazir rises from his hospital bed, much to the astonishment of B’dg and the watching doctors.

Through the overused narrative device of a television newsflash the GL’s learn of Guy Gardner’s imprisonment and take to the skies out nearest window moments before police come crashing into the room. Their fate awaits them in Green Lantern Corps #16.

In the meantime Johns brings us back to the Dead Zone for the big reveal of the hooded character who has been leading Hal and Sinestro through the zone. And the mysterious figure is… (drumroll… trumpets…) Tomar-Re! In the original silver age origin Tomar-Re was the first Green Lantern Hal Jordan came into contact with after the death of Abin Sur.  He met his death at the hands of long-time GL villain Goldface during the time of ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’. In all my wildest speculation it never once crossed my mind that Tomar-Re would be the man behind the hood and let me tell you now, my little fanboy heart leaped in my chest and I couldn’t possibly be happier.

In all my wildest speculation it never once crossed my mind that Tomar-Re would be the man behind the hood.

The deceased hero warns that the First Lantern must be stopped before reality unravels and “changes lantern history as we know it.” The cynic in me says, “Oh, Green Lantern’s very own Flashpoint. How convenient”.

The news that the recently resigned GL has been jailed on Earth is again received via the device of a corny TV newsflash.

Putting all that aside I continued in my Green Lantern Day celebrations by immediately turning to Green Lantern Corps #16 where the Guardians of the universe continue to show little of the emotionless balance they profess to hold so dear. Instead they submit to downright pettiness as they turn the Third Army’s attention towards Guy Gardner. The news that the recently resigned GL has been jailed on Earth is again received via the device of a corny TV newsflash, only this time it is transmitted a billion miles telepathically via the eyes of a Thirdite on the rampage in Atlanta Georgia.

The Third Army assimilate everyone around them.

If there was ever any doubt that Guy is as hard as the proverbial nails this issue quells it.  He knocks out his huge cell mate with a single below without so much as raising his head from its melancholic stupor. Playing successfully off the rebooted origin featured in Green Lantern Corps #0 Guy’s brother and sister visit him in prison only to wind up standing shoulder to shoulder with him as the Third Army assimilate everyone around them. The Gardner family are made of sterner stuff than your average Joe.

The Gardner family are made of sterner stuff than your average Joe.

The action briefly hops several sectors away to where John Stewart and Fatality have encountered a giant spaceship threatening a defenceless world. The ship’s weapon is powered by fragments of the GL fan favourite Mogo, a former sentient planet destroyed by Stewart himself. One thing I love about Green Lantern is the scale of the world they operate in. With 7,000 Corps members policing an entire universe rescuing a planet single-handedly is basically a pre-requisite for the job. And teamed with a Star Sapphire?  Let’s just say those terrorists really didn’t stand a chance. Peter J. Tomasi has been teasing Mogo’s revival for several issues now we are hanging on a knife edge of ‘is he or isn’t he?”. The answer must surely be just around the corner.

John Stewart and Fatality have encountered a giant spaceship threatening a defenceless world.

Back on Earth the heroics continue as Baz and B’dg join the fray. Again, in GLC #16 the new Lantern’s portrayal is the epitome of of a comic book stalwart. He is brave and ferocious. He is self-assured but his priority is protecting the people around him from becoming victim to the Third Army. He shares many of these traits with Guy Gardner and I loved when the veteran showed his admiration saying, “Kids got a little outlaw in his eyes”.  A very Guy kind of compliment.

I did wonder how the Green Lantern rings have suddenly become so effective on the Thirdites? The green energy can blast great chunks out of the creatures now whereas previously in this event they are shown to be impervious to its attack. However, I am entirely prepared to let it pass. The battle scene was tremendous. Tomasi has a knack for writing Green Lantern Corps like the very best war movies. The heroes hold their own against impossible odds and finally secure victory by containing their enemy in a construct and detonating two dozen army missiles on them. Fernando Pasarin matches the tempo with his art. Every panel is packed with action. Exploding weapons and exploding guts.  Bodies flying in all directions. I have heard criticism of some comic art as visually static.  Completely contrary to that description, GLC #16 is powered along by characters in constant motion.

GLC #16 is powered along by characters in constant motion.

The story ends on the moon with Guy learning Hal’s and Sinestro’s garbled message. Before that we confirm a response to the question that has persistently followed Simon Baz since DC released the first images of him last summer. Unusually for a Green Lantern he carries a gun. He has been caught out by the ring running out of charge once already and he is not about to get left without a weapon again.

Unusually for a Green Lantern he carries a gun.

Without a shadow of a doubt I can say that these were two great issues. The Green Lantern team is firing on all cylinders again. Our Emerald Crusaders show their willpower in abundance, courageously overcome fear and shed their unflinching light over evil. The conclusion of ‘Rise of the Third Army’ in Green Lantern Corps Annual #1 promises to be a hell of a showdown between the Guardians and their Corps.

Our Emerald Crusaders show their willpower in abundance, courageously overcome fear and shed their unflinching light over evil.

For more Green Lantern reviews, news and thoughts you can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

To regular readers of this column and visitors to my own blog I am probably known as ‘that Green Lantern guy’. While that’s a title that I’d be proud of it may surprise you to learn that I do occasionally read comic books outside of the GL universe, and even (sin of sins) outside of DC Comics. It’s just that I haven’t felt the urge to review any of them. Until now…

A few months ago while I was looking over upcoming releases I made a speculative mental note to pick up the first issue of a mini-series loosely based on my favourite Marvel character. Not that I was expecting much you understand. The title sat low on my reading stack the following week and so I was not prepared for what was coming when I half-heartedly peeled back the cover to Space: Punisher #1.

The sight that confronted me was a 1950s sci-fi movie poster.  A muscle bound but unmistakable take on Ross Andru’s classic Frank Castle pitching headlong through deep space with nothing but a domed glass helmet for protection. Right then I knew Space: Punisher was going to be something different. This image alone was rife with expectation.  The splash page promised a book with action at its heart.  A book that wasn’t going to take itself too seriously. Brimming with references for the eagle-eyed fanboy. Promises of a cosmic science fiction adventure that would leave reality at the door. All that and unrelenting bloody mayhem. I was sold.

The sight that confronted me was a 1950s sci-fi movie poster.

So, for the record, this isn’t going to be the largely objective spoiler review that I usually try to offer to like-minded lantern fans who have all read the book I’m discussing. This is an unrepentant solicit to encourage you to go out and buy the four issue mini-series. I realise Marvel don’t need the money but they do need to know that there is room in their over-crammed stable for this gem of a title. The final issue came out some weeks ago now but the copies are still out there. I think Inter-Comics has actually sold out of the first issue but you can pull the full series at least twice over in my local comic shop’s back-issue bins. You will not regret being the brave geek who gives them a good home.

Before I get to the main thrust of my sales pitch I will take a moment to concede that Space: Punisher does have its detractors out there. Some of my favourite podcasters couldn’t get past the first installment. A few forum junkies dismissed it as trash and cast it aside. Just so you’re clear – every one of these losers is dead wrong. They don’t know sh*t!  …But I digress.

Promises of a cosmic science fiction adventure that would leave reality at the door. All that and unrelenting bloody mayhem. I was sold.

I don’t want to give the game away too much on the storyline because it is crying out to be read from fresh but there a few teasers that should help you make your mind up. Frank travels the galaxy in the company of the spaceship Marie and a heavy duty weapons cache in the form of a diminutive robot called Chip. The Punisher himself bears the characteristics of the classic war journal keeping vigilante of the Mike Baron and Chuck Dixon era. Those hoping for a What If? take on the silent paramilitarist currently depicted in the excellent Gregg Rucka run are going to be disappointed. In the hands of Frank Tieri this narrative reads like a dime detective pulp.

The mini-series is packed with cameos including an intergalactic mafia dubbed the Six-Fingered Hand who are targeted by Castle in retaliation for the murder of his family.  The mobsters are reimagined versions of A-list Marvel villains including Magento and Red Skull. There is a temptation to use the word ‘classic’ over and over again in this review.  Not because the books are reliant on referencing the glories of comics past (although a lot of this does go on and the series is all the better for it). I want to use the word to describe scenes that become instant classics in their own right.

The mobsters are reimagined versions of A-list Marvel villains including Magento and Red Skull.

The first enemy that Frank engages with are the Sym-Brood-Ants. In the Punisher’s words, “It’s what happens when you mix space bug sleazoids and parasite scum”. In the words of the muse who whispered into Frank Tieri’s ear while he was scripting our story, “It would be so cool if the Brood bonded with Venom’s alien symbiote!” Or in my words: “Those little bastards are totally hardcore. They kick f*@#in ass!” And put one final way for good measure, “Classic bad guys, classic reimagining and soon to be a classic alien blood bath…”

Mark Texeira’s art is exceptional throughout. The man has previous, having been involved with Punisher on and off since the early 90s both on runs and covers. He employs the painted style of a classically trained artist (there’s that word again!) which is amazingly well suited to this part tribute, part-parody of the sci-fi genre. He creates repugnant futuristic worlds bleached in the comforting sepia of nostalgia. His creations feel realistic on one level but Texeira will quite happily ignore the rules of scale and perspective in order to swamp our visual senses in the fantastic or in the gruesome.

His Hulk is a monstrous four armed super-ogre standing twice the height of our anti-hero.  Even so, I can’t quite wrap my brain around the hilarious scene where he bites a fairly hefty Sabretooth in two at the waist and spits his head and torso into deep space. Death and destruction is a big feature in Space: Punisher and they don’t come much bigger than Hulk. I defy readers with a love of dark comedy not to laugh their asses off at the extremely brief meeting of Hulk and the Hulkbuster Armada!

His Hulk is a monstrous four armed super-ogre standing twice the height of our anti-hero.

The entire story is larger than life and that includes the weaponry Frank requires to take on planet after planet of cosmic powered scoundrels. As with any Punisher tale there is plenty of close contact down and dirty combat with pistols, rifles, machine guns and bazookas, all with a futuristic laser twist. But this is a space opera and Castle’s arsenal includes an inventory of suitably grand proportions.  Has your interest been roused? Good. Now you’ll just have to read Space: Punisher to find out exactly what I’m talking about.

Alongside the outrageous and the humour Tieri captures a very emotional and intimate side of Frank. Throughout the entire story we are reminded of the violent tragedy that caused him to don his skull spacesuit in the first place. There are pages that pour with anguish as Punisher is forced to relive that fateful day, or contemplate what could have been if things had been different. His mission is one of vengeance but the force that drives him heartache.

So there you have it. If your style of comic is an action, sci-fi, comedy, thriller, melancholic, detective, violent, parody, super-hero, horror, cosmic fantasy book then this is the title for you.  Buy Space: Punisher today! And if it’s not I’ll let you get back to organising your sock drawer or whatever else it is that you do for fun. And if you are still sitting on the fence following my entreaty to purchase I’ll leave the final word to Frank Castle from the cover of issue #4 to help you make your mind up:

For more Green Lantern reviews, news and thoughts you can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

]]> https://www.inter-comics.com/blog/reviews/flodos-tale-006-space-punisher-the-exterminator-strikes-back/feed 0 https://www.inter-comics.com/blog/reviews/flodos-tale-005-strange-days-green-lantern-0-green-lantern-13 https://www.inter-comics.com/blog/reviews/flodos-tale-005-strange-days-green-lantern-0-green-lantern-13#comments Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:03:28 +0000 https://www.inter-comics.com/?p=13537 By Flodo Span

In Green Lantern #0 we were introduced to Simon Baz, a brand new character gracing our pages and taking up the Green Lantern mantel for the very first time.

As most geeks of any repute will no doubt be aware September was “zero month” in the DC universe. After a year of getting to know our heroes DC decided that it was high time to drop a few origin stories in our laps. Where Green Lantern differed to most of the rest of these books is that we didn’t get the origin to either of the characters we have been following in the title over the previous 12 months, Hal Jordan and Thal Sinestro. Instead we were introduced to Simon Baz, a brand new character gracing our pages and taking up the Green Lantern mantel for the very first time.

It was an audacious move by the publisher and one not without controversy. Images of this cowl attired lantern wielding a semi-automatic pistol have been splashed across the comic book back pages and blog sites for months. Opinion has been firmly split, albeit between the’ I’m not too sure yet’ crowd and the ‘this is a complete bloody travesty, I’m cancelling my pull-list and switching to Marvel’ crowd. If twitter were to be believed this creation, one that is clearly close to writer Geoff Johns’ heart in that it was reputedly modelled after his own experiences, was never going to get a fair hearing.

For me, GL#0 and GL#13 read together as one complete double issue prologue in preparation for the main event – the trials and tribulations of Green Lantern Baz of sector 2814.

As a result I held off on posting a review for GL #0 when it was released last month. I wanted to be sure how I felt about Baz and his introduction into the Green Lantern universe. I took a chance that his origin was too long to share completely in 20 pages and held off publishing my conclusions until after the release this following month of Green Lantern #13. And in that regard I was not disappointed. For me, GL#0 and GL#13 read together as one complete double issue prologue in preparation for the main event – the trials and tribulations of Green Lantern Baz of sector 2814.

Reflected in the eyes of their eldest child are the burning twin towers of the World Trade Centre attack.

Johns had no intention of steering away from the controversy that preceded this book beginning as he does with images of an Arabic-American family watching television with looks of horror and tears streaming down their faces. Reflected in the eyes of their eldest child are the burning twin towers of the World Trade Centre attack. As a result of that tragedy the boy spends  the next 10 years of his life being abused and victimised by a culture who treat all Muslims as potential terrorists. Personally, I found these two pages very moving. Doug Manke’s pencils capture the adversity Baz and his family face in a very impactful manner. But at the same time the geek in me recognises that 9/11 did not happen in the DC universe, at least not prior to the reboot as the New 52.

We fast forward to the present day were Simon is caught up in a police chase when he is startled by the realisation that the stolen van he’s driving contains a massive time bomb. The digital display confirms that it is live and slowly ticking down to zero. Showing little regard for his own safety the former automotive engineer takes immediate evasion action and drives the bomb into the grounds of an abandoned factory and just manages to throw himself from the moving vehicle before it detonates. This is bravery indeed but if he hadn’t it might have been a very short book…

The action switches to a prison in Guantanamo where our hero has understandably been detained for committing acts of terrorism against the United States. The security services best interrogators can’t get Baz to admit that he is complicit in the bomb plot. The tension is ramped up when he is hooded and escorted to a room contained a table fitted out with arm and leg restraints. The implication is torture and even the US agents can’t agree on the moral proclivities of the line of questioning they are about to pursue. There is a great panel in this sequence showing the terrified prisoner’s face from under hood. Manke provides us with enough stylized light with to see the fear in his eyes and sweat beading on his forehead. With the instincts of a cornered animal he punches wildly in the dark to make a futile break for freedom.

Just as all seems lost a Green Lantern ring comes crashing through the prison walls and attaches itself to Simon’s finger. But something is wrong

Just as all seems lost a Green Lantern ring comes crashing through the prison walls and attaches itself to Simon’s finger. But something is wrong. The ring has an error in its programming. Instead of transforming him into a Lantern as expected, the ring electrocutes him. Lightning crackles and stabs at him causing him to scream out in pain. I don’t know if this is a deliberate choice by the colourists, Avina and Sinclair, but in comparison to other GL books the green light given off by the ring here is unpleasant and sickly.

Baz is launched with a boom through the ceiling of the interrogation cell. And make no mistake about it. This was not the exit of a silver-age lantern gliding effortlessly like a ghost through solid wall. This departure leaves a gaping hole and a trail of destruction in its wake. News of his escape is immediately passed to Amanda Waller and does not go unnoticed by the Justice League. In a teaser panel we briefly glimpse the transformed Third Army slave introduced in Green Lantern Annual before our attention is brought back to an unconscious Simon Baz lying prostrate in a field. Green energy wisps and smokes around him like the aftermath of an explosion. He is unaware that his new ring is trying to alert him to a mysterious waiting message.

He is unaware that his new ring is trying to alert him to a mysterious waiting message.

Elsewhere, in a one page epilogue, Hal Jordan and Sinestro apparently survived their ordeals of the previous issue and are trapped by an unearthly black energy.

As Green Lantern #13 opens we are back with Amanda Waller, this time briefing the US president on the identities of earth’s Green Lanterns and, of course, the recent activity of Simon Baz.

As Green Lantern #13 opens we are back with Amanda Waller, this time briefing the US president on the identities of earth’s Green Lanterns and, of course, the recent activity of Simon Baz. The president demands that she call in the Justice League to pursue the escaped terror suspect. Meanwhile the man in question continues to lie unconscious somewhere on the southern coast of Florida while the ring recalibrates itself to him, making the reader aware of an incident in his past that involved street racing. He wakes suddenly to find himself floating a foot or two above the ground in a GL uniform.  The message telegraphed at the end of the previous issue begins to play.

The vibrant greens of Alex Sinclair’s colourings are back at their best in the rendering of a contorted morphing of Hal and Sinestro into a light construct that is reminiscent of Pablo Picasso on LSD.

The message itself is conveyed via a great piece of artwork. The vibrant greens of Alex Sinclair’s colourings are back at their best in the rendering of a contorted morphing of Hal and Sinestro into a light construct that is reminiscent of Pablo Picasso on LSD. The words attached are a mesh of the two previous ring wielder’s final thoughts before their sudden disappearance in a battle with Black Hand and the Guardians of the Universe. Despite this, the message could not be clearer. Get help, and stay the hell away from Oa!

A tattoo quoting the word ‘courage’ in Arabic glows green on Simon’s arm as he flies into the heavens, one step ahead of the authorities who are hot on his tail. The newest lantern’s use of the green energy is bold. He doesn’t just ‘take off’ or ‘land’. A more accurate description is that he ‘launches’ himself into the air and when he returns to terra-firma it is with all the force of a meteorite carving out craters from the ground beneath him.

A tattoo quoting the word ‘courage’ in Arabic glows green on Simon’s arm as he flies into the heavens, one step ahead of the authorities who are hot on his tail.

In this issue Geoff Johns sets out to give us a deeper exploration of the lead character’s background. Away from the action, scenes with his father and sister show the problems his predicament has heaped upon his family. His sister, Sira, is sacked from her job amidst fears for her colleagues’ safety. It transpires Simon had already brought hardship down on those closest to him when his brother-in-law was left comatose in an illegal car race between the two. He is desperate to lift the shame he has brought to their doors and wants to use his sister’s contacts to help identify the person he believes is responsible for setting him up. Despite all that has passed between them in recent years his sister clearly loves him and remembers times when he fought to protect her from the torments of bigoted troublemakers.

Elsewhere the Guardians Third Army expands relentlessly, adding a transformed truck driver and hitchhiker to their numbers. Under the Guardians instruction their primary pursuit is to track and assimilate Green Lantern ring slingers. Like all the best horror movies the mouthless aberrations seem unstoppable. In one panel they appear to reach out through the fourth wall to grab at us readers and drag us into the page, another unwilling victim of their ghoulish nightmare.

Elsewhere the Guardians Third Army expands relentlessly, adding a transformed truck driver and hitchhiker to their numbers.

Back in his hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, Simon wills a full head mask to cover his features from a prying security camera. In my opinion, this latest GL costume is pretty poor. There is barely any green on it. The back appears to be a black one piece leotard that would be more suited to a winter Olympian. Where the green does appear on the chest, shoulders and boots, it glows in a way that just doesn’t sit right. It is, perhaps, most similar to John Stewart’s uniform but it has none of the tangibility of his new look metallic shoulder pads. The mask is worst of all – it looks like a bad imitation of Mr Terrific’s facial T-plate.

Suddenly, a blue red blur knocks Baz from his rooftop perch. Before he can draw breath a heroic voice informs him he is in a lot of trouble, “like Justice League trouble”. In the final poster-worthy splash page the entire league led by Superman bear down on him. Manke draws a mighty cool JL, better in my assessment than the work Jim Lee does in the League’s own title. But for the record the yellow glowing lines on Flash’s costume look just as terrible as the Green ones on Baz’s, and he doesn’t even have the excuse of being new to the super-hero business!

Suddenly, a blue red blur knocks Baz from his rooftop perch. Before he can draw breath a heroic voice informs him he is in a lot of trouble, “like Justice League trouble”.

For more Green Lantern reviews, news and thoughts you can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

This book is about the Red Lanterns finally becoming empowered and finding their true voice.

I would say, more than any other book in the Lantern series, Red Lanterns has benefited from the forthcoming Third Army event. It seems that Peter Milligan has been forced to get a move on if he intends to have his story of rage completed before the crossover drops into his universe and changes everything. And whereas it could be argued in books such as Green Lantern: New Guardians that narrative conclusions are being overly rushed, in Red Lanterns #12 I think Milligan finally hits the pace that many readers have suggested has been missing throughout this run.

This book is about the Red Lanterns finally becoming empowered and finding their true voice. And yes, that voice might be a little heavy on the Shakespearean prose but it is a voice that has been lacking previously. The principal characters in the book, Atrocitus, Bleez and Rankorr, had sought to understand their purpose in the world. Up until now we have been the psychiatrist to their turbulent self-analysis on all manner of indecisions surrounding the legitimacy of their mission and their waning humanity. But it is not the place of a Red Lantern to doubt or to introspect. They personify rage in its purist form. Their purpose is to burn with fury and dispense a mighty and bloody vengeance throughout the universe. That is the Red Lanterns book that the readers want to see; nay, deserve to see.

Facing defeat at the hands of his flawed creation Atrocitus uses the last of his ring's energy to send up a bright red flare.

And, at last, that is what the reader gets. Facing defeat at the hands of his flawed creation Atrocitus uses the last of his ring’s energy to send up a bright red flare. But not as a cry for help. It is a last defiant display of righteous anger. And when Rankorr comes to his aid he has given up the last vestiges of his former human life as Jack Moore. Raging at the slaughter of his brethren he conjures up a huge construct of their tortured demise. In a suitably gory showdown Atrocitus rips the hidden seed he had implanted in Abysmus years ago and reignites the failing Red Power Battery. Even Dex-Starr is given his dues. While still filling out the role of Milligan’s comedic relief, it is a much darker comedy that sees Atrocitus toss the remains of Abysmus to the demonic feline to feast on.

Rankorr has given up the last vestiges of his former human life as Jack Moore.

Across space the Red Lanterns receive a charge and rise up to violently crush and destroy would-be assassins. Bleez and her rebel band shake of the influences of the Star Sapphire’s and swear allegiance to their vengeful mission. The Lanterns return en masse to Ysmault to pay tribute to their cause in blood – literally the blood of their defeated enemies. A united Red Lantern Corps stand behind their leader once again, brandishing freshly plundered skulls and spinals columns, in Miguel Sepuldeva’s in emphatic double page splash. Little do they realise this blood nourishes the newly resurrected bodies of Atrocitus’ fellow Inversions who he had mutilated and murdered in a blood sacrifice at the inception of his Corps.

Bleez and her rebel band shake of the influences of the Star Sapphire's and swear allegiance to their vengeful mission.

My mind races at the return of the Inversions. They were last seen as undead Black Lanterns in Blackest Night. If they have been returned to life here who is to say that we won’t see other characters obliterated in that event brought back into current DC continuity?

In Red Lanterns #12 Milligan and his creative team have produced a solid book that will make a perfect jumping on point for new readers bedding in for the Green Lantern crossover beginning in October.  But more importantly it will come as a huge relief to many long-term readers who have stuck with the book for a full year now in the hope that Atrocitus and his Corps would finally snap out of their gloomy fug and begin to serve up magnificent portions of terrible rage to the DC universe.

My mind races at the return of the Inversions. They were last seen as undead Black Lanterns in Blackest Night.

For more Green Lantern reviews, news and thoughts you can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

Black Hand is back and he is newly undead (again!).

Right then, then let’s get one thing straight before I even try to tackle this book… Black Hand is in it and he is newly undead (again!). Ergo, this is a horror book. You can’t make your main protagonist an evil undead serial killer and expect to get away with calling your book an action story or a sci-fi adventure. As long as we can all agree on that the next bit should be easy.

The other thing about Green Lantern #11 is that it is gloriously cinematic. Somebody forgot to tell Doug Manke that he is supposed to be pencilling a comic book and so instead he has produced a story board for as good a big screen Green Lantern movie as you are ever likely to see.

The issue opens with Sinestro engulfed in a mind altering Indigo Tribe construct. His mouth is covered by a mask of sorts and vaporous tendrils twist across his body, creeping up his nose and embedding in his skin. His sub-conscious dreams of his earliest days as Hal Jordan’s mentor. In a shocking close up of an eyeball we see the green energy of will power assert itself with a tiny Green Lantern symbol appearing in the centre of his pupil.

Doug Manke's artwork throughout this issue is gloriously cinematic or to quote Hal; "Beautiful".

Sinestro wakes to find himself released into Hal’s custody by the Indigos against their better judgement. Hal and the Indigo guardian, Natromo, have corrected the Earth Lantern’s ring so that it is no longer ineffective against Sinestro. Hal tests the success of their work by knocking his companion off his feet with a quick blast of energy. For anyone who is reading Geoff Johns’ Justice League each month and can’t reconcile the character of Hal between that book and this, look no further than the beaming smile he wears having finally freed himself from Sinestro’s control and knocked the Korugan on his ass. That’s our cocky young League member right there.

Despite this, only Sinestro noticed that Black Hand is no longer among them. In the previous issue the death obsessed villain had escaped the control of his Indigo ring and was beating a hasty retreat with the unwanted accessory in close pursuit. He had thrown himself to his death from a cliff top only to spawn another ring which transformed him into an undead Black Lantern.

In a scene deliberately reminiscent of Blackest Night, Hand touches the ground and utter one word, "Rise".

The artwork continues to be vital to the telling of Black Hand’s story. What seems to be a oddly harmless image of Hand clutching a Chinese meal in a bag is followed up with a single panel of the restaurant he had left behind. Mutilated bodies dripping with Black Lantern ooze. Again the focus is brought back to the meal, this time propped on a tombstone. And in scenes deliberately reminiscent of Blackest Night, Hand touches the ground and utter one word, “Rise”. And rise they do! A sequence the equal of any Zombie movie shows the Black Lantern’s own decayed family crawl from their graves to be greeted with the very eery “I’ve brought dinner”.

And rise they do!

Geoff Johns’ writing is at its very best in this issue. He flits with ease between humour and drama, finding the perfect balance to pull the reader into the story on his terms. A page showing the Guardians of the Universe tracking Sinestro’s journey from Oa seems to be almost throw away. It contains very little in the way of meaningful information.  What it is actually does is tie the wider Green Lantern universe together without intruding on the story. If you are not picking up the other three DC Lantern titles you really do need to have a word with yourself…

Black Hand sitting down to eat with his family in their old home is simply chilling.  Apparently a conversation is taking place but we are only privy to one side of it. And while Hand tucks into his food the other meals go cold beside untouched chopsticks. In any normal psycho thriller you would swear that Black Hand was delusional, talking to rotten corpses that don’t talk back. But let’s not forget that these particular corpses dug their way out of the ground by themselves, walked into the house by themselves and sat down at the table all… by… themselves.

Meanwhile, the Green Lanterns have made their way to Sinestro’s secret base on Korugar where he has hidden the Book of Black. They open the book to access the prophecies it contains and are immediately transported into a vision which predicts dire consequences for the Green Lanterns of 2814. The splash panel for this vision is probably the single most exciting image that any GL fan has laid eyes on since the introduction of DC’s New 52. And let me assure you that is not a statement I make lightly!

The splash panel for this vision is probably the single most exciting image that any GL fan has laid eyes on since the introduction of DC's New 52.

The Vision: Up front and centre is the masked lantern who first appeared in the DC Free Comic Book Day release battling the Justice League. Solicits suggest that this character will be taking the lead role in this very book in a few months time. The mind boggles.  Below him is a Green Lantern emblem dripping a liquid that could well be taken as symbolic green blood. This distorted symbol is the only image that appears on the cover of next month’s Green Lantern Annual. The last time DC released a cover like that Superman died! This is looking serious folks. To the left of that we have a close up of a clenched fist adorned with a white lantern ring. We have not seen one of those since the conclusion of Brightest Day. A depowered and forlorn Guy Gardner is depicted as captured in a prison cell. Kyle Rayner spews napalm as a Red Lantern.  John Stewart writhes and screams under a direct attack from the Guardians. The manhunters are alive and well, and from my interpretation are being led in a battle charge by Atrocitous.

Above all of this the Guardians gaze across the vision with a look that that is as impassive and devoid of emotion as we have seen from them in many a month. Added to all of this there is one more mysterious image that deserves some attention. Two hooded figures skulk in the shadows unseen. I discussed in my recent blog on the 4 issue connecting cover for the Rise of The Third Army that Hal Jordan and Sinestro are not depicted. Could these shadowy figures be Hal and Sin, pushed to the sidelines in the forthcoming battle and waiting for their moment to strike back at the Guardians? In this very issue Hal agrees a plan with Indigo 1 to force brainwashing Indigo rings onto the fingers of the Guardians in a desperate attempt to halt their destruction of the Green Lantern Corps. Could this be the consequences of that plan having gone awry?

Black Hands family dinner is rudely interrupted by Hal and Sinestro!

As if all of this wasn’t enough to take in, with their vision complete the book ejects the Lanterns in a place they least expected – at the feet of Black Hand and his reanimated family. How’s that for a cliffhanger?

You can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

"Earth 2... Green Lantern... Sweeeeet!!!"

It’s taken me a few days to get around to writing this post. I’ve spent the last week with a ludicrous grin plastered across my face muttering, ”Earth 2… Green Lantern… Sweeeeet!!!”

While it explains perfectly how I feel about the book I don’t think it would have made for a very long review. And there are three images that I HAD to put up so I guess the least I could do is try and find a few words to hang around them.

The book opens with a burnt and broken Alan Scott crawling through train wreckage. A brilliant green flame springs up in front of him and introduces itself as “All the power of Earth”. Now, this isn’t a small claim and Alan’s interest is rightly piqued when the flame tries to recruit him to be Superman’s successor.

The book opens with a burnt and broken Alan Scott crawling through train wreckage.

With that startling revelation the narrative shifts to Poland where Jay Garrick is confronted by an irrepressibly cool Hawkgirl. The scene is very well written with the distinct characters of both heroes coming across clearly. There is a good-natured humour in Jay playing newbie to Hawkgirl’s experience. Not one inch of panel is wasted as Nicola Scott’s pencils take in the action from every angle.

The art in Earth 2 #3 deserves special credit. Alan Scott’s scenes are epic, from the full page splash of his first transformation into Green Lantern to the oversize panel where he hoists an entire train carriage above his head. For the people he rescued he truly is the new Superman. Then there’s the Grey, or the Rot. This malevolent force sweeps across the Earth killing all plant and animal life in it’s path. Washington DC is overcome with decay in seconds. Words can’t explain how excited I was to see, in the distance at first, the animated corpse of Grundy rising from the ruins of the White House.

Words can't explain how excited I was to see, in the distance at first, the animated corpse of Grundy rising from the ruins of the White House.

The Green and the Grey are similar to concepts we have seen already on Earth Prime in the DC’s New 52 but it wasn’t in a Lantern book. Swamp Thing is an agent of the Green and Animal Man’s life has been devastated by the Rot’s attempts to corrupt his daughter, herself an avatar of the Red.
Alan’s abilities being derived from the Earth separates his mythos from that of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe. It reminded me of Stan Lee’s Just Imagine: Green Lantern. Stan’s hero was granted powers by the tree of life. Both this and James Robinson’s Earth 2 are making a clear reference to the Golden Age origins of Alan Scott that predate the Corps’s science fiction stories of the 1960s by some twenty years.

Robinson continues to impress with his ability to weave a narrative which takes in a whole range of emotions. In one poignant moment Alan mourns beside a body bag containing his deceased lover, Sam. That single panel tells a story of its own. I picture Alan pulling Sam’s body from the wreckage and having to hide his connection to the dead man from the surrounding witnesses. His power ring is sculpted from the wedding ring that he was about to propose with as disaster struck. These sombre memories will not be far from his mind throughout his mission as Green Lantern.

I’ve already mentioned how funny the Hawkgirl/ Flash exchange is. It lulls us into a sense of security and intimacy that is shattered terribly with the horror of the Rot infesting the countryside surrounding them. The writer does not shy away from the obvious analogy of light and dark. Green Lantern is Earth 2′s shining hope and Grundy is the first inkling of a great darkness that is about to befall this world.

I couldn’t be happier with how the issue turned out. As my twitter time line can attest to, this was the book that I was waiting for all year: Green Lantern’s Earth 2 origin.  It was not what I predicted (and believe me, I predicted everything… I had my bases covered). But it was exactly what I expected in terms of quality. On Earth 2 the heroes are truly heroic, the villains are villainous in the extreme, and the end of an issue leaves you furiously counting down the days until the next one is released.

As I muttered in the beginning… “Earth 2… Green Lantern… Sweeeeet!!!”

As I muttered in the beginning... "Earth 2... Green Lantern... Sweeeeet!!!"

You can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on Twitter at @GL875

DC Comics have been knocking it out of the park with the whole Green Lantern line recently and Green Lantern #10 is no exception.  In the previous issue we learnt that Abin Sur had helped create the Indigo power rings to brain wash the universe’s most notorious criminals into feeling compassion and remorse for their crimes.  But now those rings are on the fritz, the bad guys have their true personalities back and guess what… they are pretty pissed with all things Green Lantern!  Which isn’t the best of news for Hal Jordan and Sinestro.

While the two GLs make a run for it in one direction Black Hand takes to his heels in the other, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the Indigo ring with which he’d been shanghaied after the Blackest Night saga.  Hal and Sinestro  catch up with the Indigo Tribe’s ‘guardian’, Notromo, and convince him to reignite the Indigo power battery which will bring the tribe back under its influence.  With complete disregard for his standing in the villain community Sinestro volunteers to hold off the chasing hoards while Hal and his half pint companion get to work on the battery.  Doug Mahnke treats us to an amazing splash page of Sin delivering a flying left hook on the Indigo Tribesman Munk.  We are left in no doubt as to the former fear-monger’s bad-ass credentials.

We also get a lovely little shot of Hal getting around his loss of flight with an Evel Knievel style super jump on a motorcycle and ramp construct.

Notromo is having trouble with the battery until Iroque shows up and sheds a tear for the horrific crimes she has committed in her past.  Her sorrow is the spark Notromo needs to fire up the Indigo light.  The panel showing Iroque transform into Indigo-1 is powerful.  I’ve always been amazed how the Green Lantern artists and colourists can draw light that feels like it is actually burning into the back of your eyeballs.

We leave the Indigos with Hal trying to convince them to release Sinestro from their spell.  I know that Hal needs help to do battle with the Guardians of the Universe but has he forgotten that Sinestro is his greatest enemy and a genocidal maniac with a million plus bodycount to his name.  On the face of the evidence are the Guardians really the bad guys in this scenario?

Anyway, all this passes into the background as we are reminded why Geoff Johns’ is worth every cent of the massive bag of dollar bills he is undoubtedly handed by DC each week.  We rejoin Black Hand as he tears across the jungles of planet Nok with a recharged Indigo ring in hot pursuit.  The unwilling recruit comes to a cliff edge and throws himself off it without hesitation.  He adopts Superman’s extended arm pose, his cape billowing behind him, and for just a moment I am struggling to recall if Black Hand can actually fly.  And the answer is… no.  Gravity takes over and Hand falls to his doom on the rocks below.  In a graphic couple panels that are definitely not for kids we are left in no doubt that he is dead. His blood gathers in pools around his smashed skull.  The sound effect lettered to accompany the impact is BLAAAPP but it really should be SSPPLLAAAATTT!!!

The indigo ring flies off to scan sector 2814 for his replacement leaving the rain to beat down on his lifeless corpse.  And then something happens.  A bubbling and glow of energy appear across his lips.  And suddenly, with a bloop, a ring pops out of his mouth and attaches itself to his finger.  And not just any ring… “William Hand of Earth.  Rise.”  This is the New 52 and the Black Lanterns are back!

You can follow Flodo on his website flodospage.blogspot.co.uk or on twitter at @GL875