Green Lantern Corps 1 Thoughts


Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Fernando Pasarin

I'm a bit late finishing this up, and I apologize. By my count, I've got 12 books (including this one) left to post on, and I'll be trying to get them all done by Friday. Now, on to the preview!

To start, can I just make the point that it needs to be harder to kill a Green Lantern? I know it's important to set up a villain, but the Green Lantern Ring...it's The Most Powerful Weapon In The Universe. I'd love for that to mean something again in this new DCU.

Other than that though, this is a great #1. It provides a new story for old fans like me, but it also introduces the concept of the Green Lantern Corps through exposition that doesn't quite feel blatant or obvious in a way that ruins the story. (Even JLA's wasn't as natural as this...and it came off pretty well.)

The stars of the book, John Stewart and Guy Gardner, start the book off showing us the problem with trying to find a job when everyone knows you're a member of the Justice League. It's nice showing us heroes at least attempting to lead normal lives now and again, since that's kind o f gotten lost with this new era of comics that started around '04 or so. (Especially with the Lanterns, which really haven't spent real time on Earth since the Sinestro Corps attack back in '07.) Granted, they only spend half the book on Earth and it's unlikely they'll revisit for a while, but it's nice to know the writers think about it.

Fernando Pasarin's pencils are incredible; detailed work that looks great when showing us the mundane world as John and Guy look for a job, and even better when showing us the fantastic as the duo explore Oa and an alien world near the end of the universe. I've always loved his work, and I'm excited to see DC put an A-List talent on a book like this. Hopefully the title's gorgeous visuals will attract more readers.

The last page of this book is a real shocker, though I'm a bit sad that this book really isn't fit to give to anyone below the age of 15 or so, it is a great cliffhanger that makes me incredibly eager to read the next issue (and the entire arc, really) to see how Guy, John, and their team bring down this new threat.

Comments

  1. New DC FanOctober 2, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    The book was beautiful for sure, one of my favorite-looking of the New 52. And I agree that having Lanterns die seemingly easily takes away a lot of the wow-factor. I know the argument could be made that it makes the vets seem that much more badass, but, as you pointed out, the rings are kind of a costar, and having every new threat handily dispatch teams of Lanterns takes away a little of that costar's shine.

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