On Earth, Hal Jordan leads the charge against the forces of the Black Lanterns. But on Oa, things are taking a turn for the worse, as the Black Lanterns released from the Crypt attack their former comrades, and the Lanterns struggle to defend their power battery from attack. Even with legendary Honour Guard members Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner on duty, and the intervention of old allies and enemies faced with a singular cause - the avoidance of extinction - it looks as though even the green light of the Will can be snuffed out...
Dramatis Personnae:
Kyle Rayner
Guy Gardner
Kilowog
Soranik Natu
Iolande
Salaak
The Alpha-Lanterns
Mogo
Arissia
Isamot Kol
Vath Sarn
Sinestro
Mongul
Kryb
Miri Riam
Indigo-1
Munk
The Black Lantern Corps
?????? (hidden)
Plot Summary:
Even as events escalate on Earth, the Black Lanterns have launched assaults of equal threat throughout the universe, intending to remove the Central Power Batteries of each Corps and thus destroy their fighting capabilities. As the Corps find themselves fighting off armadas of the undead, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner find themselves under attack from a similar threat; a host of black Power Rings has broken through the defences of the vulnerable Oa and attached themselves to the deceased Lanterns residing in the Oan crypt. Though at first, the Black Lanterns are content to simply slaughter their living counterparts, their real objective becomes all too clear soon enough - they are to devour the Oan Central Power Battery, and thus leave the Corps helpless.
Verdict:
I have to say, though this collection isn't the strongest of them all, it is still one of my favourites. I think this has a lot to do with the premise of it; rather than focussing on one or two specific individuals, like other publications, we instead are shown the reactions and actions of a group of individuals, and how they cope with the dead rising from the grave as a collective.
So let's talk about these characters. I think it's fair to say that, up until about halfway through the story, Guy and Kyle react pretty much how you'd expect them to act, with just a few notable exceptions; Guy is unexpectedly restrained when dealing with the Black Lanterns, as he knew many in life, and as a result we get to see a mixture of respect and regret as he fights them off, which is quite pleasant. Kyle is pretty much superheroic, as you'd expect from the modern-age Green Lantern, and this is summed up beautifully by his actions around halfway through the collection, which also have the added bonus of really shaking up the plot.
We also see some more development of the relationship between Soranik Natu and her erstwhile father, Sinestro. It's great to see how this evolves from plot-line to plot-line; it's taken Sinestro from the somewhat two-dimensional villain that he has been in the past to a more complex, deeply motivated character he arguably is now. It's shown that, despite everything, he still cares for Korugar, and believes that he did the right thing in order to defend it, regardless of the judgement of the Guardians, and this same love is shown for his daughter. Of course, this hardly mends anything between them; that would be just Mary-Sue. But there is a glimmer or redemption there.
And now for GL's answer to Laurel and Hardy, if those two were soldiers rather than comedians; Vath Sarn and Isamot Kol. These two have been important in the plotlines of GL since, oh, before I was collecting, and they are given a chance to shine in this, too. It is these sections in the collection, actually, that give the impression of a losing battle best, in my opinion. After all, both Vath and Isamot are career soldiers; their refusal to give in, coupled with the overwhelming numbers of Black Lanterns attempting to kill them, really makes for a good "last stand" scene. That, and their banter is just the right side of cheesy. I never get tired of reading some of the gung-ho G.I style one-liners these two produce.
Of course, were would we be if I didn't mention Kilowog? Here, we see him confronted with past allies of his own, namely Lantern Ermey, the previous drill sergeant of the Corps. It seems that Kilowog too has his own personal demons; the main theme of the fight is his guilt over not being able to save his mentor's life, and how he has lived with that for most of his career. In addition, there is also the more subtle but still noticeable feeling of depression; having been in the Corps for as long as he has, Kilowog has been exposed to the deaths of a lot of the people he has trained, and this is wearing him down.
Now, let's talk about the art. Really, this is where the collection lets itself down somewhat. Though, for the most part at least, the art is of very good quality, there are some glaring errors and little mistakes, and though these are small, they tend to add up. Admittedly, it doesn't ruin the plot of the whole thing, nor does it detract from the action too much, but there are consistency issues with a lot of the pages, as well as strange things that really shouldn't be there. Perhaps the artist was just tired or something, but it's a lot scrappier than the other books, which is a bit of a let-down.
Still, overall, I would say that this is a solid and excellent effort, and given that it is fairly cheap on most online shopping sites, there's no real reason not to get it.
Rating:
8.3/10
