Preludes: Emerald Eclipse

"In days of peace, in nights of war,
Obey the laws forevermore
Misconduct will be answered for
Swear us, the chosen - The Alpha Corps!" ~ Oath of the Alpha Lanterns

With many of the Sinestro Corps rounded up and kept safely in the Sciencells on Oa, the Green Lanterns have earnt the right to feel at ease. However, for Sodam Yat, the new Ion, things are about to take a turn for the worse; Mongul has invaded his homeworld of Daxam and taken it as the new home of the Sinestro Corps, now that he is leader. As Yat and Arisia leave to combat this menace, the deceptive Guardian Scar begins the next phase of her manipulation; a riot in the sciencells. With the prisoners attempting to slaughter their way out of Oa, things look very dark for the Green Lanterns...

Dramatis Personnae:
Kyle Rayner
Guy Gardner
Sodam Yat (Ion)
Arisia
Kilowog
Salaak
The Guardians of the Universe
Guardian Scar
Voz

Red Lantern Vice
Bolphunga the Unrelenting
Kanjar Ro
Lyssa Drak
Sinestro Corps prisoners

Mongul
Arkillo
The Sinestro Corps
The Daxamites

Plot Summary:
Sodam Yat, still getting used to his new powers as Ion, is confronted by a shadow from his past; his mother, riding in the spaceship he had originally created to escape Daxam, has arrived on Oa, bringing with her desperate news. Mongul has attacked and enslaved the Daxamites, and is turning Daxam itself into a new homeworld for the Sinestro Corps, which he has assumed command over after beating down his rivals, including the Corps' drill instructor, Arkillo. Though he states categorically that he hates his homeworld and it's extreme racism towards aliens, Sodam agrees to help it in it's hour of need; for him, his oath to the Green Lantern corps overrides his personal feelings. Accompanied by Arisia, he prepares to remove Mongul from Daxam once and for all, no matter the cost.
Meanwhile, Guy Gardner and Kilowog have a new resident for the Sciencells; Vice, a Red Lantern captured during the attack on Sinestro. Though he is imprisoned within the supposedly inescapable prison complex, Guardian Scar has other plans; she triggers the releasing of Vice's mouth gag, allowing him to utilise his napalm-like vomit, and causes the unthinkable; a mass breakout in the Sciencells. As the Lanterns struggle to regain control of the situation, Scar begins work on her ultimate aim; to truly bring about the Blackest Night, and release the Corps that is fuelled by Death itself...

Verdict:
Although not as good as Agent Orange, in my opinion, Emerald Eclipse does have a lot going for it.
Firstly, it's one of the rare collections in which we get a bit of focus on the newest Ion, Sodam Yat. This character, though introduced as an actual character in Sinestro Corps War, actually had his roots in a story by Alan Moore, known as Tygers, in which the prophecy of the Blackest Night first appears. As such, despite his sideline appearances (with the exception of part II of Sinestro Corps) he is actually one of the most important people in the DC Multiverse. Therefore, it's actually great that we get to see him in the full, as it were; we watch as he struggles with the feelings of antipathy towards his people, whose actions resulted in the murder of his alien friend and the mental torture of Sodam himself, and the sense of duty towards the Corps and his commitment to helping those in need, no matter who they are. It's an element of story-telling I love to see in comics and films generally; the conflicted hero, his past demons returning to haunt him, has a choice to make - allow hatred and resentment to cloud his life, or rise above it, no matter how difficult, and reveal his true colours. Really, what this did for me was to cement Sodam as a credible hero, and indeed earned him a great deal of respect and liking from me as a fan of the Green Lanterns.
In general terms, the plot here is a lot grimmer and darker than the previous issues. Though the Green Lanterns do triumph, it comes at a heavy cost; though I can't say what it is without ruining the whole collection, it cements fully the idea that the Guardians have gone too far in their quest to prevent the end of Life itself, and that they have never really learnt from their mistakes. In a way, their actions in Emerald Eclipse are far more satisfying than the petty bickering we've seen in previous Preludes; for once, the Guardians are acting on their fear, and the result is horrifying. Viewing it, the reader really does end up questioning whether the Guardians do know what is best for the universe, something the previous scenes of their plans (bar the end scene of Agent Orange) failed to achieve.
And now the artwork. Overall, the art is good guality, with some interesting character designs and stupendous backgrounds. Oddly, Vice's uniform changes halfway through the collection, but that's not a huge issue. Occasionally, there are some dodgy pieces of art; Sodam Yat confronting his mother is one such piece, and made me wince slightly as to how badly it was done, but that is redeemed later on through the really quite excellent scenes on Daxam. I'm pleased to note that Arisia's costume seems to have been made less revealing than before (I swear, I thought her boobs were going to fall out at one point in Sinestro Corps War) and her attractiveness implied than overt. In addition, the fight scenes on Oa are beautifully rendered, with huge amounts of action going on at every turn, though there's always a central conflict, so the reader never seems lost in all of this. Personally, I liked the fighting with Vice best; there's something about trying to stop a berserk madman that spews napalm at anything that gets too close that screams "heroism!"
Overall, then, a solid thumbs-up for Emerald Eclipse; the mere fact that it raises the reputation and character of Sodam Yat, whilst at the same time exploring his motivations was enough for me, but with the additional bonus of some great fights it really is something I'd reccomend be bought by anyone who doesn't have it already; at £11..99 from Amazon, who wouldn't?

Rating:
8.5/10

Preludes: Agent Orange

"MINE!" ~ Most common word used by Larfleeze

For millennia, the Guardians of the Universe have brought justice to all sectors of the galaxy - except one. The Vega system is the only place in the universe where these immortal beings have no authority, and as a result, it is a haven for those fleeing the reach of the Green Lanterns. Now, however, the Guardians are attempting to stem the rise of the new Corps, and the orange light of the Vega System can lo longer be ignored...

Dramatis Personnae:
Hal Jordan
John Stewart
Kyle Rayner
Guy Gardner
The Guardians of the Universe

Agent Orange
The Orange Lanterns

Fatality

Ganthet and Sayd
The Blue Lantern Corps

Plot Summary:
The Controllers, a sub-tribe of the same race that evolved into the Guardians, have been searching for a method of supplanting the Green Lanterns as the dominant police force of the galaxy. Their journey has taken them to Okaara in the forbidden Vega system; there they discover an orange power battery, and attempt to take it for themselves. However, they are attacked by the mysterious owner of the battery, and though they are as powerful as the Guardians, they are killed. The Orange Lantern sees this as betrayal by the Guardians (not realising they no longer work with the Controllers) and makes plans for retribution.
This comes to a head as the badly damaged Green Lantern Stel, who was pursuing an opponent in the Vega system despite the Guardian's edict, arrives at Oa bearing a glowing and (for the Guardians) horribly familiar symbol; the owner of the Orange battery is finally revealed as Larfleeze, who demands that the Guardians recompense him for his near-loss. This triggers the writing of the Fourth New Law; the Vega system is no longer off-limits to the Corps, and the Green Lanterns go to war with Agent Orange to end the threat of the orange light once and for all...

Verdict:
Agent Orange is, without a doubt, an absolute delight to read.
In this collection, a lot is revealed about the Guardian's past, and the reasoning behind the immunity of the Vega system builds up the mistakes that the Guardians have made over the years yet further; once again, they short-sightedly create another enemy in the long term in the form of Larfleeze. All of these mistakes, of course, will be exploded and shown for what they are in Blackest Night, but the build-up to that realisation is tense and nerve-racking.
Now, let's talk about the characters. Let's talk about Larfleeze.
Far and away, Larfleeze is my favourite Green Lantern villain. There have been many attempts to create a petulant character whose motives are primarily selfish (such as Superboy-Prime, damn his whining) and I would think it's fair to say that not many of them have been successful. Larfleeze is that success. He is, of course, powered by the orange light of avarice, and as such his character pretty much has to be self-centred in the extreme. This has the potential to go badly wrong, as I have explained, and yet it has done quite the opposite. Larfleeze's dialogue, in a similar fashion to that of Atrocitus', manages to be both very eloquent and yet delightfully immature, in a strange combination that appeals greatly to many readers. One moment he's indulging in a serious monologue about his past conflicts with the Guardians, the next minute he's screaming at Hal Jordan for "stealing my idea!"  A lot of what he says is intended to be amusing or even outright funny, yet at the same time he's clearly a very sinister character; his method of recruiting people into his Corps is to kill them and create an identical construct of them so that he doesn't have to share out his power rings. This almost brings to mind necromancy, which is an undoubtedly dark and monstrous act in any context. In short, he's awesome and I love him, messy eating/paranoia over his possessions and all.
Now, another interesting aspect of Agent Orange is the return of Fatality, now a Star Sapphire. Originally, this character hunted John Stewart for his failure to save her homeworld of Xanshi; now, she has a new quest, to find and forgive him, and more importantly to help him forgive himself. Though a minor part of the story, really, I still kinda liked this, if only because there are hints of John Stewart finally moving on from Katma-Tui, which the big guy kinda deserves, as well as the idea that Stewart has lived with the burden of Xanshi for too long.
Plot-wise, Agent Orange ties in neatly with the events of the preludes, with none of the relative confusion where Sins and Rage were concerned relative to each other; the story moves quickly and easily along, even fitting in a flashback scene with ease, which is something comics have had a bumpy history doing in the past. The actions of the Guardians and the consequences those actions have are explored even further here, with the ending (which I will not reveal - Comic nerd's honour!) showing just how desperate and wrong-headed the Guardians have become in their quest to prevent the Blackest Night from occurring.
In terms of artwork, Agent Orange does not suffer from the fluctuations that Rage of the Red Lanterns did; the art is crisp and clear pretty much all the way through. The design for Agent Orange is very cool; he resembles a humanoid boar, although I think Hal Jordan was tripping on something when he said he could see a resemblance to Gonzo of Muppet fame in him. Unfortunately, Fatality suffers from Star Stripper Syndrome, but that's really just a minor quibble as opposed to a major issue. Overall, the art is a treat to look at, and Stel has been given a pleasantly Transformer-esque new body, which I thought looked pretty damn awesome.
So there you have it; Agent Orange gets my full seal of approval, and probably the highest level of support for any of the Preludes. Get it now, if you haven't already, it's about £12.99 in hardback.

Rating:
9/10

Preludes: Rage of the Red Lanterns

"With blood and rage of crimson red,

Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,

Together with our hellish hate,

We'll burn you all--That is your fate!" ~ Oath of the Red Lantern Corps

With the Sinestro Corps on the run and their namesake held within the Sciencells on Oa, the Green Lanterns seem to have emerged triumphant. However, the Guardians grow ever more paranoid about the forbidden prophecy - the Blackest Night - and so create the Alpha-Lanterns to watch for disloyalty in the ranks of the Corps. Meanwhile, on the planet of Ysmault, the last of the Five Inversions, Atrocitus, begins the formation of a new Corps, one powered by the crimson light of hate...

Dramatis Personnae:

Hal Jordan

John Stewart

The Guardians

Salaak

Kilowog

The Alpha-Lanterns

Sinestro

Romat-Ru

Atrocitus

Laira

The Red Lantern Corps

Ganthet and Sayd

Saint Walker

Warth

Plot Summary:

Due to the First New Law implemented by the Guardians, Sinestro has been sentenced to death. As a result, Hal Jordan finds himself questioning the edicts of the Guardians, and whether what they are doing is right. Meanwhile, the Lost Lanterns, dealing with the death of Ke'haan, take his body back to his family, only to make a horrifying discovery - Ke'haan's wife and children are dead, and his house burnt. When Laira discovers that the culprit, Amon Sur, is still at the scene and attempting to surrender, she rips him open, killing him. This triggers an internal investigation, and Laira is exiled from the Corps in disgrace. However, on her trip home, a red ring locates her, and she is possessed by it.

Meanwhile, the Green Lanterns are escorting Sinestro, when they are ambushed by the Red Lanterns. Sinestro is kidnapped, and Hal Jordan is wounded by the actions of the enraged Laira, a solitary figure appears to revive him; Saint Walker, the first Blue Lantern. After a conversation with Ganthet and Sayd, Hal reluctantly agrees to journey to Ysmault to rescue him, as it becomes apparent that Sinestro has a role yet to play in the Blackest Night...

Verdict:

Oh, Atrocitus, how angry you are.

Rage, although not as good as Sins of the Star Sapphire in my humble opinion, is still a very solid series, and ties into the whole prelude plotline well. Let's start with the characters. The main focus of the series, of course, is the last of the Five Inversions; Atrocitus. Here, we see his plans come to fruition, and his hate for Sinestro and the Guardians becomes, if anything, even more apparent than it was before. Personally, I love this character; he manages to be simultaneously eloquent and unnerving whilst retaining the obvious physical scariness of a giant hate-filled red alien. His dialogue is, for the most part, very good, and although it can be over-the-top, it's in such a way as to be very effective and actually quite enjoyable to read as opposed to cheesy. Sinestro, the other main villain, is as you'd expect him to be; arrogant and snobbishly intellectual, and completely sure of himself, even when he is at the mercy of the Red Lanterns. Admittedly, you are meant to hate this character, but at the same time it is not perhaps for the reasons the writers intended. It almost seems like they're pushing the "Sinestro is eeeeeevil" idea a little too much, especially when he reacts with near-idiotic arrogance after Hal Jordan finds him on Ysmault. Otherwise, he's still Sinestro, and for the most part that's no bad thing.

Now, the two wild cards in this collection are Saint Walker and Warth, the two Blue Lanterns. Their characters respectively come across as very zen, much like two buddhist monks who have spent years at their temples learning the ways of their religion. Indeed, the light of Hope is supposed to be strongly linked to faith (there are several hints and clues that this is the case) and so this totally fits what a Blue Lantern should be like, in my opinion.

I've always liked Hal Jordan, and I'm happy to say that he doesn't disappoint in Rage. Throughout, Hal finds himself questioning the new approach the Guardians have taken to policing the universe, from the creation of the Alpha-Lanterns through to militarising the Green Lanterns into the beginnings of an army. We also see a great deal of personal guilt , especially over the fate of Laira; clearly Mr Jordan has a chip on his shoulder left over from Parallax, and this helps to humanise him in the eyes of the reader. Of course, he still pulls off levels of coolness which we deserve from a mainstay of the DC universe, although I can't reveal too much as that would venture into the realm of the spoiler.

The art in this collection is somewhat hit and miss. The first half is lavish and very slick, with Atrocitus looking as intimidating as you'd expect him to, being Atrocitus. However, for some strange reason, the artist redesigns him for the second half of the collection, and the result... well, let's just say it reminds me of a red, anthropomorphic whale. Goddamnit. 

Overall, however, Rage of the Red Lanterns is really something any Green Lantern fan should have at least read. It's about the same price as Sins of the Star Sapphire, and this makes it worth buying in my book.

Rating:

7.7/10

Preludes: Sins of the Star Sapphire

"For hearts long lost and full of fright,

For those alone in blackest night,

Accept our ring and join our fight,

Love conquers all-- with violet light!" ~ Oath of the Star Sapphires

The Green Lantern Corps have, despite the odds, emerged victorious from a war with the wielders of the yellow light of fear, the Sinestro Corps - but at a price. Hundreds of Lanterns are dead, and the scattered members of Sinestro's band of terrorists wreak havoc on the loved ones of their willpower-wielding adversaries. Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Universe, in their attempt to prevent the passing of the Prophecy of Blackest Night, journey to Zamaron, the home of the Star Sapphires; a corps of ring-bearing women who draw their energies from the power of Love. 

Dramatis Personnae:

Kyle Rayner

Guy Gardner

Soranik Natu

Amnee and Matoo Pree

Arisia

Sodam Yat

Queen Aga'po

Miri Riam 

The Zamarons

The Guardians of the Universe

Guardian Scar

Mongul 

Kryb

Plot Summary:

After the events of The Sinestro Corps War, Green Lanterns across the universe are engaged in huntng down and capturing the remaining members of the Sinestro Corps. One such wanted criminal is Kryb, who has gained a terrible reputation for murdering married Green Lanterns and kidnapping their children. Kyle Rayner, now a simple Lantern once more, is aiding two such Lanterns, Amnee and Matoo Pree, capture her before she can do any more harm. 

Meanwhile, Newly-weds Kered and Miri Riam are attacked by Mongul, who has escaped from the Mercy Planet; in the ensuing confrontation, Kered is killed. Miri is utterly submerged by her grief, but before she can commit suicide and join her husband in death, a violet ring locates her and offers her a choice: die, and fade from the universe, or accept the ring and the powers that go with it, and devote herself to protecting love from those who would destroy it.

Verdict:

Sins is a very brave and worthy addition to any Green Lantern fan's collection, in my humble opinion. 

One of my favourite things about this collection is that it is brave enough to deal with some very dangerous issues; the role of parenting, and the kidnapping of infants is always shaky ground, and if this had been mishandled it could have been disastrous. As it is, however, Sins has delivered well using these topics, and has done so in a way that does not cheapen the themes or events. That, in itself, is quite an achievement, and I remain impressed with it even now.

On to the characters. We see the development of the Guardians as they plunge further into their paranoia over the Blackest Night, and as a result, they begin to make ever more radical decisions over the Book of Oa, and the laws of the Green Lanterns. This, again, impressed me a great deal; the value of emotion and what emotion truly means is often questioned in this series, and it opens the reader to the debate; do emotions really cause chaos?

Miri Riam is a great new addition to the Green Lantern mythos, and is a very appealing and likeable character. Like all Sapphires, she is motivated by love, but hers is a love born out of tragedy; unwilling to allow anyone else to suffer in the manner that she did, she becomes a Sapphire simply to protect love. It's hard not to like such a character, even if some of the things she says sound naive now and again. 

And the Green Lanterns? Well, they're as cool as ever. Guy always has some solid dialogue, no matter the situation, and let's face it, he's just an all-round badass. It was interesting to see the return of Soranik Natu, whose role has increased dramatically in importance since the Sinestro Corps War, and her growing association with Kyle Rayner, hinting at things to come. Well, not quite hinting as much as out-and-out declaring at the end of the series, but hey; it's not as simple as you might think at first.

Throughout, the art is of good quality; if anything, it's actually slightly superior to Sinestro Corps War, in that it is more consistent in quality. The character designs for both Miri and the Zamarons are excellent, with Miri avoiding the stripperific look of some of the earlier Sapphires, which, as appealing as it may be to the male demographic, gets a bit tiresome in the end.

Sins of the Star Sapphire is, as I said, a very worthy addition to any Lantern Fan's collection, and at £11.99, there's plenty of reasons to buy it.

Rating: 

8/10

The skies are Blackening...

...and all across the universe, the dead shall rise.

SPECIAL REVIEWS SOON

SPECIAL: Captain America Reborn

Captain America. In many ways, he is the most famous of Marvel's superheroes; proudly wearing the Red, White and Blue of the USA, he fought the nations' enemies in the 1940's, and has continued to do so throughout the decades. We've seen him crusade against agents of Communism, fight off alien menaces and face down his arch-nemesis, the Red Skull, countless times. We even saw him defend all that he believed in, even when his country insisted he was wrong. Finally, we saw the unthinkable.
The death of Captain America, gunned down by a sniper as he was about to stand trial.

But after the truth of these events are revealed, Captain America may not be as dead as we thought...

Join me for the return of the Star-Spangled Avenger; Captain America: Reborn.

Dramatis Personnae:
The Avengers
Special Agent Sharon Carter
Sin
Crossbones
Red Skull
Doctor Zola

Plot Summary:
One year after the death of Captain America, the US public is still torn between whether to honour him as a hero or hate him as a traitor. Bucky, who has since taken up the mantle of the Star-Spangled Avenger, is desperately trying to live up to his friends' legacy, but with him and his friends declared outlaws, it's increasingly more difficult to keep fighting.
Meanwhile, the Red Skull, trapped within a robot body, has hatched a new plan for power. Using the technology of Doctor Doom and Arnim Zola, he will do the unthinkable; he will recreate Captain America's body and take it for his own.

Verdict:
Well, now, this was a difficult one.
Let's start with the best bits.
The first three quarters of this series are magnificent. With the discovery of Cap's possible survival, Sharon and co. leap into action, and the plot is driven apace excellently; the Avengers take risk after risk in order to rescue their great friend, braving the government "Avengers" and worse, and as a result the reader is sucked right in. This is further enhanced by the narrative of Cap himself; he is forced to relive every failure of his in a horrible purgatory, able to act after a fashion but unable to change events or save his friends and loved ones, no matter how much he tries. In terms of value, these sections are magnificent; not only do we pity Cap's predicament, we are shown the lengths to which the Red Skull will go to torture and humiliate his opponent, truly solidifying his evil nature.
The tension builds up more and more as the series progresses, really lending the whole thing an excellent air of suspense. Finally, the last of the three "Great Quarters," a hectic rush to save the life of Sharon Carter and rescue Cap, is pretty much the peak of cool in this comic collection.

Unfortunately, this series is let down by two things; the anticlimactic ending and the Red Skull's representation. Though the audience may be expecting a dramatic face-off, that is not what they get; indeed, I'd say the final quarter was too standard and clichéd, following the traditional routine you'd expect of a super-hero comic. I mean, everybody likes a happy ending, but this felt rushed and too neat and tidy, if such a thing is possible. Then there's the arch-villain, the Final Boss of Captain America, the Red Skull. The artist's representation of his face was horrible. Just horrible. He looks like a cross between a chimpanzee and that damn owl from Ocarina of Time. What they hell were they thinking? That wasn't anything like the Red Skull we saw in the first few pages; a man with, funnily enough, a red skull for a face. How is that so hard to achieve? Gah.
Overall, then, a good series with great elements, which is unfortunately let down a bit by a lacklustre ending and one ugly looking piece of art. It's till worth getting, by all means, just be aware of the downsides.

Rating:
7.2/10