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Green Lantern Corps #43
Published December 16th, 2009
Writer : Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller : Patrick Gleason
Inkers : Rebecca Buchman
Cover : Patrick Gleason, Rebecca Buchman, Randy Mayor
Writer : Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller : Patrick Gleason
Inkers : Rebecca Buchman
Cover : Patrick Gleason, Rebecca Buchman, Randy Mayor
Review by FrEaKjOkErXXX
of
of This pains me to say… but this is the first time in the history of this series that I walked away from the issue hating it. I have a lot of respect for Tomasi and Gleason and think they are both great at what they do but this issue feels so forced and unfocused that I could barely get into it. Before I get into the problems, let's recap the issue.
We start off with Guy and Natu reacting to Kyle’s “death.” Natu is trying to figure out a way to help Kyle while Guy tries to stop Kyle’s ring from going to Mogo but is unable to. He then cries and whines at Kyle’s side with Natu when Vice’s Red Lantern Ring flies onto Guy’s hand. Guy accepts it with open arms as he blames the Black Lanterns for Kyle’s death as he begins to demolish the Black Lanterns. A black ring goes to resurrect Kyle but is stopped when Munk and Kilowog come to help. We flash to Kryb and Miri who are now on Oa. Kryb is upset that “her” children are dead and attacks Miri who puts her in a crystal and flies away to help the greens. Kryb calls for the children but she is killed by Red Lantern Guy Gardner along with her “Corphans.” Miri shows up at Natu’s side and fuses Natu’s love and Kyle’s willpower to bring Kyle back to life. Kyle’s ring flies back down onto his finger and he powers up. They all go to help Guy with his Red Lantern situation when they see that Mogo is next to Oa and they now have a huge backup power player.
My Problems:
1.) The turning of Guy Gardner into a Red Lantern was lame. I didn’t feel for one second that Guy was really hurting because of Kyle’s death. It all felt forced and pointless. I felt like they used the death of Kyle just to give Guy a red ring… which they could have done with another tactic that would have been just as good.
2.) The death and resurrection of Kyle Rayner. If you read my last review, you know that I thought Kyle’s death was very well handled. I had hoped that Kyle would stay dead with such a well done ending of his life but sadly… he didn’t. Instead, we got some bullshit resurrection scene in this issue that really didn’t make any sense. If Miri can bring people back to life by fusing love and will, why didn’t she do that to her husband in the first part of Sins of the Star Sapphire? I know some people had theories that Nekron had plans for Kyle once his soul passed into the realm of the living and now after reading this issue, I feel that would have been much more interesting that what we got here. That whole resurrection sequence has now ruined what I thought was a good ending to Kyle’s life and a possible sub-plot to the main Blackest Night story. Kyle’s whole “death” was nothing more than cheap thrill to keep everyone interested after six months of non stop fighting.
3.) Kryb and Miri’s appearance on Oa. A couple months ago these two were searching for the children of the dead Green Lanterns. I was interested in that storyline because I like both of those characters but it was all ended here very quickly and very poorly. They both randomly arrive on Oa without any explanation to what’s been going on and then Kryb dies because Guy went all crazy on her. This was a waste of a good character! I was always interested in Kryb but that means nothing now because she has become a pointless death in this issue.
4.) I’ve always been a supporter of Patrick Gleason. I enjoy his work immensely and I do cut him slack because he is never late and with deadlines this tight that says a lot… but this issue was hideous. I would say this is some of, if not the worst art he has ever put out. The resurrection scene stands out in my mind the most when it comes down to it because all the characters looked awful. One panel has the most ugly looking Miri’s ever. I’m still a fan of Gleason’s but this art left a bad taste in my mouth.
All in all this issue was terrible. I give it two stars because even though it was corny and forced, seeing Guy as a Red Lantern was cool and some what entertaining. The resurrection of Kyle really showed what lengths Tomasi is willing to go to keep people entertained even if that means telling a forced and pointless tale. At the beginning of Blackest Night I felt like GLC was the strongest of the titles but now I see it slipping while other books get better. We still have two or three issue left of GLC Blackest Night tie-ins so I’m still hoping the team can pull it off but this issue really put a damper on my anticipation for the next installments.
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