Onto
Peter Tomasi's sophomore GLC offering, "Beware Our Power...
Liberty's Light!", which is now billed as officially the
"Sinestro Corps War Epilogue" (a title I believe it should
technically share with the Ion special).
We begin
with Kyle and Guy putting the finishing touches on the
repair of the Statue of Liberty... lighting the torch bright
with green light. They shoot the shit a little, Guy ribs on
Kyle a bit, and otherwise we get some very "true" Guy-Kyle
banter (harkening back not just to things like "Recharge,"
but even all the way back to their days frequently crossing
paths and chilling in "Warriors" in the Marz/Winick/etc. GL
Vol. 3 days). It's nice.
The long
awaited Guy and Ice reunion! Perfectly done, perfectly. Guy
doesn't just show up, wave a magic wand, and poof -- they're
a couple again. No, Guy does show up and do pretty much
exactly what we'd expect (those of us that have known him
long enough) in rushing up and giving her a big kiss... but
it isn't quite as easy as that. She needs time and Guy
understands... a date is set for "one month from today." I
really like Guy's spiel about, "Snow, rain, sleet, another
crisis, another Invasion, another Final Night, another Zero
Hour, another War of the Gods, another War of the Worlds,
nothing's gonna stop me from being at your side if you
need someone or something." I wonder how -- or if at all --
as Guy and Tora Chapter 2 continues Mr. Tomasi will address
Guy's relationship with Fire that followed the death of Ice
back in the 90s... and what an uncomfortable thing to
broach.
Sidenote: Since
Green Lantern fans probably can't be counted on/trusted to
be aficionados of "Birds of Prey" as well, an editor's note
citing Ice's return in Birds of Prey #105 would have
probably been prudent.
We then
see a sequence of pages with the various other GLC crew
enjoying some much-deserved R&R. This is exactly what we
should be seeing fresh out of the War, and Tomasi gives
equitable time to all parties involved.
Kilowog:
On Mogo, either with Mogo-created facsimiles of his deceased
family, or his family that Mogo has somehow recreated --
just on his surface -- from the life forces of his family
that he carries with him (Kilowog used to carry around all
of his dead race with him... perhaps he still does). A
heart-warming scene, Kilowog seems happy ; Vath: On a
Rannian outpost, he drinks booze with Tanakata Z and recites
the names of all the recently departed GLs; Isamot: Returns
to Thanagar and joyously plunges into its oceans; Iolande:
On Betrassus, she nearly vaults into GL action as an assault
occurs in a nearby plaza... but her duties in politics
demand her attention instead' Salaak: In the Central Battery
Core of Oa, Salaak laments the passing of "too many" GLs in
the recent battles; Soranik Natu: Natu tends to the injured.
Kyle: In New York City Kyle is debating accepting a job as
Art Director of apparently the Hayden Planetarium. Cool.
There's a beacon of hope that as GLC moves forward, there
may yet be some place and time set aside for Kyle's personal
life.
Then,
elsewhere in space we see Stel and Green Man dealing with
some escaping Sinestros in Sector 2889. One of them gets in
a ship, escapes to Sector 2811 and planet Debstam IV,
crash-lands... and is promptly murdered brutally by...
Mongul II, who receives the Sinestro's ring.
A nice
place to leave things, and I'm sure Mongul has more on his
mind than simple membership of the Sinestro Corps. Can we
say... "Mongul Corps"?
Mr.
Gleason's art is as good as his inker... here, he's got 6 of
them! Luckily, their style from page to page didn't seem
different enough from one another that it really bothered me
(except for page 5... it looks like Batman: The Animated
Series there, and the lower left panel with Guy's "The
Question" face is a little distracting). I can't
speak ill of this issue story-wise. It's exactly what it needs to
be exactly when we need to see it. Peter Tomasi proves once
again he is wholly capable character writer, giving us more
than a few memorable character moments here. He does seem to
"get" Kyle as well, though it may be too early to judge just
yet. My only hope is that some of the groundwork that Ron
Marz was laying in his "Ion" maxi-series isn't going to be
wasted or lost entirely. Mostly this refers to what was
going on in the Kaaterskill's Notch artists' retreat.
Probably it wouldn't make any sense for Kyle to actually
return there, since he went there to "find" himself (and
after everything that's happened lately, he's done that
already)... but there was something obviously planned there
with Marissa Rochelle, the girl that chooses to never speak. I'd
like to see her turn up visiting Kyle at his new job
eventually, or vice versa.
Looking
forward to more.
