Hallelujah, it's rainin' dead!
Onto the
penultimate part of the 5 part RingQuest, we're barreling
toward the conclusion. Beyond that, we also celebrate 25
issues of the Green Lantern Corps with this issue. Has it been that long? It
doesn't seem like it, but here's to many, many more.
In short,
a tiny bit more meandering than the last issue, but
still a solid offering.
In a
nutshell the GLC's A-Team first tangle with Mother Mercy
(the propagator of the Black Mercy plants), have to deal
with some seriously grisly shit when all the dead bodies
held up in orbit of the planet (as a part of the Black
Mercies' complicated self-sustaining ecosystem) are brought
down to the planet to crush the GLC, and then come face to
face with Mongul.
There is
a pretty weighty scene with Arisia and the Mother Mercy,
Arisia ready to torch her for what she had done. Sodam Yat
pulls her aside and, in a very statesman manner, talks sense
to her (and we learn he's not Daxam's biggest fan anymore),
completely calms her, and... we get the distinct impression
love may be in the air. Hey, I'm all for it. First she got
with the "Greatest Green Lantern"... now she might go after
the "Ultimate Green Lantern" -- at least she'll be
consistent.
A treat:
a page of Guardian intrigue. All 9 Guardians gather and
notice a Sapphire flare in Sector 1416, and that it will be
spreading throughout the universe. This isn't too profound
just now, since we actually see this happening on the
big double splash page in DC Universe #0 a few weeks ago but I think for the first
time we see the Guardians acknowledge that maybe the War of
Light/Blackest Night really is inevitable. Though it is the
scarred, potentially tainted/possessed Guardian female
talking... so who knows.
Speaking
of intrigue, I was a little disappointed we didn't get to
follow up on what was going on with Sinestro and all the
Sinestro Corps members painting the SC symbol on their
ScienCell doors last issue. Seemed like they were on the
verge of a jailbreak... or something. Ah well.
We also see quite a bit more of militant Kyle, which I liked
-- it comes off completely natural here. I really do see
this as a natural evolution of the character. Again, my only
hope going forward is that when the uniform is off and he's
off the clock, Kyle still knows how to have fun/have a
personal life.
Mother
Mercy tells the GLC her story, how she came to create the
Black Mercy plants and what their deal really is. A
fascinating story, beginning quite benevolently (and the
thing with dead bodies being thrown into orbit to use as
some kind of grisly freezer for the Black Mercies is highly
creative... though chilling). I don't want to say it went on
too long because it really didn't, but tonally it kind of
removed me from the story a bit. Regardless, though, it
immediately elevated the story from what it might have been
passed off as at a glance, which was "GLC vs. The Monster."
We're also given the distinct impression she's about to
figure into one of the new Corps. I'm thinking she'll become
a Star Sapphire -- and I base that on nothing more than her
love/caring for people before Mongul's arrival (and the
color of her text)... though the logistics of her leaving
the planet might be difficult. Seems like she's tied to the
ecosystem. My first thought was that she was the living
entity (like Parallax, Ion) of one of the colors, maybe
Indigo (I'd say Sapphire, but I'm still betting that
whatever was inside Carol's Star Sapphire gem that possessed
her contained their Love Entity)... but being a living,
breathing physical organism that even bleeds makes that
difficult. Unless Mother Mercy is a living plant... that is
host to such an entity? Things to chew on.
At the
end of the issue Mongul sneaks up on the GLC. It seems a
little truncated there at the end, but this will be the last
cliffhanger of the arc so we can forgive it.
From the
opening pages, inker Drew Geraci (who's contributed to
plenty before) is now credited as: "Introducing new inker:
Drew Geraci," so I gather he's quietly replacing Prentis
Rollins entirely. In any case, both men do good work, both
bolster Gleason's pencils well.
Next one
should be badass. Looking forward.
