To
paraphrase Jeff Daniels from Dumb & Dumber, just when I
thought things were down and out (for the moment)... Peter
Tomasi comes and TOTALLY REDEEMS HIMSELF!
Everything in this issue is golden to me. After the
high-action of the last couple issues that were in the
culmination of "RingQuest" we are treated to a well-deserved
cooldown issue (something I wish Geoff would have employed
for Hal following the Sinestro Corps War rather than diving
head-first into the Alpha-Lantern business)... and for quite
the occasion -- the grand reopening of "Warrior's" (or "The
Big W" if you will), this time on Oa.
The
chemistry with Guy and Kyle is all aces, it's totally nailed
here. They bounce off each other so well, it harkens us back
to the days these two would hang in the old Warrior's and
just shoot the shit, sometimes with Alan and/or John in tow.
Great stuff, truly great stuff.
The
comment about hiring someone "from the ol' hometown to run
the kitchen" has me wondering. Hm. I can't imagine it's just
a throwaway line... so who could Guy be talking about? "Radu"
is the first name to pop into mind, but maybe he's talking
about Arisia, who used to help out at the last Warrior's.
Interesting.
We see
Bzzd entombed in the crypt of Oa in ceremonial fashion.
Fascinating. I'm not sure I understand wholly exactly how it
works, nor am I sure we're necessarily supposed to, but it's
quite tasteful.
I'm
reminded of a recent debate on the message board about the
Crypt -- what is the nature of this Crypt? Are these truly
dead bodies of the GLs of yore, even pre-Zero Hour? It's
only a topical question because Oa was destroyed, vaporized
in GL Vol. 3 #0... and when Tom Kalmaku reconstituted (a
redesigned) Oa in "Legacy," surely he couldn't have brought
back corpses as well, could he have? Some have the theory
that the Crypt itself exists in a pocket dimension (much
like GLs can hide their battery beside them in), the
connection between it and Oa only temporarily severed in
between the time Oa was destroyed and when it was
reconstituted by Tom -- this would explain how it could
still be housing dead GLs from pre-Zero Hour. Otherwise,
it's a little puzzling how the Crypt works... hopefully an
explanation awaits us at some point, one way or the other.
We get a
very, very suitably creepy and ominous scene that actually
provides us with the biggest bit of Blackest Night intrigue
yet. Saarek, whom we actually haven't seen since GL Vol. 2
#97 in 1977, appears in the Crypt and tells us he was
invited by the dead. He goes on, telling us that "the dead
are cold" and "that with each passing day they grow
colder" and finally, "worst of all, the Lantern honored dead
are afraid. Afraid of what is to come." Could there be a
creepier moment to leave us on?
We then
get a page of... Mongul, rising from his defeat last issue
and flying into space, stopping only to pick up his severed
arm that still holds 4 Sinestro Corps Rings. I rarely cheer
for the bad guy, but in this case I did -- my biggest
problem with "RingQuest" was the Merry-Go-Round it seemed
to be in the end (Mongul rises, causes some troubles, seems
like he's about to put the Sinestro Corps in a chokehold,
then is killed and that's it). This completely reverses
things and not only makes me look at the previous arc in a
better light but makes me look forward to Mongul continuing
his quest.
We learn
that Guy is honoring his month awaited date with Ice, and
that it's coming up in fourteen days. Nice touch, and very
much looking forward to seeing this.
Kyle, we
see, draws a very disturbing picture of a GL getting blown
in half, then throws it in the trash on the way out. Guy
picks it up and sees it... and clearly becomes disturbed
himself. Could Kyle be suffering post-traumatic stress?
Perhaps he needs a Doctor... I bet there's a Korugarian in
the house somewhere. Heh, I like where this is going.
We see
Kyle and Kilowog training some GLs on a "satellite moon not
far from Oa" (probably the same place we saw in the Ion
special). There's a bit of what might be described as
harmless flirting between Kyle and Soranik Natu before
eyeballs rain down on the surface. It appears some of them
belong to family members of GLs.
Saarek
arrives and attempts to help, explaining that the dead may
yet offer some help. An image is generated with his help of
the killer apparent... and it's either Morro the Cryptkeeper
of Oa himself or his dead brother Marrg (are the dead
already rising?). On that cliffhanger we leave things.
Oh, and
I've got to be equal opportunity. Because in my review of GL
#33 I included a scan of Black Hand from his first
appearance... I'll include every single panel Saarek has
ever appeared in!
Are you
ready? Here we go!
I know,
that was totally not worth the buildup, was it? Saarek only
appeared in three panels in GL Vol. 2 #90 and in what barely
qualifies as a cameo in GL Vol. 2 #97.
Fantastic
issue, I was very excited this month.
Pat
Gleason is missed this issue but Luke Ross' work here --
excellent -- gives us a bit of spice of something different
here. His style is completely different than Gleason but no
more or less valid... and I'm a fan of his work on GL
previously.
On a
closing, somewhat menial note, I contacted Nei Ruffino, the
colorist (who did a hell of a job this issue, very vibrant
colors -- I look forward to seeing more of her work)... in
regard to Guy sporting white boots in this issue (yes, in
addition to my other duties I've taken upon myself the job
of "GL White Boots Police"). Nei
informed me that DC provided her with a reference image of
Guy Gardner... and it had white boots. This clears her of
any blame in the matter, but...
OK,
DC.... stop. Desist using this bogus reference image of
Guy, cease giving it to GL colorists. Please.
