Coming off of
the killer Green Lantern Corps #16 and the Cyborg Superman
Special (which I both loved... I think picking a favorite
amongst the two would be like picking your favorite child --
I think I like both equally, but for entirely different
reasons) we pretty much continue where GL #23 left off, an
issue I thought was actually the very best issue of the core
GL series in some time now.
First we
spend a bit of time with the inherently bratty Superboy
Prime (which I hope/predict will soon have something of a
coming of age as we move along to explain the new "Superman
Prime" name coming) joining the mass of the Sinestro Corps as they begin
the attack on Earth. Yes, Superboy Prime actually gets to do
a bit of... something in the War.
First, we
begin with a two page splash page. I'm an unabashed non-fan
of two page splash pages... comics are pretty limited from
something like a novel or even a novella in what they can
achieve on the page, and with a month (give or take a week
or two) between each issue I like to see each page, every
panel used for maximum effect and character usage. The only
time I've seen a two page used to appropriate effect so far
in the Sinestro Corps War has been the original Sinestro
Corps War Special... the reveal of the Anti-Fuckin'-Monitor
deserved it, beyond that not so much.
As Cyborg
Superman and his Manhunters are assigned the handling of the
JLA, we get to see a bit of the action going on. We see the
JLA tangling with them, even (for one precious panel) Alan
Scott frying four -- count'em, four -- Sinestros is
sufficiently satisfyingly badass (notice I say Sinestros now
instead of Sinestrians or something else... as of this issue
and the previous issue of GLC, it seems the Sinestro Corps
has officially adopted that as their nickname... a bit odd,
isn't it? I mean, as a poster commented, "Here comes
Sinestro and his Sinestros" would sound a bit funny,
wouldn't it?).
Hal rescuing
his brother and his wife and child is handled in short
order, with Hal tangling with Kylax again. Only this time it
goes a bit differently.
This time,
freeing Kyle is on the agenda.
But, and this
is what kind of divided me, it kind of goes something like
this. Hal: Kyle mentioned a painting. Guy: OK, let me grab
it. All right, got it. And then they bring the painting,
like some kind of McGuffin, and flash it in front of Kylax to snap Kyle back into sync to enable him to draw
himself out of Parallax. There's a bit of a sequence where
Hal loses his ringpower entirely and he himself gets drawn
into Parallax and Kylax then becomes some kind of
SuperParallax in yellow -- which visually looks pretty cool,
I guess -- and while inside Parallax personally helps
liberate Kyle. It's a little sketchy/dodgy in its pacing
here (and sort of how the issue segways from one sort of
storyline into the "let's liberate Kyle" storyline) but it
works OK in my book. What did bother me is that when Hal
finds Kyle, he's portrayed as something like a lost little
boy ("They killed my mom, Hal" Kyle says in a panel, drawn
like he's meek and lethargic all at once)... which would be
fine, except for Marz' Parallax special portrayed him at its
conclusion in quite the opposite light. So I guess I don't
fault the story itself, just the "synching" between that
special and this issue. I did like the subtle dichotomy
given between Hal's loss of his own mother and Kyle's.
Some other
reviews I've read have faulted Geoff for the bit with
Stewart and his "I don't have to do anything... but stay
black" (and yes, I recognize the reference) as he pelts Kylax with a huge energy burst. Also
Kyle's continuing trend throughout the War of saying "Cool"
at any opportunity, no matter how appropriate or
inappropriate (which was fine and understandable while he
was Kylax). Of the former, I think it boils down to Geoff
more or less writing Stewart as a kind of slightly tempered,
younger Samuel L. Jackson. I think this is perfectly fine,
and just as acceptable as any one of the hundred other
interpretations of John Stewart countless writers have had
of John over the past few decades. I personally like it. Of
the latter, I think the final page's "Cool" from Kyle may
have been a bit over the top with how much Kylax has been
spouting "Cools" over the past few issues of the War, but
Stewart's validating "Damn cool" kind of made the
moment gel in my book.
Oh, a second
two page splash page toward the end. I've stated my feelings
on these, and this one doesn't change them. Nice, grandiose
art, but would rather see this space used to better
efficiency (at least, confine it to a single page splash,
the second page paneled up into glimpses into the individual
GLs having "moments" taking out a respective Sinestro or
interacting with one another... just something).
Moving on, we
get a somewhat Poltergeist-esque (and I say that in the best
possible way) sequence where both Kyle and Hal emerge from
the husk of Parallax, both freed now. Kyle accepts a ring
and battery from Ganthet again after being asked, "Will you
forgo your elevated status and accept it again?" to which he
answers "Hell, yes." The way this inevitable sequence would
go had been playing out in my mind since DC tipped their
hand early and let us know Kyle would be both freed from
Parallax and returning to normal GL status... the final
product, it works. As Hal, Kyle, John, and Guy say their
oath together, it's literally the four Musketeers, slipping
on their armor and brandishing their swords preparing to go
into battle... it's cool, I can't fault it. And Kyle gets to
keep his stylish Lantern from his original run.
In summation,
not a bad issue by any reckoning, but cover to cover just isn't
quite nearly as solid as the previous issue or the last couple of GLCs.
