A couple of
weeks removed from it now, here is #26 riding the coattails
of the epic showdown that was #25. In many respects what we
have here is sort of an epilogue of those events, while at
the same time obviously setting the stage for the larger
plot involving the coming of the Alpha Lanterns.
Mike McKone
takes over the pencilling chores for this issue (and, I
believe, the rest of this arc to come in the pages of GL). I
haven't seen any work from him in a great many years... but
the last time I remember him, it was in a book that made me
weep like a little bitch. I'm talking about the "Final
Night: Parallax" special from the 90s, where Hal Jordan
buckles down and decides to do what is needed to save the
Earth from a Sun-Eater that is about to kill every living
thing on it... and sacrifice himself in the process. Here,
he draws the GL domino mask a little bit higher over the
brow than I think is right, but he's a fine artist in his
own right and a perfectly suitable stand-in for Mr. Reis. As
far as I'm concerned, Mr. McKone can stick around as long as
he likes.
The book
begins where it ends. Meaning, it shows us what happens
beyond the actual end of the issue on the very first 3
pages, then shows us the day before's events all the way to
the end. We begin with Boodikka and Green Man having giant
circular holes surgically cut into their chest cavities to
have Lanterns installed in them. The next page is a
double-splash page that I'll grant is deserved -- we see the
whole group of five Alpha Lanterns in all their eerie glory,
with the Guardians announcing them as their second law. They
don't get into any detail as far as what their role and
duties are (and we're left wondering they're just autonomous
drones of the Guardians now, or if their
psyches/consciousness/individuality is still there at
all)... instead, I think the intent here is to kind of shock
us with the sheer horror of what they've become, and the
extent the Guardians have gone to do this to them. I do know
that Mr. Johns has commented recently that the Alpha
Lanterns are to be the "police of the police," presumably
some kind of Internal Affairs to prevent Lanterns from
abusing the first law, perhaps like the "Fists of the
Guardians" from Emerald Dawn II.
It's far too
early to really comment on the premise, being as how it
hasn't really been presented to us yet, so I'll reserve
judgment on that until the next issue sheds some light on
things. The first three pages, it's pretty much, "Here's the
Alpha Lanterns!" I am a little sad to see Green Man get
swept up into this, as I was rather enjoying his chemistry
with Stel over in the GLC title of late. And I guess my
major concern here... is that when all the smoke clears from
this Alpha Lantern affair, the whole thing won't be used as
a way of eliminating another cluster of 90s superheroes in
one neat little package.
Moving on, we have Hal Jordan
saying sorry to Sinestro as he informs him rather calmly
enough that he is on Death Row. There's also a bit of
dialogue here that hints at the direction the Year One story
to come will take, which is a neat foreshadowing. Also more
on Sinestro's "I won" stance, in regards to forcing the
Guardians to enact the "lethal force" law. Which, at this
point, is a little puzzling, since over in the Secret Files
that came out this week, it appears the law literally only
applies to lethal force... on Sinestro Corps members alone.
So conceivably, when the Red Lanterns
start attacking (as an example) the GLs will have their
hands tied for a while until the law can be amended (unless
the Guardians are just going to continuously be adding new
laws: "Lethal Force is Approved Against Any Member of the
Red Lantern Corps," "Lethal Force is Approved Against Any
Member of the Black Lantern Corps," etc. etc.). But maybe
that's really where Mr. Johns is going with this. They'll
keep amending it and amending it... and then finally the
Guardians will just throw up their hands and go, "All right,
all right... Lethal Force approved for anyone" which would
be exactly what Sinestro would want. Intriguing, depending
on where this goes.
Next we
cut to John Stewart. Here he's by the remains of Xanshi,
probably the biggest reminder of a significant foible in his
life -- one of his biggest character-defining moments that
seems to divide his fans. I like what happened in the
"Cosmic Odyssey" 4-parter, personally, and shows us
something of the journey he's had as a character. The scene
here is pretty touching, and probably the best thing that's
been done with John Stewart in these few pages alone than in
longer than I can remember. Later we see him helping
hands-on with the rebuilding of Coast City, which is nice.
On the
geeky side of things, I'll get into the Stewart factor here
on two different fronts:
1)
"Warning. Willpower exceeding power ring capabilities" :
As John begins to attempt to recreate the planet Xanshi from
the rubble. A pretty controversial retcon right there, as
the whole "A ring's power is only limited by the ringbear's
willpower and/or creativity" thing has been drummed
into our heads for a few decades now.
But you know what? I think it's sensible to establish a
cap... otherwise it is silly if you think about it (I mean,
in theory a GL with enough willpower/creativity could just
go off and play God at a whim if there's not some kind of
cap on things). I suspect this might be a roundabout way to
also explain/justify the power that Ion gives its host -- in
areas where a ring might limit a bearer from "exceeding
power ring capabilities," the Ion symbiote might allow its
host a little extra leeway.
2)
"When I was in the Marines..." : Hoo-boy. The Marine
history originating from the old Justice League cartoon,
many Green Lantern fans have been fearing this might happen,
others looking forward to such a retcon. I've always held
the belief that it would be fine, as long as they take his
existing history and find a way to incorporate any Marine
history into that... and not the other way around. I've also
read the blurb in this week's Secret Files which better
explains things, so I'm pretty happy with the way this is
being done.
Now we get two pages with something
I've been wanting to see Mr. Johns really spend some time
on. Hal, the man! Apparently his job at Edwards Air
Force Base is still intact (good), and we finally get to see
that date with Cowgirl... sort of. They go up, and there's a
nice little romantic three panels spent on them in mid-air
kissing. Very nice, much-needed... but I have to say, too
little. I would have liked to see the events of this
issue paneled up a little tighter (meaning just less
splashy) and Hal's time with Cowgirl kind of interspersed
throughout the whole issue -- this should have been the
heart and soul of the issue, and well past time. By now in
Vol. 4 I think it's time to get to know Hal the man, and
after the War seeing him really unwind and let his guard
down a bit. Remind us there's more to him than just when the
mask and ring is on... that even though (as we have been
told) he is essentially the same person when he puts on the
ring as when it's not on, that when that mask goes on,
there's still a living, breathing secret identity under
there.
I don't
want to go on a tirade here, but I think a lot of the
"promises" made in the Rebirth mini haven't entirely been
lived up to. It seemed like after the events there, things
were shaping up to give us a somewhat balanced ongoing with
at least a fair amount of time spent on Hal the Man, while
still doling up the Space Cop action. Coming out of
something as long and grand as the Sinestro Corps War, and
particularly with things like Final Crisis and Blackest
Night looming in the distance, I'm very, very leery about
plunging Hal so quickly into "The Next Multi-Issue Action
Epic." I think an issue or two can be afforded to cool our
jets, spend some time with Hal on Earth (which can always be
intercut with the grander events going on in the universe
with other GLs so that it's not just that), can certainly be afforded.
Now we
finally arrive at the real meat of the story here. The Lost
Lanterns taking Ke'haan's body back to Varva. To sum it up,
they arrive, they find Amon Sur waiting for them, he talks
some shit, and Laira's temper flares up and she cuts him
from one collar bone kind of down to his hips, killing him
and sending his ring off to find a replacement. The issue
leaves us with that, and the question of "Where is that
Yellow Ring going?"
I guess it ended
pretty abruptly, somewhat jarringly. And not even really on
a cliffhanger... since the beginning showed us Boodikka and
the others getting carved up like pumpkins to become the
Alpha Lanterns. By the issue's end we're not left with a
really good sense of how things got from Point A to Point B
(or in this case, from Point B to Point A). I hope the next
issue will shed some serious light on things, because it's a
bit of a stretch to go directly from Laira killing Amon Sur
(who had just killed a deceased GL's whole family) to the
Guardians dragging GLs by their hair to the operating table
to serve as Alpha Lanterns. Unless they volunteer for the
duty? We don't know yet, but the issue doesn't really even
provide any hints to aid our conjecture. Again, I hope the
next issue fills in some blanks here, as it doesn't seem to
stand right on its own.
And about
Amon Sur? Yeah... remember GL Vol. 3, #175? Lianna chopped
his head clean off... and he came back from that. Coming
back now should be small potatoes next to that (same story
as Jack T. Chance back a few issues... he's suffered worse
than that). Probably should have been a more definitive
death here, if the intent is to really kill him off and send
Laira to trial for it.
