Green Lantern (2011 Series) #2

October 17, 2011

Title: Sinestro Part 2

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Cover Artist: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Nathan Eyring
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

Thaal Sinestro, the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, doesn’t want the job. So he’s come to Earth to seek out the man he replaced, Hal Jordan, in the hopes of getting them both what they want: putting a ring back on Jordan’s finger, and getting the green ring off Sinestro’s. Trouble is, Sinestro’s previous Corps isn’t too happy at what they see as his betrayal. The interaction between Hal and Sinestro is really entertaining. Even though they’re ostensibly working towards a common goal, Sinestro still feels the compulsion to exert his dominance over his former foe, even to the point of dishing out a humiliation when he feels like Hal needs it. There’s also a nice amount of tease regarding where this story is going next (specifically, Korugar, Sinestro’s home planet). As much fun as this book is, it really takes off when Hal gets a chance to go into action again. Johns and Mahnke clearly don’t intend to leave him on the sidelines for very long, and that’s all to the good.

Rating: 8/10

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1

June 28, 2007

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: The Second Rebirth

The greatest threat to the Green Lantern Corps rises!

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ethan Van Sciver & Dave Gibbons
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics

For months now, a mysterious force has been going throughout the universe, recruiting beings with the ability to create great fear. In this exemplary special, the full power of the Sinestro Corps is known, and the DC Universe knows fear like never before.

While on Earth, the Justice League rounds up members of the Society to inquire about Sinestro’s whereabouts, in outer space, Kyle Rayner and a pair of fellow GLs encounter Sinestro rings spinning through the universe. The rings are only the first salvo, though, and before the book is halfway over it is clear that the Green Lantern Corps is in for perhaps the deadliest war it has ever known.

Geoff Johns does what he does best here – he pulls together disparate continuity threads to tell his story. It’s clear, reading this issue, that he has been planning this epic for a long time, as he picks up on story threads from his own Green Lantern: Rebirth, Infinite Crisis and 52, as well as several tales written by other writers (Ion, for instance), to create a story with a universal threat, but that is singularly unique to the Green Lantern titles. This is a story about fear – that’s Sinestro’s weapon. And to have any chance at victory, he has to find a way to create fear in a warrior class specifically chosen for its fearlessness.

And he does it.

Johns re-teams with his Rebirth partner Ethan Van Sciver on the artwork, and Van Sciver again proves just how good he is. His designs for the disparate aliens that make up the Sinestro Corps are the stuff of nightmares, and it’s easy to see on the faces of our heroes just how much hell they’ve been put through. They look like heroes who have already come through a war, and this is a war that’s just beginning.

Johns and Dave Gibbons team up for a back-up tale as well, re-telling Sinestro’s origin from his own particularly biased point of view. This works well as a nice primer for a newer fan who may not quite recognize Sinestro or understand what makes him such a threat.

If you haven’t read Green Lantern in a while, this is the book to come back for. Johns and Van Sciver have made magic together more than once in the past, and it’s a blast to see them doing it again.

Rating: 10

Green Lantern Corps (2006 Series) #54

December 14, 2010

Title: The Weaponer Part Two

Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Batt
Colorist: Nei Ruffino
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Patrick Gleason
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Publisher: DC Comics

The Weaponer has captured Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, Soranik Natu, and issued an ultimatum to Kyle: bring him her father, Sinestro, or Soranik will die. Kyle has come to Earth to face off against Sinestro and bring him to Qward, by force if necessary, to save her life.

Sinestro really is a right bastard, isn’t he? His own daughter’s life is on the line, but he can’t lower himself to work with Kyle. (Sinestro is still smarting over the beating Kyle gave him back in Green Lantern: Rebirth.) Over in the parent title, Sinestro has been dancing over a fine line between being a full-on villain and being something of an antihero. This issue is definitely heavy on the villain side. Whether he turns up again before this storyline sees its conclusion will say a lot about who the writers want Sinestro to be.

We also delve more into the Weaponer himself this issue, learning a bit more about his history through his interactions with Soranik. He actually feels like a bit of a sympathetic character here – not so much that you’ll start rooting for him, but enough that you can sort of feel where he’s coming from. That extra layer makes for a more entertaining villain over all. Perhaps the best bit of this issue, though, is the set-up for next month. We’ve got the extended cast of this title assembled and ready to charge, which is what you’re waiting for when the time has come for a big ol’ smackdown.

Tyler Kirkham is up and down for me on the artwork. I find I prefer his work on the more alien characters, like Hannu and Boodikka, than I do on the human or humanoid characters like Kyle and Soranik. When he does a character that’s human, he goes overboard with the tiny lines and details, like he’s imitating a 90s style (which I was honestly never a fan of in the first place). Hannu, on the other hand, looks much more natural and impressive than the rest of the cast.

A really good story is buoying up so-so art and keeping this book on my recommended reading list.

Rating: 8/10