Guy Vs. Hal

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Fernando Pasarin

 

This is part 3 of the War of the Green Lanterns storyline that began here and continued here. In this part Hal and Guy come to blows after meeting in a the secret "Green House” of the Corps and Tomasi did a great job of showing their rivalry over the years. I loved how Pasarin drew Guy in his different costumes punching Hal as Lantern Constructs. In the end, of course, they take off their rings. I have to say that this was a great issue even though Hal was in it (Tomasi doesn’t write Hal as being quite as unlikable as Johns does I think.)

Best Hope

Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #58
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Tyler Kirkham

 

This is part 2 of War of the Green Lanterns which began here and it was awesome! Ganthet tells Kyle Rayner it was no accident he was given the last ring and that he was the Corps’ best hope then and still is today! Hell to the ya he is! He is a dreamer with a heart; the perfect Lantern. Anyways, it looks like Parallax has taken over the entire Corps I imagine he was never able to do that before when he was stuck in the battery because he didn’t have Krona’s help. Things are getting crazy!

Corps Take Over

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #64
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

Okay things go to hell for the Corps really fast in the first part of “War of the Green Lanterns” as Krona and the entities take over the Guardians and restore Parallax to the Central Power Battery. Oh and a bunch of folks get stuck in the book of the black. It was really good for an opening chapter of this crossover, but a little too much Hal Jordan and Johns’s annoying Hal Worship going on.

BatCon 52 – 54

Batman Confidential #52
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

Batman calls the Justice League for help and that is about it. This would seem to be before he became a full-time member. This was probably the best issue of this arc so far.

Batman Confidential #53
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

 

Okay DC you need to decide who was a founding member or not! This issue reads like Batman is definitely not a founding member of the Justice League as he has said to have been post-Infinite Crisis. How annoying. Total continuity mistake made this unreadable for me. And if they were gonna go with the Post-Crisis, Pre-Infinite Crisis continuity where Batman was not a founder – why isn’t Black Canary there! This is just dumb.

Batman Confidential #54
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

 

The continuity mistakes (And the fact that the two stories told never connect) made this arc a lousy read for me. And this issue also marks the final issue of this book. This was a book chock full of continuity mistakes with some great arcs in between. The Batgirl and the Wrath arcs come to mind but otherwise I am not going to miss this series at all.

Still A Little Too Much Hal

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #63
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf

 

Well I got to hand it to Johns, I did not see that coming. So apparently Krona was behind the manhunters’ slaughter of the Lost Sector and his motivation makes sense for what the character was trying to prove. Benes and Sayaf don’t do a half-bad job here either. Overall quite a good comic and great prologue to the next GL event but there was a little too much Hal Jordan in this.

Batman Is The Best

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #62
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

Hahahahahahahahaha I love Batman’s comments about Hal Jordan – he hates him just as much as I do and that is why Bruce Wayne Batman is my favorite Superhero (Besides Cassandra Cain of course). I worry what that vision was that Hal had – one of the Lanterns of Sector 2814 is going to die? It better not be Kyle. Anyways Krona gets the best of Hal in this and Hal acts like an idiot as usual.

This Arc

Justice League of America #52
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

 

At this point I can probably say that I like this arc a lot less then the previous epic one as I really don’t care for Dark Supergirl or the Crime Syndicate all that much. It’s not a bad issue at all though and it is certainly much better then anything this book had pre-Robinson.

The Keeper’s Identity

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #60
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

Well the one who has been stealing the entities identity is revealed…and it was someone I didn’t guess and you would think I would it was so obvious. Anyways, this was okay although the whole Parallax possessing the Flash thing was absolutely pointless.

The Rebirth of Dark Supergirl

Justice League of America #51
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

Robinson once again shows how much he understands and loves the DC Universe with the beginning of this issue. Instead of a random assortment of heroes trying to save Washington DC, we actually get an explanation for why each of the persons’ powers can help the situation. That is a rare feat in comics and I like the attention to detail! Meanwhile, the League is dealing with the threat of Omega Man – who is a bastard yet we don’t even know who he is yet and he has brought back Dark Supergirl. I miss Starman but this this is getting just as epic as the last arc! Great stuff!

A Different Douche

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #59
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

Wow Barry Allen sure comes across as a big douche – I still can’t believe he thinks Green Arrow’s murder of Prometheus wasn’t justified. Once again all the stuff in this book is awesome with all the color Lanterns and everything – everything except for the borefest that are Hal Jordan and Barry Allen – at least this time around it’s not Hal that is a total douche.

Like The Creators, But Not The Comic

Batman Confidential #50
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Art by Jerry Bingham

The switches between the far East and Gotham left me very confused as to what the hell was going on in this issue. The second feature with the Justice League was interesting but I still just didn’t care. Definitely not impressed with this arc so far and I like these creators.

Hope Burns Bright

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #58
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

I already like Adara…the Blue Lanterns have always been my favorite corps and I really like the character of Nicole Morrison so I hope this sticks around. Hal is such a dick in this as usual. Can’t stand him still but everything else in this book is blast. Good stuff.

All Hail The Queen

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #57
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

Once again the most interesting stuff about this book is everything besides it supposed star Hal Jordan. Larfleeze and Carol Ferris really steal the show here as the Predator is retrieved by the Star Sapphire and Carol ins named new Queen of the Star Sapphires. I enjoyed all the discussion about the nature of love and what it does to a person. Relationships are extremely difficult and that is why love can become corrupted. This is some great writing by Johns. I still wish we got an actual male Star Sapphire though and not this Abraham Pointe being possessed by the Predator.

Forests And Queens

Green Arrow (Volume 5) #2
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Diogenes Neves

 

Damn this is a beautiful book. Neves’s art is filled to the brim with beauty and detail in every panel. This guy better stay around as long as possible! I am actually really enjoying this new Green Arrow series as the forest makes for a great environment for Green Arrow to inhabit. The Queen is also a creepy villain with that mask and her power. She could become Green Arrow’s “Lex Luthor”. We know she knew his Dad and she was once a poor slave. Hmm. The ending was pretty shocking, how is Ollie going to get out of this?

Christmas In July

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #56
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

Once again the best thing about this series is everyone else but it’s supposed star Hal Jordan – as he continues to be boring but everyone around him is fascinating as hell. I finally can say that I love the character of Larfleeze and his search for Santa Clause was just adorable. Hector Hammond eating the orange power battery was interesting. I didn’t know he could do that. It was great to see Renee Montoya and Saint Walker together too. I wonder how these entities are going to effect everyone near them?

Green Lantern 54 and 55

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #54
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

The funny thing about this book is it is supposed to star Hal Jordan but Hal Jordan is so boring that Johns mainly focuses on the supporting cast. Atrocitius really shines in this issue and his fun cat. Lobo showing up was a surprise too. I liked this issue a lot and I wonder who is kidnapping the entities and what this has to do with those ressurected by the white light. Mahnke’s art is as beautiful as ever too.

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #55
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

 

It turns out Atrocitus hired Lobo himself to attack him so that GL, Sinestro, and Carol would side with him. I wonder why? The best part of this issue though had to be fantastic origin of Dek-Star the Red Lantern Cat. As a cat owner myself, it really warmed my heart but was so sad too. He is full of rage because his owner was murdered. Great little story. I hope he sticks around.

Action 889 and 890

Action Comics #889
Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trauttman
Art by Jose Perez
Co-Feature by James Robinson
Art by Cafu

 

The main story ends Rucka and Trautmann’s run on the book by having Chris and Thara defeat the false Rao. It was a kind of a wimper of an ending. I have to say that I have grown to like these two characters as they have starred in this book – but not enough to really miss them. I like the mythology of it all but I think it is just time to move on. The finale to the Captain Atom back-up was more exciting as Mirabai is defeated and Captain Atom’s reputation restored. I really thought this back-up was a neat idea all-around and I’d say it was successful.

Action Comics #890
Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Pete Woods

Wow that was unexpected. I wasn’t sure what to think when I heard Lex Luthor would be the new star of Action Comics but damn this was awesome. Lex is an evil bastard and Cornell writes him that way. He has an employee killed just for embarrassing him, he builds a robot Lois to be his companion haha, and he is obsessed with finding the secrets to the Power Rings. Great start!