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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

Green Lantern #46?
Written by Geoff Johns?
Penciled by Doug Mahnke?
Published by DC Comics

One would expect a big event tie-in comic from a mainstream publisher to not be worth the read. We’ve come to think of them as another way to make more money. For all intents and purposes you would be right. The track record speaks for itself. But The Blackest Night is a whole other beast. It’s one of the best big events you’ll read in years. With that Green Lantern may not be essential to knowing the whole story but it’s come to be a very important book worth reading.

The events pick up from the events of The Blackest Night 3. Lantern homeworlds across the spectrum are being attacked and invaded by the Black Lanterns. I’ve come to expect the unexpected when it comes to their series. Visuals you’ve taken for granted such as Slushh’s form are reinterpreted. If you’re not familiar with Slushh just think of him as a plasma good type creature with skeletal remains inside of him for one reason or another.

The entire issue is one big battle after another. We’ve also come to expect that no real characterization comes between the blows. But again, with Green Lantern we get the unexpected. Zamaron, homeworld of the Star Sapphires, is being attacked when we open as Sinestro also tries to free members of his corps. He doesn’t want them “brainwashed” from the side of good, or at least not as bad as the yellow and in doing so he faces some staggering revelations about his past with Abin Sur.

Abin is the predecessor to Hal Jordan and Sinestro’s best friend when he was still part of the Green Lantern Corps. So much so that his sister Arin was his true love. But this was long ago and Abin and Arin have been dead for a long time.

This is the Blackest Night. The dead shall rise.

Other revelations such as the combination of light to defeat the Black were revealed already in the event proper but are here again for those not reading the series.

What makes this comic so good are the little things such as the fact that in the Violet Light’s battery lay two lovers long dead. They’re crystallized. Until the black rings get to them. The battery explodes and lets out the monsters within. This event has completely thrown the status quo on its head. You may know the Green Lanterns but where they’ll be, along with the rest of the spectrum, after this only Geoff Johns knows.

One more ring member is collected, with four now in the group. Hal (Green), Carol (Violet), Sinestro (Yellow), and Indigo-1 (Indigo).

But one isn’t ready yet. Sinestro must reclaim his corps from Mongul, a Superman villain. This war may be fought with light but the bare knuckle battle that ensues is a feast for the eyes. Doug is laying down some of the best line work you’ll see in a mainstream comic.

In the end one claims his corps and an old friend returns as a Black Lantern with his sister that will send shockwaves throughout the event. It’s one thing fighting an enemy but when that enemy is the closest thing you’ve ever had to your heart and won’t rest until you’re dead…well the ramifications will be felt for years.

I’m fairly new to the Green Lantern universe, and the DC Universe in general, growing up a Marvel guy. But Geoff continues to write comics that anyone can read without needing to know hundreds of issues of continuity. Then he goes a step further. He actually gives you a good read and hooks you in. So much in fact I’m going out and buying trades of his run on the title that I’ve missed, and quite honestly compared to other comics they aren’t expensive at all.

Green Lantern is both a visually stunning and well written comic that only strengthens my love of the comics medium.


Anthony Schiavino can be found talking comics, movies, television and all things pulp at his website PulpTone.com, Facebook, and Twitter

About the Author

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Anthony Schiavino

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Writer, Screenwriter, and Graphic Designer. Anthony Schiavino (Ska-vee-no) is the creator and writer of Sergeant Zero, represented by David Hale Smith, and co-publisher of EPISODES from the ZERO HOUR! Anthony is currently working on his first novel, Shotglass Memories. From the halls of Marvel Comics as an x-mutant editorial intern, to the heights of the Flatiron designing book covers, and straight on through as newspaper art director, he's seen action and then some. His greatest achievement, however, is and will always be his daughter.
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