This is how all Green Lantern books should be done.
Guy Gardner forms a new expeditionary force, the Emerald Warriors, to pro-actively seek out trouble throughout the darkest corners of the galaxy. While his new venture gets the Guardians' blessing, he still has to deal with a lingering quagmire of problems involving Atrocitus, the Black Lanterns' prophecy book and the still-unresolved fate of Sodam Yat.
The Good
Tomasi and Pasarin have an absolute command of storytelling. There's the proper amount of build-up and subtly throughout (like the tiny hint about Guy's Red Lantern resurgence) that makes big moments like the double-spread of the space ship's demolition appopriately jaw dropping. I haven't heard of Pasarin before this, but I'm going to keep my eye on him for now on, because his art's exceptional. It's got detail and scope while still keeping its lines clean and fluid. As I was for his run on Green Lantern Corps, I'm impressed by how Tomasi infuses these GL-related concepts with so much more weight, emotion, suspense and even intellectual stimulation than others have. Guy's new venture, the intrigue of the Book of the Black, Atrocitus' warped sense of tribute and the return of Sodam Yat (!) are all handled in such a concise, effective way. == TEASER ==
The Bad
I'm not sure about the device of Guy using a digi-cam to record his periodic confessionals. I could understand it being necessary to express what's going on in his head if the title didn't already have captions for his narrative. As is, it comes across as a little too "reality TV" for my tastes.
The Verdict - 4.5/5
If you're like me and you were disappointed that Tomasi was ending his stellar Green Lantern Corps run too soon, you'll be relieved to know that this title's picking up exactly where he left off on. There are a lot books focusing on the recently-expanded Green Lantern cosmology and his take continues to be, heads and tails above, the best execution of all of these concepts.
I could not agree more. In this Issue, Tomasi manages to balance a bunch of well done action packed sequences, with smart and eloquent dialogue, and some introspection from guy. There's no GL Tomasi writes better than Guy! And Pasarin's Art? BEE--YOU--TEE--FULL!
Personally, I think this issue alone is in fact even better than anything Tomasi ever did on GLC (which had much to do with the fact that he was always weighed down by Johns' never ending blackest night shindig).
Right now, Green Lantern is drowning in his own mythos. TOO many lanterns, TOO many colors. And Bedard is being nothing but lackluster in GLC.
Here, Tomasi takes us back to the essence of a GL and reminds us why GLs are THE coolest cosmic police force in the DCU. So yean, THIS is indeed how ALL GL titles should be. 4.8 from me!
This issue was really good, and it didn't seem to have that drag that a lot of first issues have. It's good to see Guy staring in a monthly title and I'm really happy to see another Green Lantern title out there.
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