Green Lantern Corps #37

The Good

It's part 13 of Godhead. That's right. This is a bit of a longer cross-over event, but here's the thing, it's still awesome. GREEN LANTERN CORPS and GREEN LANTERN feel like the strongest of the two books in a very strong event, but I found myself really enjoying not only the overall story of this issue, but the pretty big turn, which we'll get to in a few moments. Godhead really feels like this is all about

Spoilers: There's a great turn in this issue that kind of puts the ball back into the Lanterns court. It turns out John Stewart and crew have help from Malhedron and in addition, during a fight with Uggha, whose name is an onomatopoeia for an old timey car horn, John tricks him into dropping his guard and John got a hold of his hammer. Also, it seems Highfather's Life Equation, is turning Lanterns against each other. There's tons of turns here to keep fans on the edge of their seats and ready for the next part of the issue. This is a pretty intense one.

There's a TON of stuff going on in this issue and it's all plotted and paced out insanely well. Writer Van Jensen makes his part of Godhead really stand out here, rather than falling into the background, which has been a problem for some other books in this event. Issue #37 is a wake up call to Godhead readers that GREEN LANTERN CORPS matters in the grand scheme of things, and it's not just GREEN LANTERN moving things along. That may sound a tad harsh, and while past issues of GLC, involved in Godhead, were good, this particular issue was great.

While there are some problems with the art switching here, see below, it's safe to say that artist Bernard Chang and colorist Marcelo Maiolo do some amazing work on the first half of this issue. Do you like sweet opening pages featuring Highfather boasting like a boss? Oh, then you'll love this issue because that's how it starts. This team is consistent throughout their part of the book. What's the best looking panel? Well, it's the one where Sinestro constructs a super-sweet Sabretooth tiger.

The Bad

As much as I enjoy this issue, it's hard to get away from the fact that the change in art is incredibly distracting. Bernard Chang and Mirko Colak are both extremely talented artists, but the switch in art is obvious and it just doesn't work. This also includes the change in colors, which isn't as noticeable. The change is obvious when you look at John Stewart's face, but a lot of that may come from Tony Avina doing the color work over Marcelo Maiolo. Chang and Maiolo have given Stewart a very specific bone structure in his face, which Colak and Avina do not hit.

The Verdict

This was easily one of the better issues of Godhead, which overall, has been really good. It feels like there's real advancement in the story here and numerous moments worth checking out. The only downside of the issue is the separate art team which kicks in halfway through the book. The new team isn't bad but the switch is startling and each artist draws these characters in different ways. Aside from that, Jensen nails this issue of Godhead and it opens the door for some great things in the upcoming issues. I highly recommend this issue, unless you aren't reading Godhead. Then, you'll be in the Land of the Lost.

Man, that car horn joke was the best.

I agree with the points made in the review and would give this issue the same score.

The writing in this issue REALLY kicked ***. There were SO many awesome moments--like:

or

I mean, John leading a guerrilla insurgency? John wielding Uggha's hammer? SO Awesome.

I also really like John's conversation about faith with Saint Walker. I'm happy Jensen is addressing John's family background again. He seems to have had an interesting upbringing.

The shift in art is the only thing that knocked this down a star. I wish Chang was on the whole issue, but the fill-in did an okay job.

I can't wait to pick up the next issue of Godhead!

--

Thanks for the awesome review, @inferiorego!

@captain13: You're telling me. I've been loving this arc, and the way John Stewart is being handled. That line he made to Highfather reminded me of his Future's End title, and all I could think was "So, this is the beginning huh?"

My only thing with this is how is it all going to end, because it looks as if this can still be the middle, but the arc is ending this month. And we only have Red Lanterns, New Guardians, Sinestro, Infinity Man and the Forever people left. Unless there is an annual coming out that I did not know of.

@kivatt: Yes, the final conclusion of Godhead ends in Green Lantern Annual.

@kivatt: Jensen said Breaking Bad is an influence on his GLC work, and I can see that in the line John made to High Father and the Future's End reference.

So I'm confused... when did John go back to just plain Green after he was made a Star Sapphire? I'm looking through all of my books in this arc, and he's Sapphire at the end of the book... and then just Green in every book after.

Really good read

@reverendhunt: Yeah, the Sinestro issue didn't really explain it. I think John only used the Sapphire power to teleport; he may still have have the ring, but he doesn't want to be a part of that Corps. He may not have any Sapphire energy left after the teleport either... *Shrug*

They should've segued somehow out of that. It's one of those things that seems like they literally just forgot it happened.

I like the review and agree with almost everything in it except for one thing. I think all the different books have moved the story along, not just the main Green Lantern title. There are different groups of Lanterns filling different roles or parts of the storyline, and they are each being told in their respective books. Several of them even pick up where the previous issue leaves off, especially the last few issues.