Green Lantern Vol. 5 # 21 - The Sinestro Corps War, Part 2: Fear and Loathing

In Sinestro Corps Part One: "Second Rebirth", Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver painted an epic tale of revenge, corruption and death. Part Two consisted of, well, mostly death. I'll admit, I'm a bit confused as to why DC Comics asked Johns to make this of all issues a jumping-on point for readers - the edition opened with a three-page recap of the Hal Jordan backstory - but if I hadn't read not only Part One but the last year or so of GL at least, I would be royally confused. But, hey, screw the new readers. Johns writes for US!

In truth, very little new happened in issue two besides revealing some of the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps onslaught and providing us with some more of the confusing retcon that is the Guardian subplot. It is nice to see Ganthet in the spotlight again, especially for fans of the Judd Winick and Benjamin Raab runs of GL vol. 3, which featured much more of this particular character, but I'm frankly confused by this new "Darkest Night" chapter of the Book of Oa. The reason that I haven't deducted more than half a point for this is that I trust Johns to make it all worthwhile in the end.

Kyle's fear game with Hal is delightful. As a Rayner fan myself, I found myself cackling maniacally as he tortured our hero. (Consider it a bit of revenge for all the garbage I've taken over the years from members of "Hal's Emerald Advancement Team".) This combination of joy, disgust and insidious laughter is pretty much consistent with the pacing of part one, but with less plot process. But, of course, we sort of needed to slow down a bit after the fifty-yard dash that was "Second Rebirth".

I find that Ivan Reis is improving over time. I personally hated Reis's pencils in "Rann/Thanagar War" and nearly vomited with rage when I heard he would be drawing my favorite title OYL. Boy, did I make the wrong call. Ivan has truly lived up to the reputation of this wonderful new wave of Brazilian artists.

I am, however, dreading reading the next chapter. Speaking of disappointing "Rann/Thanagar" creators, I bloody hate Dave Gibbons. Though he is easily one of my top ten favorite comic artists of all time, he is my absolute least-favorite comic writer. Even this hardcore Lantern fan won't spend $2.99 to read his stories. And I tried really hard. (More on this, I suppose, in two weeks.) Let's hope that he doesn't spoil a good thing for us.