The Red Lantern Corps is led by Atrocitus, a being who watched his own people die at the hands of the Manhunters a very long time ago. Atrocitus has held onto that rage for hundreds of years, and eventually, he became the leader and first member of the Red Lantern Corps in Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns. Since then, the corps has become one of the deeper corps in the GLU, and some great characters have been introduced like Dex-starr and Bleez. Let's not forget during Blackest Night when Aquaman's wife, Mera, became a deputy lantern for the team, or Guy Gardner's struggle to keep the Red Lantern blood out of his system. The team has it's own feel now and it's own powers, including telepathy (due to vomiting the Red Lantern blood onto any surface. What a gross way to talk to your leader). The team is also drenched in prophecy, much like the rest of the GLU, but for this team, it feels right. This team has become more of an enemy to the Green Lantern Corps, they are their own entity, but are they big enough for their own book?
== TEASER ==
Atrocitus is angry. His entire race was almost wiped out by marauding Manhunters... the Manhunter massacre happened an awful long time ago. Eons ago. Okay, you’d never get over something like that. But Atrocitus’ rage hasn’t weakened. It is just as immense and awesome as it was all those centuries ago. I wanted to know why... We’ll also begin to learn what goes on in the boiling brains of his napalm-blooded corps. Can the proud Bleeze remain a loyal servant? How does the angry cat DEXTAR try to feed its beloved master? And what horrors lie at the bed of the ocean of blood?
Atrocitus really has come into his own the past few months, not just as a villain to the Green Lantern Corps, but a great, well-rounded character. Aside from him, it seems Milligan will be focusing on some fan-favorite Red Lantern Corps members including Dex-Starr and Bleez. Hopefully, we'll even get some of The Butcher in there, who was recently introduced as the embodiment of rage. We can expect this book to make this team more of a team and less of an enemy. Currently, we get to see Atrocitus and Bleez in the Green Lantern (GL, GL Corps and Emerald Warriors) series, but we don't get much of a team feel to them and that's the key thing missing to make the Red Lantern Corps a great part of the GLU.
If you're a Green Lantern Corps fan, but don't know too much about this team, here's the recommended reading to catch you up on the good stuff.
- Green Lantern #25: In the finale of the Sinestro Corps War, we see a brief two page splash of the Light War. It's the first time you see the Red Lantern Corps and Atrocitus.
- Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns: This one-shot has little to nothing to do with Final Crisis. It's all about Atrocitus' rage for the massacre in sector 666, becoming the first Red Lantern, and starting his corps up. If you want to know why these characters are filled with rage, this is the issue you have to check out. Each character is mad about something different, and you'd be insane not to pick this up to find out what got their individual panties in a bunch.
- Green Lantern #29-#35: Secret Origins: A retelling of the origin of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, but we get great history on the massacre of sector 666 and Atrocitus pre-Red Lantern member.
- Green Lantern #26-#28, #36-#38: Rage of the Red Lanterns: (In the trade, the Final Crisis Rage of the Red Lantern one-shot is included) The Green Lantern Corps and Red Lantern Corps face off! You get to see the full-on power this team has.
- Green Lantern #53-#55, #60, #61, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5, and Green Lantern Corps #55: Atrocitus' character has been developed a bit more and more secrets have been revealed about his secret mission. All of this will most likely play into the Milligan book.
It's a lot of reading, but well worth it. You could also check out Blackest Night, which features the corps members, but it doesn't add too much to the team, since the main focus is on the dead coming back to life.
~Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring is a teacher, comedian, writer, comic store employee, and the cause of the massacre on sector 666~
Check out Mat "InferiorEgo" Elfring on twitter and watch him tweet your face off.
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