War of the Red Lanterns?
The Good: Even though the cover is a terrible one for this issue specifically, it's a great cover for Red Lanterns in general. We have three characters fighting brutally over the limited cover space that can be allotted to these largely drawn figures.
Ed Benes' art is probably the best its been on this series. Everything looks great, and there's no gratuitous ass shots of Bleez. I can't put my finger on what else it is, but something looks smoother here than normal.
The pacing in this issue is great. It's almost an anthology with Atrocitus as a framing device. He's driving an actual story out of the events of the first three issues and drawing in all sorts of side stories into his big plot. We get some varied and interesting insight into a few of the more commonly seen but still undeveloped Red Lanterns, and even FINALLY getting some connection into the Earth side story, even if the connection was already obvious. The story flows from Atrocitus then in and out of various backstories and side plots all with an excellent flow.
It's great to see Atrocitus once again giving into his rage in a way that's actually fueled by his recent clarity. He's become TOO contemplative, and it's making him psychotic with paranoia, and he's lashing out wildly. It's a brilliant way to channel his recent relaxed nature back into a new style of rage in an interesting way.
The Bad: I like the cover, but the text on there makes no sense. Nobody's fighting over a ring in this issue, Atrocitus just shoves the shown three into the blood lake to give them intelligence.
Ok, so, in the face of Bleez possibly leading a mutiny, Atrocitus whines about needing a confidant. A confidant which Bleez was supposed to be in the first place, but I've already been over his idocy in that regard. But now that he needs a NEW confidant, SOMEONE HE CAN TRUST, WHY DOENS'T HE USE DEX-STARR!?
In Conclusion: 4.5/5
After a massive dip in qualiy last issue, Milligan has compensated greatly with a stellar and well put together fourth issue. He's taking everything that Red Lanterns SHOULD be, and still managed to mix in the depth and contemplativeness. The final shock is a nice little cherry on top of the best issue yet.
