The Green Lantern Corps takes on their toughest fight yet as they face an enemy who has a tie to the corps older than anyone could imagine.
The Good
This issue reveals a lot about who these new villains are, and I really like the direction Peter Tomasi is taking this book. Instead of a singular new foe for the Lanterns to take on, we get to see a whole race of villains that actually have a really cool tie-in with the whole history of the Corps. I won't reveal too much, but I can tell you that this issue seems to be setting up for something much bigger, which is something Green Lantern books are pretty much known for. Now, these villains are your typical bad guy. They have their own agenda and they are willing to kill to get their point across, but there seems to be more than meets the eye.
Stormwatch (Martian Manhunter) makes their first appearance in this series. I love seeing other books slowly filter their way into others, especially one like Stormwatch, which I think is incredibly cool. Manhunter has the info that the Corps (Gardner) need, and for this story line, it's a great match. I really hope we get to see more of them in this series.
The Bad
This book gets a tad jumpy about halfway through the issue. There's a few pages just showcasing small bits about a few random lanterns and it really breaks the flow of the issue. I wish this book just focused on Guy Gardner's story and John Stewart's story. I like these other lanterns, but their role is no where near as important to me as John and Guy's roles are.
This book moves pretty slow. It was a bit tough to get through on my first read because it's a whole lot of talking and I was expecting a whole lot of action.
The Verdict
I loved the first issue of this series, but the past two issues have been extremely rough. It was my least favorite of all the Lantern books. This issue gets the reader back on track and gives some great explanation for these new villains, who are much cooler than they seem. I love the introduction of Martian Manhunter and Stormwatch to this issue, and I'd love to see more of this team in the GLC book.
On the not-so-great side of things, while this series is getting better, it's just not on the same level of awesomeness that GREEN LANTERN and NEW GUARDIANS are. Halfway through the issue, it gets jumpy and breaks the flow of the issue by focusing on some other lanterns, and overall, the issue moves really slow and there's a ton of explanatory dialogue. While said dialogue is great, it felt like overkill for the issue.
Overall, it's a pretty good issue. If you've been thinking about dropping this book, make this issue your last chance because you'll be back on board after this one. I recommend this issue, but not so much for new readers. This is not the best jumping on point.
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