Usually, members of the Green Lantern Corps have one or two enemies to fight off, but what happens when you have a member of every other Lantern Corps coming after you because rings from their corps chose you?
The Good
I really love the concept of all these lantern corps choosing one person to be the ultimate ring-barer, and I can not think of anyone better than Kyle Rayner. He's a fan favorite, and if anyone deserves their own insane story, it's him. I'm really wondering how, after this issue, Kyle's powers will work, since the majority of the rings create constructs.
Although I was annoyed with some of this book, it really is great for some of these characters to have a home and not just be stuck in the DC toy chest until they need a background character in space. It feels like they're trying to add a lot of different elements to this new book and take a chance with some not so familiar characters. That's a plus in my book.
The bigger the panel for Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao (pencils), Batt (inks), and Nei Ruffino (colors), the better the art. There's quite a few weird art moments in this issue, with mixing styles and whatnot, but the art really pops off the page when this team has a larger panel to work with. Two of my favorite pages are when Bleeze is trying to puke blood on Kyle and the arrival of Saint Walker. Really great detail and color in this book, mainly on the larger panels and splash pages.
The Bad
The Ultimate Ring-Barer costume isn't my favorite and it's because all the logos are on it. Kyle looks like a NASCAR driver. If anything (when he also gets the Orange Lantern ring), he should have a white lantern logo, since all colors mixed together are white.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit less than the first issue. It felt like each page was a testament to how cool that character looks and how easily they can be beaten, except for Saint Walker... he's the "man."
This next little annoyance area spoils a bit of the book. Read at your own risk
.Pretty pissed that Ganthet is just a regular, old Guardian now, and he's now longer on the front lines, kicking butt, especially since he's been lobotomized.
See what I'm talking about? Lame.
The Verdict
Overall, I enjoyed the issue, but it was no where near as good as issue one. I'm loving the Kyle Rayner story as Ultimate Ring-barer, and I want to know how his powers will change. I'm glad that some of these B-List and C-List space characters have a place to call their home, and I loved the art on the splash pages. What I didn't like was the Ultimate Ring-barer costume Kyle wears at the end of the issue, and how every page just seemed dedicated to showing off how cool a character in the book was. Lastly, this issue completely changes the character of a Green Lantern staple, and it was a bummer for me. I recommend the series and issue though.
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