Atrocitus has chosen the next Red Lantern to have full intelligence, Bleez. How will this affect the Corps and what is the next plan?
The Good
Ed Benes is doing a great job on this series with the art. The opening page, with Bleez sinking in the liquids of Ysmault. Bleez has a great expression of terror mixed with rage on her face, and the details look stunning.
What's best about Benes' art on this issue is how he draws Atrocitus. There's a lot of great detail, especially within the face, and it always looks like he's deep in thought... and angry.
Aside from the awkwardly sexy cover, we delve into Bleez's history and find out what makes her so darned angry. Because of this, we get some great "fight" (more like murdering) scenes of Bleez taking out her aggression on some old "friends."
Bleez and Atrocitus are on thin ice with each other, and it's building a better, and more unstable group dynamic for this book. Bleez doesn't really want to follow the orders of Atrocitus, and Atrocitus really only has his own force to make her listen. We get to a point, in this book, where it seems like Atrocitus really doesn't lead anymore... He's merely a member of his own Corps.
The Bad
This issue felt long and tedious. It could have been summed up in half the time.
While we're slowly making our way to what the Red Lantern Corps will eventually become, we keep getting glimpses to a human on Earth. As a reader, you'll get to a point where you'll be screaming "MAKE HIM A RED LANTERN ALREADY!" It breaks the flow of the book completely.
I wish they'd get to a mission. Even though it's issue #3, I feel like we're stuck in this rebuilding mode, and frankly, I'm getting incredibly impatient. I want to see these guys fight, and not just each other.
The Verdict
This issue is straddling between a 3 and 4 for me. Ed Benes' art has been the driving force of this book, especially with the great splash pages he has. We get to know Bleez a little better in an interesting little flashback, and I like the dynamic between these two characters. However, this issue felt like it could have been half the length, and I'm getting impatient with where the book is supposedly going. Lastly, just make the human a Red Lantern already. All things said, I recommend this issue.