Green, Blue and Gold
I ain't gonna lie: this issue is a slight disappointment after last issue.
Century 25: Love in the Time of Apocalypse doesn't open with either a date or location, so it can only be assumed - and we all know what happens to one when one assumes - that it is 2425, and the Metropolis headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. Supergirl Blue is in love with Green Lantern Ator. Unfortunately for her, he will not openly profess his love for her, maybe because of the age difference. She's somewhere over 400 years old, but with the appearance and maturity level of a teenager due to Luthor's EMP blast. By comparison, Ator is a real teenager at 50. Lara and Ator are having their debate in front of four fellow lanterns.
J'onn J'onzz summons Knightwing Superman and Supergirl Red to Mars to alert them of a disturbance in The Force - er, a sense that he is getting of a voice screaming across the universe.
Luthor escapes from being imprisoned - again - and rampages across Metropolis to the - shocker! - Superman museum.
Across the galaxy, onboard their space station, the four figures that transported the casket a couple issues back turn out to be Desaad, Granny Goodness, Kanto and Virmin Vundabar. The casket holds Darkseid. Vundabar releases Darkseid, who doesn't look all that great after a couple hundred years of being dead.
Supergirl Blue tracks down Batman at Wayne Manor, and enlists his help in finding some Gold Kryptonite. She plans to use it so that she will age normally, so she and Ator can be together.
At the Superman Museum, the Green Lanterns help Metropolis PD against Luthor, who has uploaded his intellect into the computer system and is now spread across the city. He's become a new Brainiac. His next move is to unleash an atomic bomb, killing the Green Lanterns. Including Ator. His dying wish is that Lara use her super powers to rescue him.
The Good ~
It is really good to finally see J'onn J'onzz!
The Bad ~
Wow, this issue is predictible. It's obvious that Lara and Ator's romance is doomed. He won't admit how he feels for her. My gut tells me from the moment she goes looking for Gold Kryptonite, something bad will happen next. Sure enough, Lara gives up her powers and can't rescue Ator, so she can only stand by and watch him die pretty much at the hands of Luthor. Like her granfather before her.
This is another issue that Superman is MIA. What's up with that?
Luthor's over-exposure continues. Conveniently, he reappears and goes on a destructive rampage at the Superman Museum. A few hundred years after detonating an EMP pulse, he manages to quickly assemble an atomic bomb
This issue also feels a little dated, considering what's been going on in Green Lantern lately with all the different spectrums. I know this is an Elseworlds story arc; but I have a hard time seeing this universe without characters like Shazam, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, Aquaman, Batman Beyond and Blue Lanterns. There's no Huntress, or Batwoman or Catwoman here either.
The Ugly ~
This issue is 22 pages with ten pages of house ads. Back to back
The Skinny ~
Out of six issues so far, the first issue and the fifth issue have really been pretty good. Two out of four is not good. Byrne has done really well with shorter stories that with full issues that should fit together to build an arc. The next six issues really have to resolve the story. This could have been a six or eight issue mini-series rather than twelve issues. It just feels like there is nothing left for a Generations IV. It would be a shame if this was how Byrne wrapped up this universe.