Deamentia
pozzyfreak
Ray Hilario
tonyrak
rsg8101
paladinking
DS Arsenault
joelopez101
SoldierHawk
dfstell
jtmazz
Roman Colombo
By Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (penciller), Rebecca Buchman, Tom Nguyen & Patrick Gleason (inkers)
The Story: Red Badge of Rage: Between the cliffhanger of last issue (the death of Kyle Rayner) and the cover of this issue (Guy Gardner becomes a Red Lantern), you have all I can tell you without spoiling.
What’s Good: When Joe Quesada was talking about Civil War (check it out on numerous Marvel podcasts), he said that it was really important to not just kill a whole bunch of fourth rate characters no one cares about. He wanted to kill one or two characters whose death would profoundly affect those left behind. Tomasi and company have done that here. This entire issue is about how characters we care about react to the death of a hero we really liked. This is good, good stuff and I felt (I actually felt) emotion throughout this issue. I felt the pain of Guy and Natu as they huddled over Kyle’s corpse. I felt their frantic grief as they struggled to hold his green lantern ring from going off to find a new bearer. I felt their fear and panic as they warded away the black lantern rings trying to claim Kyle. And I had a choked up high when the cavalry arrived, even though they could not turn the tide. And best of all, the emotions of this story drove the climax in a way that was totally unexpected for me. Tomasi earned his pay on this issue.
What’s Not So Good: I’ve never been a huge fan of Gleason’s style, but I cannot say that he is not a competent artist. Gleason’s art feels a little plastic to me, like the people aren’t actually made of skin, but of something stretched out and without texture. Gleason can do emotions (check out page two, the faces of Natu and Guy), but again, it seems like he’s putting emotions on mannequins. On the plus side, same page, he draws a wicked green lantern ring. In fact, all of his shiny inanimate objects are brilliant. The black lantern ring *looks* like it’s made of something like obsidian: black and shiny and menacing. The central power battery comes off as a huge, soaring structure and that final splash page is freaking awesome!
Conclusion: Green Lantern Corps #43 is a fine book telling the story of a military unit in the middle of the biggest damn war anyone has ever seen. It has both a microscopic emotional feel and a macroscopic epic feel. Pick it up. It’s worth the price of admission!
Grade: B
-DS Arsenault
Filed under: DC Comics, Other | Tagged: Blackest Night, Civil War, Comic Book Reviews, comic books, comic reviews, DC Comics, DS Arsenault, Green Lantern, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corp, Green Lantern Corp #43, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern Corps #43, Green Lantern Corps #43 review, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Rebecca Buchman, Red Badge of Rage, review, Reviews, Tom Nguyen, Weekly Comic Book Review
Uh… hi. I just got into Thor by pickin up the first of J’s Thor volumes so I was wonderin… when I eventually get to Kieron’s run should I keep going even though he is not half the writer J is? I just dont wanna be dissapointed.
Well, it’s hard to judge what with Kieron only having put out one issue thus far, but from what it’s worth, that one issue wasn’t a catastrophe and, barring Kelda, he really does continue on from where JMS left off. Certainly, he’s doing his best to work in the mold/spirit of JMS’ run.
Again though, it’s only been one issue. Though in that one issue, I can’t say there’s been a savage decline and certainly, Billy Tan is putting out the best work of his career.
A lot of it depends though on whether you want to get in with Siege of Asgard. It’s clear that Guillen was brought in to write the Siege tie-ins for Thor.
Also, if you didn’t know, Kieron will be leaving in six issues, to be replaced by Matt Fraction after Siege.
umm….no I did not know that and I cant say I’m happy about it. Matt Fraction ruined Uncanny and I find his writing blockbuster style and lacking depth. I guess I will just have to stay glued to your’re guy’s site to find out how it is,
(Spoiler) The biggest problem I had with this issue is that right away it’s obvious that Kyle’s “death” was just a convincing way to justify Guy getting a red ring. It seems like they were discussing how cool it would be to have a red latern Guy on the cover and then made up a bogus excuse for it to happen. It’s quite apparent that most if not all the Black Lanterns will be returning to life at the end of Blackest Night so I don’t understand why they’d ruin the payoff of his death so soon. I happen to like Kyle so it seemed like they were just playin with me. They have him go out in a heroic moment then they give some good emotional scenes to Guy and Natu then brought him back in under 2 issues. Ruined this issue for me to be honest. Great that he’s not dead but it makes these last two issues seem kinda pointless (other than seeing a bada** red lanter Guy).
Hey Michael: It was quick, but I didn’t see it coming (more the fool me, I suppose), so this issue was a ride for me.
Michael Stone: I don’t have much to say about Fraction on X-Men, but if you wan to see some really, really fine work by Fraction, check out his run on the Immortal Iron Fist with Brubaker. Issues 1-7 of that series really convinced me to come back to comics again.
DSA