By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Fernando Pasarin (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)
The Story: Here’s a natural resources shortage solution for you: just steal ‘em.
The Review: While the main Green Lantern title offers an epic scope to its tales, Green Lantern Corps shows how even the nitty-gritty grind of a Lantern’s daily routine can have an excitement all its own. These cops stretch their beat across an entire sector of the universe. When they get called to duty, it usually means a pretty major threat is going down compared to the, say, grim but still small-scale skirmishes between Batman and his rogue-of-the-night.
So how exactly does a Lantern, or even a group of Lanterns, handle a force that can plunder an entire world of its most precious resource? Well, they don’t do it by being wimps, that’s for sure. While our human corpsmen have received the lion’s share of attention, this issue shows just how competent and hardcore any of the alien Lanterns can be.
If you want to make a guess on who’ll break out as a star in this series, I suggest you place your bet on raptor Lantern Isamot. His rage upon finding two of his former comrades brutally murdered rivals that of Guy at his blood-spewing worst, but he doesn’t let it cloud his tactical choices in battle. You’d think his first instinct would be to lay into the strike force of the same warriors who took down his friends, but Isamot has enough foresight to fly headfirst into the warp gate and detonate it, preventing others from coming through.
Another intriguing member of the team that accompanies John and Guy on their investigation is Sheriff Mardin, who, despite her rave ensemble, demonstrates a pragmatic, but nonetheless passionate sense of justice. She may practice coolness in scoping her fallen peers’ bodies for evidence, but don’t take her for emotionless: “We should leave this horrific site as a reminder…so when we bring the bastards to justice we’ll make them do the burying.”
As much faith as want to place in this formidable party of space cops—Isamot loses all four of his limbs (“‘Tis but a scratch!”) and still comes flying by placing his ring on his extended tongue—don’t take the enemy lightly. These guys can face the full brunt of Guy and John’s energy blast without flinching and, lest you forget, steal en masse an entire planet’s resource, be it fresh water or an entire race of aliens who can create a livable atmosphere with their breath.
Tomasi expertly lays down a few mysteries, the most obvious being how these foes’ planet became such a waste world in the first place, why they specifically target Lanterns, and if the answers to both are connected (which, of course, they are). You also have to question how they can demonstrate so much resistance to Lantern attacks, and how an entire army of them can be overcome if it takes a team of top-notch GLs to defeat just a handful.
I have little doubt that when the end of the year “Best” lists come out, Pasarin will be nominated to appear on at least one of them for his art. His rich, full-bodied work carries incredible depth, made more so by Hanna’s inks and Eltaeb’s slick coloring. On top of Pasarin’s magnificent action sequences, anyone who can give such range of emotion to a dinosaur face deserves notice.
Conclusion: This issue proves that the Corps is where all the action’s at, delivering outstanding character work and terrific art besides.
Grade: A-
-Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Man, oh man. A Green Lantern raptor with two large energy blasters in either hand. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
Grade
Conclusion