Craig’s Pick of the Week: Green Lantern #65 Review

Green Lantern #65

Story by Geoff Johns

Art by Doug Mahnke

For a while it felt like the Green Lantern comics had been treading water. After the Sinestro Corps War, excitement for the character and the universe had been as high as it had ever been. Then Blackest Night happened, which was ultimately disappointing because it was too big. Regardless, Geoff Johns had completed his Green Lantern trilogy, the same one he started all the way back in 2004 with Green Lantern: Rebirth. Most people would leave a title after they finished what they had set out to do but Johns stayed because he still loved the characters and wanted to continue telling stories with them. Is he going to be able to top what has gone before? Perhaps not, but he is still telling consistently entertaining stories and this issue was no exception.

Green Lantern #65 is part four in the “War of the Green Lanterns” story currently underway in both this title and its sister-title, Green Lantern Corps. Krona, an old-school villain revamped by Johns, has attacked Oa, returned Parallax to the power battery and restored the yellow impurity, and taken control of the Green Lantern Corps. While Kilowog tries to hold out against Krona’s torture, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner try to find a way to Oa without using their rings. They do this by utilizing a spaceship Gardner has had built using Manhunter technology. Upon entering Oa’s atmosphere, they are immediately attacked by Kilowog and the rest of the Green Lanterns now under Krona’s control. They manage to reunite with John Stewart and Kyle Rayner, who have also removed their rings. Jordan’s plan to defeat Krona and reclaim Oa is for each of them to wear one of the other coloured power rings. Jordan picks yellow (fear), Gardner picks red (rage) because he doesn’t want to wear a thong if he picks violet (love), Stewart picks orange (greed) but Jordan makes him wear indigo (compassion), and Rayner picks blue (hope). The issue ends with the four announcing that it’s time to “beware our power.”

My main problem with Blackest Night (aside from the ridiculous number of tie-in mini-series’) was that it took a great premise (characters returning from the grave to become Black Lanterns) and ended up becoming an excuse for a bunch of characters to become various Lanterns. Johns seems to like having the characters interact with different colours (Jordan has almost worn every coloured ring) but in this story it actually makes sense: Jordan and the other three cannot use their Green Lantern rings because they no longer have control over them. Jordan has the rings from the other coloured Lanterns, so why not use them to defeat Krona? My only problem with this issue is to do with the characters’ selection of rings. I understand why Jordan wouldn’t want Stewart wearing an orange ring, but why indigo? To be honest, Stewart is so underused in the Green Lantern comics it’s hard to imagine any particular colour being well suited for him. He is unfortunately the one blank face of the comic; he just remains in the background and goes along with everyone else. I hope Johns uses Stewart becoming an Indigo Lantern to develop the character a bit more in the next few issues.

Doug Mahnke’s artwork continues to be the highlight of this comic. Whether you like Geoff Johns or not, you have to admit that Mahnke is just a great artist. He’s perfectly adept at both subtle character work and big action scenes in space. Green Lantern is definitely one of the most visually striking comics coming out each month, particularly due to Randy Mayor’s beautiful colouring.

I haven’t been reading Green Lantern Corps (one Green Lantern title is enough for me) so I’ve only been getting half of the “War of the Green Lanterns” story. While I do understand that I am missing out on a few things, most of the issue is fairly accessible and it’s easy to pick up on what has happened previously and what is happening now. While a lot of people have been disappointed with Green Lantern since Blackest Night, one must realise that Johns’ trilogy is over and it’s time to just enjoy one of the most entertaining comics currently being published.

Story: 4/5

Art: 5/5

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