With a very ugly cover, the start of Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf run on the Corps is already off to a shaky start. I’m confident, however, that this could be the start of a great new take on the group itself. Bedard can certainly handle a cosmic title with his work on R.E.B.E.L.S., and Syaf is quickly becoming a big new artist for DC. So ugly cover aside, how was this new journey?

I liked this quite a bit actually. Although it says issue #48, this does feel like a #1 issue in a lot of ways. New people are introduced, new concepts, and the creative team is trying to feel this universe they are given. So far I think Bedard has quite a good handle on Ganthet and Stewart. I’m loving it that Ganthet is now going to be a regluar Lantern and in the vein of GL/GA comic from the 70’s it could provide a lot of fun. So far Rayner does seem to be a bit off (also visually), but then again I didn’t think much of Tomasi’s take in his run for the guy either. With the end of this issue it looks like we’re finally going to address the Alpha Lantern problem so it’ll be nice to see where Bedard takes these scary creatures.

I’ve been a big fan of Syaf ever since he started on the Batman tie-in for Blackest Night. He’s like a bit of a more sketchy Gary Frank in a way. Lots of detail in each panel but the characters are given more of a ‘loose’ interpretation. He handles the mood well and it can go from upbeat to scary in an instant. There are some wonky moments though, especially with his interpretation of Atrocious. I know Red Lantern spits blood but it looks like he is choking on Kool-Aid. Other then that though, this is a good looking comic in my eyes.

It was a bit of a slow issue in a lot of ways, but I like where Bedard is setting up this series. Some good mysteries brewing and it already looks like a big action peice is going to happen sooner than later. With some consistantly good artwork by Syaf, I think everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. The quality of this title isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.