Comic Books

GREEN LANTERN #50

BLACKEST NIGHT spreads with an oversized anniversary issue! Surrounded by friends and enemies, Hal Jordan goes into battle with a being he will never defeat – the Black Lantern Spectre! Can Saint Walker, Sinestro and the others put a stop to this bizarre Spectre rebirth?

Plus, Atrocitus reveals a tie to a power that may make him the most unbeatable of all the Lanterns!

Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy
Variant cover by Jim Lee
Sketch Variant cover by Doug Mahnke

Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 6.7%

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FraggleUprising01/27/10YesRead Review
TheNextChampion01/27/10YesRead Review
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Avg Rating: 4.5
 
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Comments

  1. Hey look, it’s ParallWHAT!

  2. Would this be a good issue to jump onto? Im reading all of the main blackest night titles and I really want to start reading Green Lantern

  3. @mrowland90 – You shouldn’t have any trouble keeping up since you have been reading the main BN issues.  Jump in.

  4. Nice, as if my week wasn’t already expensive but it’s Green Lantern!

  5. My prediction?  The "Rainbow Rodeo" ends up having to become Parallax/Ion/Predator/the red, orange, blue, and indigo equivalents in order to take on Nekron.

  6. What’s a good place to start with Green Lantern?

     

     

     

     

    … is that still funny? I can’t tell anymore.

  7. @JJ-Nope. No longer funny. Nice try though 😉

  8. Doug Mahnke is going to be at my LCS, Hot Comics in New Hope MN, this week to do a signing. It’s going to be awesome.  

  9. I really would have liked a homage cover to GL #50, but I’ll take a homage in spirit. 😉 So excited for this. 

  10. I’m so excited for this issue!!! Or any issue of Green Lantern for that matter. I can’t wait until March!!!

  11. Now if I get the Phantom Stranger one shot in time…..Should I read that before this? Cause I hear the Spectre is a big factor in that one shot.

    But yes, Mahnke is back! This is gonna be a good issue, I can feel it in my bones.

  12. @TheNextChampion – I don’t think it’s necessary to read the tie in first, but it seems to sort of set up GL #50, so yeah, read it first.  The Spectre isn’t really the focus of the issue however…

  13. I think I’ll start telling people that this is, definitively, absolutely, NOT a good place to start.  in fact, the only way to truly get a feel for Green Lantern is to start at Showcase #22.  otherwise, you’ll be completely lost.  while you’re at it, might want to get some Alan Scott stuff as well.  you never know when a minute Golden Age plot detail might become the crux to Blackest Night.  DON’T JUMP IN HERE!

  14. @JJ; drakes is just too cool for school. it’s funny

  15. I think it is safe to say that everyone on this site is easily too cool for school.  Let’s not play favorites.

    On a side (and much more relevant) note, I really like @Slockhart’s theory about the entities that represent each of the colors.  That would be interesting.  Can you contain them once you unleash them? 

  16. School is for suckers, so drakes don’t go.

  17. UPDATE! Along with Doug Mahnke; Patrick Gleason and Tom Nguyen are going to be at Hot Comics in New Hope MN tomorrow!

  18. @drake "Daddy I don’t wonna go to school Cause the teacher’s a jerk!", he must think I’m a fool 

  19. To me this issue was like a great TV episode I can’t wait to read/watch the next one to see how are heros get through this mess!

  20. SPOILERS

    All this Parallax/Spectre stuff puts me to sleep.  It feels too repetitive. I’m also not overly fond of the way personalities change after receiving a ring.  The swing (especially for Mera) feels too extreme.

  21. Fantastic issue! POTW for me!

    Everything about was just pure perfect comic book. Mahnke has become one of my favorite artists and the splash pages he does here are just gorgeous. Can’t think of a single thing wrong with this.

  22. Woohoo! Good stuff!

  23. Very cool.

  24. This issue was full of win. This is why I love Hal. This is why I love Sinestro. This is why I love Barry. Johns gets it. He just does. And it all just… works. The little character moments were nice touches. Scarecrow being able to FEEL fear was amazing. There are some awesome scenes throughout. However, the real prize of the issue belongs to Doug Mahnke. This man was firing on all cylinders here. From the wonderful double-page spread to start the issue to the last double page spread, the art was breathtaking and fully realized. 5/5 and my POTW. I enjoyed this issue so much… energy in comic form.  
     
    *SPOILER* I don’t even envy the colorist’s job on the Parralax-dragon double page spread!
     
    @stuclach She was quite angry in the First issue when the Black Lanterns took over Arthur, having him taunting her with their dead child would probably piss most people off to the point of spewing. 😉 As well, her son was killed by Black manta, she probably was quite angry at seeing Aquaman (the reason the son was killed) holding the son up to try and get to her. I don’t really see it as out of character, though I’m most likely more familiar with the character than most.
  25. @PraxJarvin – I’m glad you liked the issue.  I understand that she would be angry, but "I never wanted children" and "and then we kill the king" don’t seem to fit with the levelheaded Mira we saw in the first few issues of BN (that being my only exposure to the character).  I agree that the Scarecrow scenes were pretty cool.  And I certainly can’t argue with the quality of the art.

  26. @stuclach I get what you’re saying, and agree to an extent. But here, her rage felt more… directed and personal – more real than it does with the asinine "SMASHY SMASHY! KILL! KILL!" that Guy Gardner is exhibiting over in GLC. Indeed, the little moment where Atrocitus goes "I have nothing else to say but ‘Welcome.’" is evidence that he finds her rage amusing because it’s similar to his, it’s directed at a few, specific entities. It’s not blanket. All that said, if it doesn’t work for you, it never will and I admit it can be seen as out of character.

  27. Some of the most georgeous and fitting art that one could ask for.  Mahnke’s sense of horror and fitting details really made me enjoy every page of this book.  Well done!

  28. I just liked the symmetry of Hal Jordan becoming Parallax in Green Lantern 50 for the second time. He became Parallax in Green Lantern 50 the first time too. Verrrrry Clever.

  29. Artwork fantastic!
    Story though . . . it’s getting a bit too much.
    Are they fighting Nekron, Spectre, Black Lanterns?
    Just seems to be going in too many directions at once.
    It also seems like months since we saw Nekron emerge – because it was months ago . . . what’s he been doing all this time?

  30. Oh man. This was astounding. My enthusiasm for this title is fully renewed. And Mahnke can stick around a while and I wouldn’t complain.

  31. @Arrrggghhh although it’s been a few months worth of issues for us, it’s really only a very short period of story-time–I’d say well under an hour.

  32. My POW, especially enjoyed Scarecrow’s scenes

     

  33. "I never wanted children!" LOL

  34. Ho.

    Lee.

    Crap. 

  35. @arrrgggh: Yeah it’s been a short time in DCU’s frame. It is a bit annoying that the main baddy has been shown very little in months time. But hopefully the last couple of issues he is the main focus.

  36. I bought Action Comics #775 by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke on Josh’s recommendation in the iFanboy mini 133 and the art in that was amazing. That was from 2001 and he way kicks more ass now that he did then.

  37. There were some nitpicks for me. Scarecrow used basically only one construct, crows. Some potential wasted. It was a little expositiony in parts but I’m kind of a fan of that myself. Don’t care for Mahnke’s close-ups of Hal.

    Just little things…
  38. @JJ-Well, Sinestro did tell him to quit dicking around and help him. After that, he started to shape up. And sometimes Hal did indeed look a bit off in the closeups.

  39. I’m a little disappointed. The cover gave it all away, and so the story was just a drag. I think covers that spoil the cliff hanger are worse than generic pose covers.

    For a 50th issue I’ve come to expect more. Entertaining, but anti-climatic.

  40. @Deake: Hmm, that’s true. Interesting.

    @Zeppo: Yeah, it sort of ruined the surprise.

  41. man, if anyone thought Cap Reborn felt like the Power Rangers…

    joking aside, this doesn’t feel like it’s coming to an end.  there are only three more key issues to the story, I suppose that should be enough.  I just don’t get what happens after defeating Spectre, why is he such a key factor all of a sudden?  so much so that Hal has to take such a diversion as becoming Parallax again?  maybe there’s something I’m missing here. 

  42. @birdseyesview There’s no upper limit of Spectre’s powers. He’s a half-step down from god, essentially. So… Nekron having the Spirit of Vengeance at his beck and call is not a good thing. 

  43. so Spectre is the final Koopa-Kid before King Koopa himself?

  44. @abirdseysview-nice reference.

  45. @TNC : I just think Johns is making Nekron very special by not making him appear all the time.

    @Daflash00 : Maybe that explains last issue being a filler. 

  46. @Nathan: Well if that is his plan, then I imagine the next time we see Nekron it will be badass. But as of right now it still is weird to barely see any glimpse of your ultimate baddie.

  47. I like your brain so much, dude.

  48. I wanna rate this 5/5 for the art alone, but the whole Blackest Night has kinda become more of a series of "OH shit!" splash/pages & moments, one after another, more than an actual story. You could probably summarise the story of the whole event in 2 or 3 sentences.

    Still, it’s good fun & SICK art in this issue. Up there with the best single issues I’ve seen from Mahnke. 

  49. @TNC: one thing Johns has is patience, bro. All of his planted seeds are well thought out. They ruined Galactus with over exposure.

  50. I loved this issue. Did anyone else got like a Dragon Ball Z feel about it.

  51. @Simon : yep. Sinestro is Vegetta.

  52. 2 observations:

    1) Luthor just has to kill Larfleeze. 

    2) Wouldn’t it have been great if Luthor got to Parallax first?

  53. Ifanbase, what was that one dude trying to get from beloved Lex Luthor?

  54. @Aalbatr0ss – I’m with you. I think Luthor is going to kill Larfleeze… which wouldn’t bother me. 

    @Simon and @NathanNicdao – agreed. 

  55. @nathanNicdao Larfleaze was trying to take back Luthor’s Orange Lantern ring because he doesn’t want to share his power.

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