Pick of the Week

April 15, 2009 – Green Lantern Corps #35

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

634
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.1
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 51.3%
 
Users who pulled this comic:


Size: pages
Price: 2.99

Disclaimer #1 I couldn’t figure out any witty ways to work in a “U.S. Tax Day” joke in my stack of comics this week, not even Captain America #49. Sorry.

Disclaimer #2 I don’t read 100 Bullets. At least in issues, I’ve read the first trade, maybe I’ll finish it in trades, but I didn’t buy 100 Bullets #100. If you read it, I hope it was mind-blowing and worth it and finally made everything make sense.

Enough with the disclaimers, on to the fun!


I gotta say, that Conor Kilpatrick is one smart guy, I really should listen to him more often. For months now, he’s been telling me that I should be reading Green Lantern Corps and that I was stupid to not be reading Green Lantern Corps. I should have realized that if he was reading it, and it featured Kyle Rayner prominently, it must be great. Conor even got me started with the early trade of the series, which I did read and enjoy, but I still wasn’t motivated enough to dive in. The series was well on its way, in the thirties of issues, and who wants to deal with not knowing what’s going on etc. But then a few things happened.

First, there’s been a lot of discussion around “jumping in” and our advice to all of you to not worry about what’s going on in the comic. Just grab an issue and start reading. If the creators are any good, you won’t need to know who’s who or what’s going on. You’ll get it. So I figured it was high time I took my own advice, and lord knows I’d rather be reading something Green Lantern related than Secret Six or Deadpool.

Second, I’m absolutely in love with the Green Lantern world right now. The “Prelude to Blackest Night” is on and I can’t wait to get to the main event, so given that Green Lantern Corps ties directly into that sure didn’t hurt.

Finally, what sealed the deal was the cover. What a great cover of Sinestro looking menacing. As my local comic store owner, James Sime of Isotope Comics in San Francisco, said, “They’re pretty much just drawing him as Hitler now, aren’t they? (laugh)” Which is totally true — look at the haircut on Sinestro now. Next thing you know, he’s going to trim his mustache to the dreaded Hiter’stache.

So I picked it up on a lark and sat down and read it. Green Lantern Corps #35 is the third part of the “Emerald Eclipse” storyline, of which I have no idea how many parts there are. There are a zillion Green Lanterns, including Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Kilowog and a bunch of others. There’s a Red Lantern, a bunch of Yellow Lanterns, and as my cover promised at the very end, Sinestro. Not bad if you’re jonesing for some more Green Lantern action.

And boy was there action. I have to give Pete Tomasi credit for writing an issue with an insane amount of action occurring in different locations at the same time, and pacing it and revealing it in a manner that was never confusing, never oddly fit, and I never had to flip back after thinking “wait a minute…” because something didn’t compute. A litany of characters who I couldn’t remember easily flowed through their dialogue, making each storyline stand out and stick in an impressive mastering of comic storytelling leaving me super impressed.

What’s so great about this issue is that the action lies mainly in one of those “Shit hits the fan” moments, which of course is required and anticipated in any good action story. In this particular instance, we’re present at Oa, while the Guardians are away with Hal, as a Red Lantern breaks free and starts killing everything in its way, including jailed Yellow Lanterns. You have the jailed Yellow Lanterns rooting him on, until the moment that the captured Yellow Lantern rings overpower their containment and start finding their Lanterns in an epic jailbreak, which leads to the Green Lantern Corps mobilizing, rallying and heading head first into danger. And headfirst indeed in an epic two page spread where artist Patrick Gleason gives us an “Ohhh yeah!” moment, highlighted by Randy Mayor’s colors delivering a slice of green across a field of yellow over a base of red. Totally chilling, totally powerful and totally delivered. And this is just one storyline of the book!

Admittedly, I had a little bit of a harder time following the other storylines as they weren’t as simple and to the point as the main action sequence, but I was able to discern the main facts and ideas and ride with it and fill in the blanks in my head. But the stories of the other pairs of Green Lanterns, Sodam (who apparently has Kyle’s old Ion powers), and Arisia set out to save a planet from more Yellow Lanterns and in the process reunite with Sodam’s father and rally the people of the planet to fight. And finally Ioland and Soranik fight to maintain peace on Korugar, in the shadow of Sinestro, only to, as my cover suggested, have the main man himself arrive looking for his daughter, on an excellent cliffhanger.

Typically I don’t like to reveal the plot events within these reviews, but I did want to illustrate the fact that I was able to comprehend the story with just this one issue. Sure, I have a base knowledge of the Green Lanterns and the ongoing story, like who Sinestro is etc. But I believe the merit of a good single issue of a comic book is whether or not you can pick it up and just run with it and I have to say, I think anyone would be able to with Green Lantern Corps #35. Even after reading this issue, I don’t get the sense or feeling that I have to in order to enjoy Green Lantern, but I can admit that it sure makes hanging out in this world a lot more fun.

Ron Richards
Jump on in! The water’s fine!
ron@ifanboy.com

 

Comments

  1. Wooo!!! We agree on a Pick for this week!!! Totally agree with everything you are saying.

    But your slam on Secret Six and Deadpool? Not cool.

    Still great review man

  2. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Curious symmetry between the POW and BOM cover images…

  3. Seriously, Ron – you should give Deadpool a chance. Just imagine it were written by someone else.

  4. "…and lord knows I’d rather be reading something Green Lantern related than Secret Six or Deadpool."

    Richards!!!!  That was a low blow!

    Anyways, it was indeed a great issue.  It really is a great book for people looking for more Green Lantern action.  If you can, pick up the last issue.  It has an epic fight between Mongul and Arkillo that is just horrifically beautiful.

    Also, Sodom Yat got the Ion power during the last few issues of Sinestro Corps War.

  5. Seriously dudes you guys either critiquing or making fun of a series without reading it is getting annoying….

     

    …..and yes I see the irony in that….

  6. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    They’re not critiquing.  They’re making an informed decision to refrain from reading something (at least in issue) because prior experience with the authors hasn’t been their bag.  Nothing wrong with being a smart consumer.  

  7. @Paul: Saying it once is fine, but banging it over our heads is annoying. We get it, you dont want to read Secret Six and/or Deadpool. Ignore the emails stating for you to read it and move on.

    and again….I see the irony in all this.

  8. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    mm hmm…

  9. Anywhoo….

    Yeah I was looking at the cover for this and he totally looks like Hitler. I mean what is the symbol suppose to be behind him? The Eagle the SS used?

  10. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Gonna be honest.  I picked up Green Lantern Corps about two issues back to discuss on a POW show I guested on (in Ron’s absence actually).  I held my tongue during the discussion for whatever reason.  In general, I really like Tomasi’s writing, but that one didn’t really grab me.  Maybe I’ll jump back on next issue, especially with Blackest Night coming up.  

    I think my personal pick this week was Action Comics.  A lot of people were worried when it was announced that Johns, Frank, and Superman himself were leaving the title. I know I was.  But damn if this isn’t a cool arc. Rucka’s really having fun here.  

  11. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @TNC – Looks intentional, yeah.  The hair and angle of the face make it pretty much certain. But that’s been the direction for the character lately.  

  12. The Secret Six and Deadpool joke was hilarious.  Don’t take it too serious, its in jolly good fun!!

    @Paul-Action Comics was all sorts of awesome.  My pick too.  I’m so glad I stuck with the book.  Its a simple premise, but the creative team delivers on so many levels that it has become my top Superman-related book.  Loved the Kryptonite knife.  I want one.

    Also, I can already hear Ron pronouncing it "corpse" during the upcoming podcast 😉

  13. It’s gonna drive me nuts.

  14. thank the maker for @drakedangerz being able to understand some gentle ribbing 🙂

  15. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    For her pleasure.  

  16. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Josh has been a bad influence.  

  17. gotta say i agree whole heartedly with your statement. i jumped in during the sinestro corp war and gotta say this has me looking forward to Blackest Night. By the way did anybody love the sciencells stuff as much as i did? That and the Sinestro reveal was the best part. Also was the cliffhanger meant to mean that the Kyles girl(the green lantern left breathing in the room) is Sinestro’s daughter?

  18. Hey ron what did you think of the art? Gleason is a hard beast to talk about. One issue (like this one) looks pretty damn impressive. But in others he’s a bit of a mix bag.

  19. i just realized that most of y statement involves me going to the forum,i do apologise.whoops

  20. I have been loving GLC ever since Tomasi came on.  He is the perfect fit for this book, and a great compliment to Johns. Great pick Ron!

  21. Looks like I better get on board for the whole "Blackest Night" Hubaballoa!

  22. This book sold out in my store…. Fuck…. Also Secret Six is a damn good series

  23. @Ron. I’m glad you’re making light of the situation, because it’s gotten a little tense on other parts of the site. I’m also glad that people took it the wrong way. Made this thread pretty entertaining.

     Can’t wait to get my books tomorrow. This issue has me really excited!

  24. Why all the Secret Six hate? I thought it would be right up your alley.

  25. man, all this secret six drama makes me not want to read it now as well. is this the return of the "whiny fables fans" syndrome?

  26. Great pick, can’t wait for the audio show. I think Secret Six was my pick last time. I do think that the 2 Lantern books are some of the tightest written stories around, I’m glad I chose them to be fanboyish too, rather then something like X-Men that runs constantly hot and cold 😉

  27. My LCS owner put this in my stack since I’m reading GL, and I did like it.  It wasn’t POW material (the art was ok, the story was good but not great), but it was one of the better books in my stack.  Which was not overall very good this week.

  28. Nice review.  GLC — and the whole extended crossover Blackest Rainbow Lantern whatever — isn’t really up my alley, but Tomasi & Johns and company are obviously putting a lot of work into this part of the universe, and it’s good to see that rewarded with a devoted following.

    My week was not spectacular, but solid.  "Mysterius" and "Incognito" were the best books I read; I also thought "Captain America" was solid, and "Uncanny X-Men" and "X-Factor" both great stories despite some art problems (I’m pretty much immune to Land by now, but I wonder why X-Factor can’t seem to get the same artist to do a whole issue on a regular basis.  Is that book cursed?)

  29. I’ve been saying it constantly to my friends that read Green Lantern that they should be reading Green Lantern Corps. It’s a great book that compliments the main title well and I do think that there is a lot of story to be missed by no reading it.

  30. Disclaimer #3 – you didn’t read the "All Hail Megatron" book either.

    A lot of people get caught up in the Rage Cat fanfare but I’ll have to agree with @Drakedangerz that I LOVE the GLC box character. You might ask "why?" To which I can only respond that I take great pleasure in seeing a creator run out of ideas, so much so, that he’s willing to turn to geometric shapes for answers.

    Another favorite of mine, The Epcot Center GLC member, is sadly missed. I believe he.. she(?) was killed sometime during the Sinestro War. Also, I must mention my delight in the librarian-esque Sinestro Corps member who sits just above and between Guy and Kilowog on the two page spread with the Red Lantern in the center. How very threatenting she.. he(?) is!

    Yes. This is a good book, but even more so when it ties into the main title.  

  31. Woohoo! Can’t wait to pick up my copy later today. Glad to see GLC getting some love. I have been reading it since Sinestro Corps started and I haven’t looked back.

  32. I think this is and the Superman books are the perfect way to tell interconnected stories. While all of the pieces certainly add to the larger picture they can also be enjoyed on their own.

  33. @FACE-I showed my wife the box lantern and the first thing she asked was "what’s in the box!?!"  To which I answered "Why, it’s ring of course.  Where else would a box keep it?"

     

  34. I’m with Paul in regard to his earlier comments. This was my first issue to jump into and thought it was easily the weakest of the 10 books I picked up this week. I’ve really been liking Tomasi a great deal on Nightwing and The Mighty, but this issue didn’t "grab me," as Paul put it. I think the art was a large detracter, because it really just seemed generic and bland. The actual writing reminded me of the criticism of Kevin Smith’s run on Daredevil in that many pages seemed like a barage of word ballons that were about to busrt from over inflation of words. It was very wordy at parts. After I read it I put it in the pile of comics I build up to sell to used book stores.

    That said, Ron has a talent for selling me with his enthusiasm, so I’ll give it a another read this weekend.

  35. …why *sob*…..why you gotta be hateing on Secret Six man =(

  36. I can’t understand how somebody can not read this book, that in many ways is better than GL, mostly because it’s not written by Johns. Don’t get me wrong, cause Johns is a genius. But the fact that Tomasi – someone not as recognized as Johns (when he really should be, just like Katz and Gates) is making such a fantastic book, can’t be overlooked.

    Long Live the Corps!!!!

     

    BTW, I love Secret Six and Deadpool.

  37. Great pick! I personally chose GIJOE:Cobra above this.

    I’ve been reading the Corps for awhile and have been agreeing with Conor saying that if you’re reading GL you gotta be reading GL Corps. Tomasi was solid on Nightwing and is maintaining here. I’m also really enjoying his new book Mighty.

  38. Ethan Van Sciver confirmed the Hitler thing on Wordballoon right before the Sinestro Corps War began.

    GLC hasn’t been grabbing me with the past few issues, but I keep scanning it to see if it’s worth buying. This issue looks like it is, so it’s on my list and I’ll almost certainly pick it up today.

    All I want to know is, what idiot thought it was a good idea to name a character "Sodom"? If one can’t see why that’s a poor name for a character (even an alien), I must question their intelligence.

  39. @Diabhol-That "idiot" would be Alan Moore

  40. Seems more like a sly joke he got away with rather than ignorance. Granted, it was more clever 25 years ago.

  41. Is it just me, or is Tomasi better at Lantern stuff than Johns. I like Johns overall story, but Tomasi fleshes it out a lot better than Geoff.

    And Deadpool is only bad when they aren’t using him as satire.

    And I like Secret Six…

  42. Too sly for my blood.  I need emoticons to know when something is a joke.  Otherwise I get insulted and make absurd statements

  43. @josh, ron, & conor – i may have to demand that one of you atleast thumb through the artwork of All Hail Megatron #10 if it continues into the weekend with such a high POTW percentage. No worries, though, as I’m sure it will only last until all those who don’t read it and read Cap and GLC instead choose those for POTWs for lack of exposure to the TF book. 

  44. Ugh, I had this in my hands today and didn’t get it because thought a)I may be confused jumping it and b)it will be just another series that I will have to add to my ever growing trades list.  

    Maybe I’ll grab it next week if I have a light week  and my amazon wish list needs really should be an even 10 pages instead of 9.

     

    BTW secret six sucks:-)

  45. Great review. I ended up with Action Comics as my POTW for much the same reasons Paul listed, although it was a pretty light week for me. I need to get into some TF comics. Any suggestions on where to start?

  46. @Rustyautoparts – i can’t say much for the IDW line since I’ve only followed some Spotlights,  Megatron Origin, and All Hail Megatron. While they’ve all been decent, none have blown me away. If I were to suggest anything it’d be Furman’s ‘The War Within’. Mainly because it opens the doors on the Gen1 TF history like no other TF book I’ve seen. Beyond that it’s mostly hit and miss and basically the sort of thing only a committed fan could love.  

    best of luck

  47. @GreenLantern2814:  I agree I’ve liked Tomasi and this series more than Johns on GL.

  48. Everyone reading Green Lantern and not Tomasi’s GLC was blowing it big time.

  49. so about Sinestro appear, he used to have a really big head, right? i imagined he looked like one of the big-headed kids with webbed hands that Karl Pilkington went to school with.

     

  50. I’ve learned to not really care about Art Continuity.Artist who go against it lose points, but they it really doesn’t matter. Look at Salaak’s Head in Recharge.

  51. I agree completely, things subtley evolve through this process.

  52. Sinestro’s head is still somewhat extended. Just not as bobblehead as it was the past.

  53. Wait are we talking about Sinestro or Hector Hammond?

  54. Sinestro.

  55. Now Hector Hammod has a plyable excuse. Now I actually think Sinestro’s Head got less cartoony, seeing as most Artists today like Gleason and Tan draw even the most Bizzar things as Realistic as possible, and seeing as other members of Sinestro Race have regular sized heads, he should too.

  56. yeah, so i finally got my books  this week, anyhow, Sean Phillips’ art made a massive leap in improvement in the latest Incognito issue. it’s back to the greatness of the Lawless arc

  57. was my pick too, love the Green Lantern

Leave a Comment