It was only a few issues ago that I was writing of how underrated Tomasi’s contributions to the current Green Lantern arc (from Rebirth through Blackest Night) has been.  And I still hold to that.  But the last two issues seem weaker than his usual fare.  A little hokier than I’d like.  And with less emotional resonance than his writing normally has.  I want to stress they’ve not been terrible; not even bad, really.  But not up to his usual standard.

And comparing this issue to Johns’s Green Lantern issue that also came out this week, it’s…less impactful.  Don’t get me wrong, the Mogo idea is very cool, but everything else seems flat and done before.  Gardener struggles with his green and red side.  Visually, as well as from a writing standpoint, it was a bit overwrought.  In fact, if it weren’t for Mogo’s involvement, this issue would have been one of the most dissapointing since the beginning of Blackest Night.

I hope that ending this particular story will give Tomasi a chance to step it up next issue.  He really has been one of my favorite writers the past couple of years, and while his mediocre writing is still much better than most writers’ best stuff, it’s still dissapointing.