Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath #2 of 2
DC Comics
Bedard, Getty & Smith
The second, and final, oversized, four dollar, crossover epilogue hits with an issue that mostly sets up where all the key characters will land in the relaunch/reboot. On the surface not all that much happens. However, Bedard manages to tell an entertaining story over the course of the twenty-eight page story. With the Corps and the supporting character cast becoming so large in the last few years you can afford to have an issue that mostly deals with internal conflict and Bedard exposes quite a few of these in this good wrap-up issue.
The bulk of the issue deals with how the Green Lanterns deal with the fact that Sinestro has a green power ring and that the Guardians seem to be stalling when it comes to striping him of the ring. Sinestro's daughter, Soranik, is recruited by a group that is willing to take matters into their own hands and execute Sinestro from under the Guardians' noses.
Just leading up to this, Kyle, Guy and some others are taking personal offense that the Guardians are trying to entomb the main enemy of the crossover with the other fallen lanterns. While Krona had been a Guardian it seems like a stretch that he should be honored at the end of his life when he died a bad guy and with having killed so many in the process.
The issue has other conflicts as well, chief among them is the giant elephant in the room: the death of Mogo done by John Stewart. This brings about an interesting question about what is a punishable offense in the eyes of the Guardians. This issue settles some of those questions, but really makes the Guardians look as cold as ever in the process.
The artwork is good but not great. This issue misses the vibrant colors that this line has produced over the years. It isn't bad by any means but the coloring just feels considerably duller than usual. The line work is good as well, but suffers in some of the sequences. The issue doesn't contain a ton of action so the facial expressions are key and I felt the issue varied too greatly from extreme close-ups to distant shots. Overall the visual story is the total package and does enhance the story.
These are the kinds of issues I have missed in the Green Lantern line for it seems like months. The contents of this issue reminded me that not every issue has to have some super threat or major villain to be a good read. If you like your Green Lantern Corps to explore emotional conflicts between each other than this issue is a good one to pick up.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
