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cbrunner11's review against another edition
4.0
Reviewed first at Brunner's Bookshelf
For years I have been a huge fan of Green Lantern and the Corps. These series have had some of the best story lines, and battles I have seen in a comic book. When Geoff Johns took over the writing on the Green Lantern series I was thrilled. He quickly became one of my favorite Comic book authors and I read every book I could get my hands on no matter who was the hero. I have followed his amazing story lines with Green Lantern until his term ended. Now the reins have been passed and Robert Venditti took over the future of Hal Jordan. I was nervous at first because I have never read his stuff and I knew I would constantly compare him to the genius of Geoff Johns. On top of that, the previous story lines for GL have been so strong I was afraid this was going to derail the whole thing.
I was pleasantly surprised. I liked this story and there was a lot of hard decisions that Hal Jordan had to make. There was more emotional depth to Hal's character in this book and I enjoyed that. Hal has been made the Leader of the Green Lantern Corps while the new Guardians are off tending to some secret mission of their own. For anyone who has ever read these books knows that Hal is not a leader or a team player. He does his own thing and doesn’t care who he runs over in the process. It was interesting to see Hal grow as a character and fit into that roll of leader throughout the story. This starts off with a glimpse into the future and the central power battery has been put out. A being known as Relic has found his way to our universe and his goal is to find the source of the emotional spectrum and refill it since his universe was lost when the source dried up.
The creation story told by Relic states that, at least in his universe, The different colors of the emotional spectrum were harnessed by a single being for each color. These were called Lightsmiths and they controlled emotions similar to those held by the different corps of our universe. They wielded their energy through a weapon they held instead of a ring. This story tells us that the energy that the rings wield is not as limitless as we thought. There is an end to the amount of energy and it seems that that end is dangerously near.
I liked this quite a bit but there are a few things that I am not particularly happy with how they do the collected Graphic novels. The biggest problem I have is the fact that there are so many Green lantern titles that you miss big portions of the story. If all you read if this volume you will be missing out on a lot of, what I feel is important information. There are big holes and this book was the worst offender. I won’t get into details but at one point there is a shocking reveal and I had to re-read to make sure I missed something. The story goes along fine and then there is whole events missing that we are just supposed to know about. I will read the other titles as well but with the giant gaps in this plot because it switches from one series to the next and then back again I was a little lost. To add to that since it switches back and forth I now have spoiled this event when it happens in the other series because I already know what happens next. Years ago DC had said that they wanted to stray away from the big crossover events and Infinite crisis was going to be the last that encompassed all of the DC heroes. It seems they have held true to not making big stories with all the DC Universe but they still do big stories in each individual character line. Batman has story lines that are pieced together through all of the BatFamily books and Green Lantern has a bunch of series that piece together a greater story. If I was still buying monthly comics of all of them this wouldn’t be an issue but now I am sticking with Graphic novels so I tend to miss out on things.
Now that I have ranted about what irked me about this I must say again that I liked this book. I do need and want to fill those gaps this book creates in the story. I plan to as soon as I can, I will be on the waitlist at the library soon. The art work was really good as well and I enjoyed every bit of it. I will give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded to 4
For years I have been a huge fan of Green Lantern and the Corps. These series have had some of the best story lines, and battles I have seen in a comic book. When Geoff Johns took over the writing on the Green Lantern series I was thrilled. He quickly became one of my favorite Comic book authors and I read every book I could get my hands on no matter who was the hero. I have followed his amazing story lines with Green Lantern until his term ended. Now the reins have been passed and Robert Venditti took over the future of Hal Jordan. I was nervous at first because I have never read his stuff and I knew I would constantly compare him to the genius of Geoff Johns. On top of that, the previous story lines for GL have been so strong I was afraid this was going to derail the whole thing.
I was pleasantly surprised. I liked this story and there was a lot of hard decisions that Hal Jordan had to make. There was more emotional depth to Hal's character in this book and I enjoyed that. Hal has been made the Leader of the Green Lantern Corps while the new Guardians are off tending to some secret mission of their own. For anyone who has ever read these books knows that Hal is not a leader or a team player. He does his own thing and doesn’t care who he runs over in the process. It was interesting to see Hal grow as a character and fit into that roll of leader throughout the story. This starts off with a glimpse into the future and the central power battery has been put out. A being known as Relic has found his way to our universe and his goal is to find the source of the emotional spectrum and refill it since his universe was lost when the source dried up.
The creation story told by Relic states that, at least in his universe, The different colors of the emotional spectrum were harnessed by a single being for each color. These were called Lightsmiths and they controlled emotions similar to those held by the different corps of our universe. They wielded their energy through a weapon they held instead of a ring. This story tells us that the energy that the rings wield is not as limitless as we thought. There is an end to the amount of energy and it seems that that end is dangerously near.
I liked this quite a bit but there are a few things that I am not particularly happy with how they do the collected Graphic novels. The biggest problem I have is the fact that there are so many Green lantern titles that you miss big portions of the story. If all you read if this volume you will be missing out on a lot of, what I feel is important information. There are big holes and this book was the worst offender. I won’t get into details but at one point there is a shocking reveal and I had to re-read to make sure I missed something. The story goes along fine and then there is whole events missing that we are just supposed to know about. I will read the other titles as well but with the giant gaps in this plot because it switches from one series to the next and then back again I was a little lost. To add to that since it switches back and forth I now have spoiled this event when it happens in the other series because I already know what happens next. Years ago DC had said that they wanted to stray away from the big crossover events and Infinite crisis was going to be the last that encompassed all of the DC heroes. It seems they have held true to not making big stories with all the DC Universe but they still do big stories in each individual character line. Batman has story lines that are pieced together through all of the BatFamily books and Green Lantern has a bunch of series that piece together a greater story. If I was still buying monthly comics of all of them this wouldn’t be an issue but now I am sticking with Graphic novels so I tend to miss out on things.
Now that I have ranted about what irked me about this I must say again that I liked this book. I do need and want to fill those gaps this book creates in the story. I plan to as soon as I can, I will be on the waitlist at the library soon. The art work was really good as well and I enjoyed every bit of it. I will give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded to 4
foolish_shane's review against another edition
3.0
This was overlapping with the Lights Out event. It was okay, but Hal Jordan is really annoying. Still some exciting stuff going on and a new beginning.
bioniclib's review against another edition
4.0
A quick hit review:
The cyclical existence draining of the Emotional Spectrum by what was called "light weavers" speaks to my beliefs in Karma. I really liked Relic and the different take on the ring bearers.
I hadn't been keeping up with the series and was looking for stories on Blue Lanterns, which brought me to this volume. That also meant I had no idea that Guy joined the Red Lanterns. I liked that twist though.
Two things I didn't like were Kyle's White Lantern Costume and how much of a jerk Hal is in this story.
The cyclical existence draining of the Emotional Spectrum by what was called "light weavers" speaks to my beliefs in Karma. I really liked Relic and the different take on the ring bearers.
Spoiler
I also liked how some Green Lanterns vowed to stop using their rings when they found out using the rings drains The Emotional Spectrum's Reservoir and thus brings about the end of the universe.I hadn't been keeping up with the series and was looking for stories on Blue Lanterns, which brought me to this volume. That also meant I had no idea that Guy joined the Red Lanterns. I liked that twist though.
Two things I didn't like were Kyle's White Lantern Costume and how much of a jerk Hal is in this story.
tmwebb3's review against another edition
3.0
2.5*. Not terrible, but not sure about how Hal and Carol acted.
rhganci's review against another edition
2.0
(2.5 stars) It looks like the reboot has finally hit the Green Lantern corner of the New 52, and that reboot, 20 issues tardy, hits very, very hard. Somehow the stakes seem impossibly large and totally game-changing, while at the same time moving so fast--these eight issues are paced with such hurry that none of the huge elements that Venditti puts into play seem particularly well-developed.
Basically, we have a series of plot strands converging to create a new mission for the Green Lantern corps: an ancient villain, a visit to the Source Wall (a familiar element of Green Lantern lore that is always super cool), and a huge, game-changing revelation that will affect all of the lantern corps throughout the galaxy. While those elements all converge at the end of the volume with a solid tease that there is yet something even bigger going on, the story rushes through all of the details, dutifully dropped one after another, to get us to the new conflict. This pacing is really a detraction from the whole volume, because rather than getting a chance to experience and understand--and thereby to react--to these new stakes, we process them intellectually, adopt the concept and then move immediately on to the next piece of the puzzle. While I understood what was happening, I found myself struggling to care about it, and by the end of the volume I had the sense that whatever these changes will bring to the Green Lantern storyline would be kind of a bad idea.
The art is very goodlooking, if uneven at times, but Tan's pencils are detailed and sharp, and thanks to great colors the constructs--lots of machine guns, food platters, chainsaws, fists, axes, and trains--look excellent. The combat sequences are easy to follow and have a lot of interesting dimensions, and a lot of the space travel bits are done with a lot detail in the cosmos itself. The scenes at and around the Source Wall are, as they should be, the best of the volume.
I'll be interested to see where all of this goes, if there's a plan to backtrack for the sake of drama and lore, and what the big plan is for all of this. It's really the future of the whole Green Lantern universe at stake now, rather than a group of characters within a single circumstance, and for me that's where the suspense lies. There's a lot to process here, and as such reading this volume feels a bit more like work than comics should. Where the Green Lanterns go from here will ultimately decide how effective, or lasting, the changes represented here will be.
Basically, we have a series of plot strands converging to create a new mission for the Green Lantern corps: an ancient villain, a visit to the Source Wall (a familiar element of Green Lantern lore that is always super cool), and a huge, game-changing revelation that will affect all of the lantern corps throughout the galaxy. While those elements all converge at the end of the volume with a solid tease that there is yet something even bigger going on, the story rushes through all of the details, dutifully dropped one after another, to get us to the new conflict. This pacing is really a detraction from the whole volume, because rather than getting a chance to experience and understand--and thereby to react--to these new stakes, we process them intellectually, adopt the concept and then move immediately on to the next piece of the puzzle. While I understood what was happening, I found myself struggling to care about it, and by the end of the volume I had the sense that whatever these changes will bring to the Green Lantern storyline would be kind of a bad idea.
The art is very goodlooking, if uneven at times, but Tan's pencils are detailed and sharp, and thanks to great colors the constructs--lots of machine guns, food platters, chainsaws, fists, axes, and trains--look excellent. The combat sequences are easy to follow and have a lot of interesting dimensions, and a lot of the space travel bits are done with a lot detail in the cosmos itself. The scenes at and around the Source Wall are, as they should be, the best of the volume.
I'll be interested to see where all of this goes, if there's a plan to backtrack for the sake of drama and lore, and what the big plan is for all of this. It's really the future of the whole Green Lantern universe at stake now, rather than a group of characters within a single circumstance, and for me that's where the suspense lies. There's a lot to process here, and as such reading this volume feels a bit more like work than comics should. Where the Green Lanterns go from here will ultimately decide how effective, or lasting, the changes represented here will be.
greatnate008's review
4.0
Hmmm. This book introduces an interesting problem the Lanterns have to deal with. Good story.
calistareads's review
2.0
I kind of lost interest in this story and it took me time to finish it. Or, maybe I simply need a break from reading every night.
Still, I found this story a little on the tedious side. There is a conclusion to the Lanterns war with Relic and it doesn’t make sense to me. How can light drain. I don’t get it. I guess it’s best to not think too much about it. It was interesting to see the different colors together. Still, I wasn’t really excited about this and I feel like going on will be a chore more than I want to read it. I already got book 5 so I have to give it a go. I’m just not that into this story right now.
I did really enjoy the White Lantern. He was pretty cool. I hope he comes back.
Still, I found this story a little on the tedious side. There is a conclusion to the Lanterns war with Relic and it doesn’t make sense to me. How can light drain. I don’t get it. I guess it’s best to not think too much about it. It was interesting to see the different colors together. Still, I wasn’t really excited about this and I feel like going on will be a chore more than I want to read it. I already got book 5 so I have to give it a go. I’m just not that into this story right now.
I did really enjoy the White Lantern. He was pretty cool. I hope he comes back.
birdmanseven's review
4.0
This includes some Lights Out issues that don't really make sense without the full story, so make sure you read that whole trade too. The collection is handy because it grabs the smaller stories around that arc. I like the Green Lantern story is going and it's interesting to see Hal take on the elder position.
hobbes199's review
4.0
Loved it, and it made me want to track down the previous volumes.
Full review here: http://moodycowcooksandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-good-average-and-aquaman-weekend.html
Full review here: http://moodycowcooksandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-good-average-and-aquaman-weekend.html