World Famous Comics: Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Green Lanterns
Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Green Lanterns
By: Geoff Johns Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 176 Publication Date: October 04, 2007 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: October 07, 2008 Studio: DC Comics
How is Hal's Recovery Received by the Corps ^ That is the main question that is answered in this book. The main story is how the GL Corps treats Hal as well as Hal's attempt at redemption by saving the lives of many GLs he thought he had killed as Parallax. There is a side story with Green Arrow that could have been left out and another with Batman to show how he accepts Hal.
I liked the Batman story. It wasn't great but it had amusing parts (especially when Hal stated how he would take down the villain). There was a back-story with the Global Guardians, but it was not fully explored (possibly mentioned in a later book).
The main story was excellent. It was believable. here was this man who single-handedly brought down the Corps. Who betrayed everyone and killed many. Not everyone will be happy with his return (even with the explanation of how he was controlled). Friends died at his hand. It is more believable that Batman would forgive before some in the Corps and Johns explored this.
The only reason for the lack of 5 stars is the unexplored Global Guardians part of the story and the only slightly more mentioned part of the capture by the Russians.
If you are a GL fan it's a no brainer.
A Great Entry Point into Green Lantern ^ This volume collects issues #7-13 of the current Green Lantern comic helmed by Geoff Johns, and is the second book in the series following Green Lantern (Book 1): No Fear (or third, if you slot in the mini-series Green Lantern: Rebirth as the one that re-started it all). Featured artists include Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver and Carlos Pacheco.
As stated in the title, I found this volume to be a great starting point for getting into the current Green Lantern mythos. I had grabbed this on a whim one night off the magazine rack at a video rental store, and was sorely impressed by the material despite not knowing much prior Green Lantern history. This is one of Geoff Johns' strengths as a writer - despite references to heavy continuity, such as Hal Jordan's turn to evil in the 90's Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight & A New Dawn story line, Johns is able to boil history down to its essentials, encapsulate it for the reader, and move on. Where others use simple editors notes (ie. "See Green Lantern Vol. 3 #50) or lengthy dialogue recaps, here quick flashback panels built into the narrative illustrate history by the easiest way to understand it - visually. In other instances, history isn't explained because it's not important to the story - the Black Mercy Plant made famous by the Superman tale "For the Man Who Has Everything" reappears here to great use, but you lose nothing if you've never read the original classic (collected in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore and other places). Similarly, the Black Mercy is only here because villain Mongul stole it in the first chapter of Infinite Crisis, but again that's a tangent that doesn't apply to the story being told.
And yes, "Revenge of the Green Lanterns" arguably works better than "Rebirth" and "No Fear" as a gateway book, mostly because it eliminates the requisite continuity knowledge of the former and raises the stakes much, much higher than the latter. The first two chapters feature the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow team facing Mongul and the Black Mercy, followed by a revealing and often humorous character study as Green Lantern teams up with Batman and mends fences with him. The book then skips ahead One Year Later (a jump followed by all DC titles during that period) with the mission to rescue a group of lost lanterns and confront one of Green Lantern's great enemies. The artwork by Ivan Reis here is especially impressive and beautifully inked and coloured - a precursor to the epic pages of Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1 down the line.
If you haven't gotten into one of the best superhero titles on the market, this volume is an easy and highly recommended place to start. And it only gets better from here.
Much better than volume 1. ^ After hitting the ground running with the miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth, the first volume of the new ongoing series Green Lantern: No Fear took a dive in momentum, following Hal as he tries to move back into his old life. Thankfully the scope of Hal Jordan's adventures has been expanded greatly with this volume. The second half of this volume is especially exciting and relevant: seeing as it addresses the return of the lost lanterns, as well as showing the first calling of a Sinestro Corps Member. Great read!
Johns' Green Lantern IS Green Lantern! ^ Without reading many GL tales not involving the JLA I was worried this story could be lost on me but I was able to pick it up pretty easily and enjoy every page. All three artists were unique but still refined. The last three chapters were worth the cover price alone. Johns knows Hal better what seems possible. Really good stuff!
Great ^ I'm going to keep this review short, sweet, and to the point. If you like the Green Lantern you'll love this. If you love Geoff Johns you'll love this. You might be considering if its worth adding to your shopping cart along with the other items. It is. Read enjoy and buy Sinestro Corps Wars, buy The Green Lantern Corps. Yeah they all add up and money is tight these days but you won't be disappointed. Hell its much cheaper to buy it here on Amazon than at the local comic store so be patient and wait for the box to arrive at your house. Sorry not as short or sweet as I'd wanted but it is to the point.
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