World Famous Comics: Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
By: Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: June 21, 2006 Release Date: June 21, 2006
Sci-fi goodness; get your fix! The idea of the Green Lantern Corps is one of the genuinely genius concepts in the DC universe, and Green Lantern Corps: Recharge, mostly achieves success at exploring it to it's fullest potential. Superficially similar in nature to the Jedi Knights of Star Wars, the Green Lantern Corps are essentially space police, and their tales chronicle the exploits of sentient representatives from various solar systems around the galaxy, given immensely powerful rings that are powered by will (instead of lightsabers).
This trade paperback collects the mini-series that relaunched the concept at DC comics after it had been allowed to die for a period, and is a fun, action filled, epic, sci-fi, generally exciting story that will make anyone who's interested in science fiction, space, aliens, and who also likes large casts, a happy reader.
The writing here is very tight, with well realized characters who are distinct from each other, and with plots for each chapter that move briskly along and waste little time on exposition. The character of Dr. Soranik Natu is one of the most interesting new additions to the Corps and the DCU in recent years. Johns and Gibbons make a good team here, with an interesting plot involving the Spider-Guild, although the end is a little too convenient and stretches credibility more than necessary, given how grounded the rest of the story seems, ironically enough, though set against the fantastic background of space. Both writers give the Corps some nice touches/flourishes/details, which help cement the world they're trying to build. Although they don't discuss the science of the rings, (which I find unfortunate and a missed opportunity), the rings are almost characters in themselves, acting like personal communication devices. When characters go into "warp" the rings announce beforehand that their wearer is about to come out of "hyper-space" and each ring repeats the same mantra when it selects a new recruit. These little touches give the world a solidity and believability that helps ground the fantastic elements of the series. Johns and Gibbons also work more than any previous writers to make the Corps resemble an actual military or uniformed force, with lanterns saluting and the suggestion at least, of ranks.
Two niggling things for me about their approach though is first, the obnoxification (I know it's not a word) of Salaak. Although my memory is fuzzy, Salaak served on the Earth Bound GLC with Hal Jordan and Kilowog and both respected and befriended these two characters. His brusque manner with them here makes little sense and contradicts what we know about these characters relationships. Finally, for some odd reason, the writers chose to make Guy Gardner the main focus of the series, instead of Kyle Rayner, who at least supported his own book quite successfully for an extended period. Guy Gardner is a divisive type of character in my view. He's especially antagonizing to me for some reason, and I find it hard to take him too seriously as a character, due to his general obnoxiousness and dislikability. He's often played for comedy, and when not handled properly, undermines the seriousness of a series. For the most part, he's handled well here, but as a character, I don't enjoy him. My personal theory is that far fewer people actually like Guy Gardner than DC thinks. It's a matter of personal taste, and some people do think he's great. But he's nonetheless front and center of this collection. It doesn't suffer for it too much in my view.
Finally, Patrick Gleason puts his best foot forward in this series. A clearly talented penciller, he is also sometimes his own worst enemy. His command of anatomy is great, his backgrounds are never skimpy and his human characters at least, are expressive and convincingly different looking people. I especially like how he draws realistic looking yet beautiful women. He's also generally pretty consistent, which is rare, although his work in the last issue of this series is clearly rushed in comparison to the earlier issues. However, Gleason really needs to improve his stortelling. He will routinely use larger panels for money shots and then shunt off important events to small panels to the side, where it is difficult for the reader to follow what's going on. His storytelling is ok, but could significantly improve. Additionally, while his backgrounds are detailed, he might think about getting out of his own way, and letting his panels breathe a bit. His work is so dense, and he uses many heavy blacks, that it is often difficult to keep track of what's happening in each panel. You will often find that you have looked at a panel and won't be sure about what's actually happened in it, which is the worst thing any penciller can do. In addition to using less heavy blacks in his own work, an inker whose line work was thinner, and perhaps a touch lighter, would seriously improve Gleason's overall "look." It's not that the work is bad, it's that his strengths are also sometimes his weaknesses, and I think a greater emphasis by him on clarity of storytelling over everything else, would greatly improve his work.
All in all though, I enjoyed this collection so much I got all the other GLC collections right away and started reading them back to back. I think you might too, if you bought it.
Its fun-ish Its ok but smacks a little too much of Phantom Menace-style Jedi stuff. Only for enthusiasts.
Beware the Spider Guild This is where it all started. The present cast of the GLC monthly had their genesis in this trade, where veterans like Guy Gardner, Kilowog, and Mogo were joined by rookies Soranik Natu, Isamot Kol, and Vath Sarn. Parts of this story and its' focus on the enlistment of raw recruits were related to the concurrently running Rann Thanagar War saga. A new Lantern from each respective planet was introduced to the Corps and to each other, with détente being accomplished between them despite their reservations via their unexpected partnership and the ensuing mutual peril that arose from it. The situation with Natu was entirely different. The native of Korugar had to overcome her own long term animosity towards the Corps due to her planet's past dark experiences with her kinsman and former Lantern and Korugaran tyrant Sinestro. This diverse group of quirky personalities must put aside all of their own petty differences and biases in order to deal with an outside threat from the always entertaining Spider Guild. The Guild are building space webs throughout the galaxy that are in actuality black holes which are sucking up and destroying suns, with Oa being next on the agenda. While the ending has a serious cheese factor to it, it does score high on the feelgood scale and thus successfully accomplished its' mission, to launch the monthly ongoing series with a literal and figurative bang. This book exemplifies the importance of laying the proper foundation for any new venture and in the process did an exceptional job in doing just that.
9/10 - High-Powered Intergalactic Epic Having returned Hal Jordan to front center stage of the GL corner of the DC Universe in Green Lantern: Rebirth, one of the next big tasks the GL office cut for themselves was to reboot the entire Green Lantern Corps up to maximum levels, with Oa and the Guardians in charge of a truly universe-wide Corps,with defenders from a vast multitude of species - including totally non-humanoid ones - powered up to defend all 3600 sectors of space from any threat or evil that might arise. With the decision made to re-institute a full Corps, the Guardians dispatch the rings out into every corner of space to seek out potential recruits and offer membership in the Corps. Of course, having been programmed by the Guardians, the rings - however well-intentioned - lack 'people skills', and sometimes get off on the wrong foot with those they're attempting to contact and convince to 'sign up'.
The new modus operandi for the Corps will be 7200 Green Lanterns, putting a pair in charge of each sector rather than the 3600 solo sector protectors of old days. Longtime Green Lantern stalwart Kilowog will be in charge of training. Kilowog...now here's a character that can take a while to grow on one if you're not overly familiar with him. At times he can come off as too much, a too-hardnosed, too-inflexible, too-stereotypical drill sergeant type. But that's only part of the character. He is half drill sergeant - though not nearly so unsympathetic or unlikable a one as he occasionnally appears - but the other half is part 'big brother to all the younger and/or newer GLs' and part 'mama bear protecting the cubs' as seen from time to time, and seen in this very volume, when any of the Lanterns are seriously threatened and in need of heavy back-up. In many ways, this collection presents the definitive portrait of Kilowog, just as Green Lantern: Rebirth did for Hal. Once you get to know the big guy, it's unlikely that there'll be many readers who don't find a special place in their heart for the ol' lug. Other familiar figures abound, either sharing the forefront, as is the case with Kyle Rayner (I'm very glad that, with books like this and the "Ion" maxiseries, Kyle didn't get shuffled off to a semi-limbo after "Rebirth") and Guy Gardner; or else in rather brief, supporting roles, as with Brik, for example.
New characters abound too, with one of the most interesting being Soranik Natu, the newest recruit from Korrugar (famous as being the homeworld of Sinestro). Also, as part of this volume's tying in to DC's cosmos-spanning The Rann-Thanagar War (Countdown to Infinite Crisis), two new recruits come from that conflict, from opposite sides in fact, and are horrified to wind up having to fight alongside one another to counter an immense threat.
That threat is emerging even as the full Corps is in the early stages of being rebuilt; as something unnatural is destroying entire stars (and annihilating the planets, often inhabited, that order them). Longtime GLs and newly minted ring-bearers alike are in a race against time to discover who or what is behind these catacylsms before untold worlds are threatened. Well written, imaginative, and with great, distinctive art, Recharge is a winner, and among the better massive-scale space epics out there. 9/10
Reprints all 5 issues of the "Green Lantern Corps: Recharge" miniseries, which preceded the GL Corps ongoing; includes the covers.
The Lanterns Are Back!!! "Green Lantern Corps Recharge" collects the 5-issue "Recharge" miniseries that preceded the "Green Lantern Corps" ongoing series. Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons blew all expectations out of the water with this mini-series. The art, by Patrick Gleason, was more than up to the task of illustrating a universe-spanning action. Guy Gardner's back in action as a Green Lantern, and he's as big a jerk as he ever was--a great return to form for "the best" Green Lantern. Johns and Gibbons also toss in some Easter eggs for longtime GL fans, such as the return of Bolphunga the Relentless from Alan Moore's classic "Mogo Doesn't Socialize."
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