War of the ‘Green Lanterns Aftermath #1’ picks up immediately after the events of ‘Green Lantern #67’, as Hal Jordan is returned to Earth, sans ring. Poor, poor Hal Jordan stranded in the desert, no longer a somebody. I can’t imagine how much of an insufferable d-bag he will be without the ring.
Of course, we will probably never know. This book loses all of the tension and drama, because of the pending relaunch. Now, when it comes to Green Lantern, I don’t think there will be a whole lot of change; Mogo won’t be returned from the dead, the Guardians won’t realize the errors of their ways and Hal Jordan will be ring slinging again before you can recite the Green Lantern Corps Oath.
I think one of the new dynamics I’m enjoying most as of late is the animosity toward the Earth-born Green Lanterns. Of course, all this agro is totally unwarranted, since it is the Earthlings that tend to save the day when the Universe is in the most trouble. It’s not even like they get credit for all the heroics, just grief.
There were a couple of really cool/creepy images in this book. The first was the debris of Mogo as a new ring around OA for one; the site of his broken remains is heartbreaking to see. Honestly, the heart and soul of the Green Lantern Corps deserved a better death.
The other haunting image was the burnt up husk of the remains of Kona the ex-Guardian killed by Hal Jordan. It was very telling the Guardians were experiencing fear, fear that other Lanterns would have the will power to override their failsafe built into the rings to keep their own Corps from turning on them. I have a feeling this will be addressed in book 2 of this mini-series and the ramifications will be felt even in the DCnU.
Now while there were these amazing and haunting images, there was also a very touching moment between Ganthet and Blue Lantern Saint Walker. As Ganthet is left questioning his decisions and where he stands in the Universe, his faithful inaugural Blue Lantern returns to the one that allowed him to harness the power of the blue light of Hope. Saint Walker showed Ganthet what he needed to see in the moments where all hope was lost, and at the same time allowing him to restore his exploded hand. It is not often (or ever really) we see a Guardian of the Universe open up and freely accept emotion, but Ganthet’s love for Sayd is both touching and hopefully a preview of changes to come with the Guardians.
Ton Bedard, Miguel Sepulveda and Tyler Kirkham have put together quite a tale that suffers not from creativity, not from story and not from artwork. ‘War of the the Green Lanterns Aftermath #1’ suffers from timing plain and simple. It is a real shame too, I think when I look back at this book after the relaunch has come and gone the drama and tension will be there, but for now it is simply a transition from one chapter in the story of the Green Lantern Corps to another. Still this book is worth checking out if only to see what will happen next and exactly what will happen with ‘Sinestro: Green Lantern of Sector 2814.’ Just how far will the rest of the Green Lantern Corps go to try and remove the ring from his left hand… find out next month in ‘War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath #2’!
