Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns and Blackest Night

[spidey976]

So ... I have to say ... after years of avoiding Lantern books like the plage a buddy of mine turned me on to them back just around the time of Rebirth, and I have to say they are some of the most enjoyable reads I have had over the two years or so. From Rebirth, to Revenge of the Green Lanterns, the Sinestro Core, and now the Rage of the Red Lanterns, I have been blown away with how much has been added to the mythology of the Green Lantern Core, and the DCU in general.

I just picked up Rage and it is a Great read and I have to say this book kicked some serious tail from start to finish. Whether it was the birth of the Red Lantern Core (which was brutal by the way), or just watch this new group completely ripping apart BOTH the Sinestro and Lantern Cores in about 5 seconds. It makes me wonder how they are going to top all of this in the future.

[Popninja]

Care to expound?

[spidey976]

LOL... okay ... well to keep it simple and with some MAJOR SPOILERS hidden.

Rage of the Red Lanterns starts with Atrocitous(sp?) becomeing the first Red Lantern ... and the Red Lanterns are PURE Rage ... Their hearts shrivel and their blood is litterally expelled from their body in a fountain ... and they tare their batteries from the corps of a fallen enemy or friend. You find out that one of the Guardians (the scared one from the Sinestro War) has sent out Lanterns into the farthest reaches of the galaxy to find The AntiMonitor, and that she seems to be infected some how and seems to betray the Corp.

Sinestro is to be put to death ... and juring a prisoner exchange all hell breaks lose. The Sinestro Corp comes to break him out ... and the Red Lanterns show up to kill him ... because HE is the one that filled many of them with RAGE. The rip a hole through both corps ... one GL is Ripped clear in half ... and a SCorp member is eaten. In the end a former GL takes Hal and John out with one shot ... and as they are dying in space they are saved by the First of the New Blue Lanterns. Saint Walker ... Ganthets first Lantern of hope.

Now I am sorry if you read to much of this ... my thing really is that I find that the Green Lantern book (not so much the GL Corp Book) is constantly ADDING to the mythous of the DC universe (specifically the GL part of course), and the adding part makes me enjoy the book. I am tired of SO many books taking things away that have come before (Brand New Day anyone). SO this level of addition makes sense to me. I am a little afraid of what is going to come after the Lantern wars (seven Corps going after each other), and the Blackest Night (The Dead Lanterns)... but I am looking forward to seeing it all happen.

Okay ... so much for keeping it short ... lol

[DJ Kenobi]

Okay ... so much for keeping it short ... lol

That's fine. We don't want you to keep it short in Comics Analysis. We do want full reviews.

Thanks for the more detailed review.

[NickRocks]

sounds interesting, but the whole red lantern thing struck me as gimmicky, like the red hulk thing. glad to know they arent totally goofing on it though.

[spidey976]

Okay ... so I haven't updated this thread for a bit ... but I thought I would add a little to it since I have picked up all but one issue now and I can expand on it.

So as I was hoping it would Rage has really continued to expand on the mythos of the Green Lantern universe and it is soon to hit the entire DC Universe with Blackest Night ... when the Black Lanter Corp will rise (or as some call them the Dead Lanterns or Death Lanterns).

In the second issue you find out that the Blue Lanterns are possibly the MOST powerful of all he Lantern Corps ... but as of this issue there are only Two of them. Spoilers : It turns out that since they are linked to Hope that as they are successful and those around them feel more and more hopefull their powers swell ... and as that happens so does there ability to do amazing things ... like rekindel a star that is going super nova. We also find out that they can recharge a Green Lanterns ring beyond 100% ... closer to 200% ... just by being near them. We also find out the Sinestro has a secret weakness that the red lanterns intend to exploit in order to hurt him emotionally before they kill him. However, because he is needed in the future fight the BL and Jordan are sent to save him.

The following is full of spoilers so highlight for more: The third and fourth books are mostly action and they fly by really ... The BLs and Jordan set out for the homeworld of the Red Lanterns, but they are separated and Jordan arrives first ... Saint Walker seems worried about keeping up to him and not falling to far behind. When Jordan arrives he is immediately jumped by the Red Lanterns and his ring is TOTALLY drained in seconds ... it turns out that some of the corps are complimentary (they recharge each others rings) and others are destructive (they drain them quick). The Sinestro Corp tries to Spring Sinestro ... the reds are fighting them off ... the BLs appear and we find out that hope cancels out fear (the yellow rings of the Sinestro Corp are drained quickly). In a fit of utter rage ... Jordan who loses a fellow GL to the Red Lanterns ... and then to Sinestro who kills her ... becomes a RL.

Now the rest happens quickly and it is a real mess. Jordan falls the Red influence quickly ... only because of his complete rafe at Sinestro ... but he is able to maintain some focus and doesn't become mindless like most of the RL are. We also find out that the BLs need an active GL in proximty in order for their rings to form constructs ... as it is put ... hope is nothing without the will to do something about it. With Jordan unable to make his GL ring work they lose their powers ... but amazingly not their hope ... and Saint Walker in a last ditch effort to save Jordan places his Blue Ring on Jordan's hand which proceeds to destroy the red ring and make Jordan a highbreed lantern ... both Green and Blue.

Now the reason I am so pleased with the entire idea of the Red Lanterns ... is because ... again John's is adding something to the lore. Also that they are expanding on the "colours" of the emotional spectrum ... which alligns with the visible spectrum of light (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). The lower wavelengths of light (R, O, and Y) are the baser emotions of rage, greed, and fear. Green which is in the middle is simply will power. Finally Blue = Hope, Indigo=Compassion, and Violet= Love. All of which are suppose to be blacked out by the absence of light (the shade of Black) or death. Which can only be overcome by the combination of all of the colours of light together (White). It just seems like one hell of tapestry that is being woven ... I just hope it holds up.

[thEbrEEze]

I think that recently Green Lantern has been one of the best books out there. John's is doing an excellent job with GL. I never picked up a monthly green lantern until John's revamped it and it has been bad ass ever since. I can't wait to keep reading on.

[spidey976]

I think that recently Green Lantern has been one of the best books out there. John's is doing an excellent job with GL. I never picked up a monthly green lantern until John's revamped it and it has been bad ass ever since. I can't wait to keep reading on.

Yeah ... I totally agree ... I do think it is the best book out there. Combine that with the fact that Johns has been working towards Blackest Night for the last 6 years ... and you can only help for one hell of a project and story.

[Random Hero 7]

ummm, question!!! what Green lantern book is this...and what would the possible graphic novel name be? i read this and was immediatly excited( watching the GL animated movie was a good 2 and made me interested a lil) and have one request...could u post, or even privatly send me a pic of the "highbreed" , if u did id greatly appriciate it

[spidey976]

Well here is a link to the Rage of the Red Lanters Trade

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lantern-Rage-Red-Lanterns/dp/140122301X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252079493&sr=8-1

Followed by the Agent Orange Trade

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401224210/ref=s9_k2a_gw_tr01?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0V350B36QKG3W82NDY0C&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

and Blackest Night is currently an ongoing series and here is the discussion link
http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95375

Here is a link of Jordan as both a Blue and Green Lantern ... the effect is done mainly in the colouring stage.

http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=33354

http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=33657

[Random Hero 7]

hey thax... that is awsome!!! it be cool if Hal jordan be came a blue lantern...he could get a new comic and john sterwart could take over the reg. green lantern comic

[NickRocks]

while that does sound like a fun read, i just cant stand the art. Rebirth was plain ugly, I'm just not a Van Sciver Van. and the art ive seen for it since then has yet to impress me.

[steve11jr]

while that does sound like a fun read, i just cant stand the art. Rebirth was plain ugly, I'm just not a Van Sciver Van. and the art ive seen for it since then has yet to impress me.

I disagree. I enjoyed the art in Rebirth. I thought there was some cool cross-hatching going on there

[NickRocks]

yeah crosshatching to an absurd extreme! and the poses were a bit static for me. idk, maybe im just not a gl guy.

[thEbrEEze]

Well I'm definately a GL guy. I think that when all is said and done based on the spectrum of light that is being used in Blackest Night Hal will emerge a the greatest lantern of all time as it was written in the book of OA.

What will happen? This is just speculation but when all colors of the spectrum are merged the output is the color WHITE. That's right. I believe Hal Jordan will become a white lantern and that is how he has the power to stop black lanterns. cause yo know Black Lanterns are just popping up left and right. So that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

[spidey976]

yeah crosshatching to an absurd extreme! and the poses were a bit static for me. idk, maybe im just not a gl guy.

You know what Nick ... honestly ... start reading the Sinestro War ... Rage of the Red Lanterns, Agent Orange, and then BLACKEST NIGHT. Ivan Reis has been the artistic work horse behind it, and damn if it isn't some of the prettiest work I have seen in comics.

Also, I think The Breeze is right on it when he says that Hal may become a White Lantern. That or all of the lead lanterns from ALL of the corps will have to join forces.

EDIT: I have been reviewing Blackest Night in THIS thread http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95375 .

Also here is some Ivan Reis links

http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=34094
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=33592
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=33628
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=28545

[misfitX]

(SPOILER alert. I'm too lazy to make things highlightable, so if you don't wanna get spoiled, don't read below. :D)

Spidey, in response to your assesment of the emotional spectrum, I think we'll find out that Green is not simply Willpower. Continously through the Blue Lantern discussions, Hal talks of how Hope is nothing without action. Though it seems he really believes Hope is nothing at all. Ganthet explains later after Walker has put his ring on Hal that Hal was to lead the Blue Lanterns as a Green Lantern.

I find the whole nessecity of a Green Lantern's proximty being required for a Blue Lantern's ring to work fascinating. That's one of my favorite parts of this color expansion: how closely linked all the colors are.

I've just been re-reading everything up to this point and I'm at the part in GLC: Sins of the Star Sapphire where the Guardians, lead by "Scar" travel to Zamaron for a diplomatic meeting with the Zamorans. I love all the political intrique, which goes even deeper if you remember that Zamorans are essentially the female Gaurdians.
The original mythos went that an ancient race called the Maltusians became so powerful and so immortal that they couldn't allow themselves to have children anymore. So the females went one galactic way, and the males the other. The female Maltusians eventually became Zamarons, and the males, Guardians.
It's a little confusing now that there are female Guardians in the mix. To explain that you need to remember the Ion storyline from Judd Winick's run on GL pre-Rebirth.
Essentially, Kyle ends up collecting all the ambient Oan energy left scattered about from Oa's destruction and Parallax's reigniting the Sun. With this power Kyle becomes Ion. There's no real reason for him choosing this name, though later it is explained there is a similar force to Parrallax called Ion, so I'm sure Kyle was supposed to be subconciously inspired by that. (isn't retrofitting fun?)
Anyways, Kyle decides after a conversation with Superman to stop being a god and so he recreates the Guardians of the Universe from all that stored up Ion power. He rebuilds Oa as well.
When he recreates the Guardians, he decides to make them children and also to make some female. He leaves them all under the care and tutelage of Ganthet, the only Guardian to survive Jordan's rampage way back when he became Parrallax.

I found Larfleeze to be one of the more clever uses of the idea of a Lantern corps. As non-sequitor as Avarice sounds to me, of course a member of that corps would eventually decide that it should all be his. As far as the no-fly zone oer Vega goes, I'd like to see more fall-out from that as it effects a large number of characters in the DCU. Vega seems to have always been one of the main sectors in the DCU for a lot of major characters, but no one seems to care now. I guess it's all just criminals and losers now that the Omega Men are relegated to lame Jim Stralin vehicles.


I'm a little discouraged with all this Van Sciver bashing. We he first popped out on the sign with X-Men (at least that's when I noticed him) I'd be right there with you, but mostly because he sucked. His proportions where ridiculous, and there just wasn't a lot of cohension. I almost didn't pick up Rebirth because he was on it. But I did, and hot damn I'm glad. His stuff certainly has an uncomfertable edge to it, but you get used to it.
I used to be the same way with Eddie Campbell. I didn't pick up From Hell forever because I just thought his stuff was lame. But then I did and I can honestly say Campbell is one of my favorite artists.

[NickRocks]

see thats the thing...on screen, i go ooh, pretty...but when i pick it up in trade, or single format, it just looks plain ugly to me =\

[misfitX]

yeah i get the ugly thing. That's really kind of the point for his artwork though. I dunno, back to the discussion at hand.