Red Lanterns #1
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Ed Benes, Rob Hunter, and Nathan Eyring
When DC announced that the Red Lantern Corps would be getting a title I’ll admit that while I was not surprised, I was curious how it would work. These aren’t exactly social characters, and aside from Atrocitus, they aren’t really able to articulate anything. At first glance it’s a group of napalm blood puking stone cold killers with Lantern ring, and while that’s actually kind of cool, it doesn’t really lend itself to any sort of extended story with them in the lead roles. At the same time, Peter Milligan is writing it, so if anyone could pull off a title with characters as unique as these, he may very well be the one to do it.
The issue opens with Dex-Star, the cute little blue kitty of red bloody death, attacking a ship of aliens torturing another one. Dex fights them but falls, leading to a quick Atrocitus entrance which allows our lead to show us how easily he can slaughter his enemies. More than that, actually, as Milligan plays off of the fact that Atrocitus was a creature of rage directed at the Guardians and Krona for what happened to his world, and that lately his rage feels less pure.and his own mission feels weakened. Indeed, our lead character is quite emo throughout this issue, and even questions his own ability to lead early on. At first it’s a bit confusing that a lead character would be introduced in such a state, especially given that the Red Lanterns are all about rage, but Milligan uses it as a method to characterize and flesh out our lead.
Krona is dead, the one responsible for the massacre of Sector 666, the slaughter of Atrocitus’s people, and the deaths of his family. Atrocitus was set on that being his kill, that he would have his vengeance, and Hal Jordan stole that from him during the War of the Green Lanterns. He only has Krona’s body because Ganthet wanted to try and appease the leader of the Red Lantern Corps to try and stave off a war over stolen vengeance. There’s a lot of mileage to get out of the fact that the one thing that has kept him going, his rage, now lacks a target. That it would wane due to not having such an intense and deserving focus. He may not find peace, but he’s stripped of the revenge he sought. Milligan uses this, as well as Krona’s body, to bring Atrocitus to what will be the purpose of this book. To his new purpose.
I don’t think Ed Benes is really capable of doing a bad job, but at the same time, there are definitely books that I don’t think match his style. This issue looks great, and there’s some really cool character work, but I can’t help but think his style is too flashy for the tone. I mean, maybe once we have action that isn’t Red Lanterns fighting each other because they’re all angry in one place it will look better to me, but for an introspective issue about Atrocitus I’d prefer someone a bit grittier. Dex-Star is pretty menacing looking during his fight to start the issue, and Atrocitus looks like a supreme badass for his part, but after that he just feels off. Benes excels with superheroes, and it’s just weird to see Atrocitus with a bright and colorful look that screams ‘superhero’. Finally, there is nothing creepy at all about Bleez cheesecake, that part I can’t complain about.
Milligan establishes the status quo going forward in the final pages, and what it boils down to is…well, they’re more like the Punisher Lantern Corps. They will be dealing out vengeance and retribution in crimson red across the universe, and that actually hooks me, I love Punisher and I love Lantern’s, and hey, Peter Milligan has written some amazing things in his day. Seriously, I may very well be the only person on Earth who liked his X-Men run, but the dude wrote X-Statix, and that gives him a chance in my book. So does the fact that Secret Seven may have started with a meh-tacular first issue, but it wound up being one of my favorite Flashpoint minis. It’s a cool hook for the book, and he’s the kind of writer that I feel won’t play it in a way most people would expect. I could see him taking it big concept, hell, I could see them committing genocide and leaving Atrocitus wondering if he’s become what he hated. This book is full of potential.
It doesn’t feel like a Lantern book, despite the familiar costumes, everyone wearing rings, and, you know, the fact that this is a Lantern book. The Corps isn’t so much a Corps as it is a bunch of people with red rings and major anger issue brawling each other until Atrocitus barks orders. The members are blinded by their own rage, and while Atrocitus is able to articulate his thoughts, Bleez is the only other one who can even come close, and Milligan makes her relatively hard to understand. There’s a plot brewing with her, and I’d expect it sooner than later. People in DC are big on her, apparently, as she’ll be in this title and in New Guardians, and this is coming off of her stint in Emerald Warriors. She’s the second most recognizable Red Lantern behind the big A and everyone’s favorite blue kitty Dex-Star, and that makes for two more members than I can name of the Blue Lanterns and Star Sapphires. Three is a good place to start, and I wouldn’t mind Bleez getting the number two spot (I have no idea why, but I can’t get enough of her), but if this book is going to last there’s going to be need for much fleshing of other characters. Green Lantern Corps works because despite the two or three core characters, there are dozens of established supporting cast members that appear in every issue.
Red Lanterns is a unique read, and really its not what you’d expect from a Lantern title. Milligan is trying something different to fit the personality types that you’d get with a red ring, because let’s face it, they aren’t space cops. The space punishers angle could be interesting, but it’s all in the execution and characterization. Atrocitus received some nice depth in this issue, but it’s going to need to be more universal going forward because a team of soulless killers with power rings killing whoever they are sent after without reflection doesn’t have too much lasting power. I’m sold on the next issue, and hope that with the premise now out of the way that the story can get rolling forward from here on out.
Overall?
7/10
