Rise of the Third Army Review: Red Lanterns #15
“Waking the Past”
Published by DC Comics
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Miguel Sepulveda
Coloured by Rain Beredo
The Plot
In Sector 666, Red Lanterns Zilius Zox (big headed guy) and Skallox come across a deceased Red Lantern’s arm and determine that lack of power kept it from returning home. Over on Ryut, Atrocitus is revisited by the ghosts of when his planet was murdered. Nonetheless he is able to bring forth a large number of Manhunters, which he reveals to have known about all along. Despite his hatred for them he has a plan for them. Meanwhile on Earth, Rankorr and Bleez are supposed to be looking for Baxter (the guy who killed his grandfather), but he wants to see his brother Ray (who is not in a good state). The meeting between the two doesn’t go as well as Rankorr hopes and sets off to find Baxter. Over in Sector 990 (aboard the Penal Satellite), Dex-Starr (the kitty Red Lantern) arrives to seek vengeance upon a guard there. Back on Earth, Rankorr is ready to kill Baxter, but then sees the officer he hurt when he first got his ring. They begin to talk until Bleez has Baxter in her grasp. Then back over on Ysmault, Zox and Skallox are trying to determine what’s wrong with the power source, but beneath them it is revealed who knows what is truly wrong. And then over on Ryut, Atrocitus is met with a rather large surprise.
The Breakdown
Atrocitus’ plan is pretty badass and it provides a real x-factor quality to the war against the Third Army. I am curious as to what is going to happen after the cliffhanger at the end of the book. I’m glad that Rankorr’s story is finally being resolved. During this part, I liked Bleez’s expression when he decided to go ahead and see his brother. She had this little smirk on her face, which showed her general character. His brother is doing as well as expected and I thought that it added a lot to Rankorr’s story. There was so much left unsaid when he abruptly left Earth and this is a story that needed to be finished up. It was also interesting to see what a Red Lantern’s power does to ordinary people. I’m unsure how this storyline is going to be resolved and that’s a good thing. The side-plot with the battery problem is interesting because it is limited their effectiveness thus far. Dex-Starr’s storyline this issue was short and simple. It wasn’t riddled with speeches about rage and vengeance. It was dealt with in a very quick manner. The art is growing on me as it is more suited to this title than Benes’ art was. It has this gritty quality to it that does a nice job of complementing the content of the story. I’m continuing to enjoy the whole Third Army arc because there are good individual stories being spun out of each GL title. This issue was related to the Rise of the Third Army, but it contained a lot to further its own storylines.
BUT…
So the officer that was injured by Rankorr endured five skin grafts in a matter of less than ten issues. That’s not my problem though. Wouldn’t he get more time off to deal with his injuries as well as his altered appearance. It just seemed like a short amount of time for an officer to be placed back into the line of active duty after suffering such catastrophic injuries. It seemed like he was just placed there to be a foil to Rankorr’s rage and thirst for vengeance. There is a blip in Atrocitus’ plan that I hope is resolved in the future. His plan is based off of an idea back when he apparently had some foresight. He was a character so crippled by his own rage that I can’t see him being lucid enough to carefully plan something out for the future. I like what this potential plot brings so I do hope that this is explained more later on. It’s a pet peeve of mine when covers don’t really have anything to do with what’s inside of the actual comic. Bleez did in fact return to Earth, but there wasn’t any chaos involved with it as the cover shows and she didn’t necessarily show any urge to paint it red either.
Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?
Buy It. Overall this was a good issue that didn’t allow itself to be overshadowed by the Third Army storyline. I want to see what happens with Atrocitus’ storyline and this is what I’m looking forward to seeing next issue. Also, I want to see if Rankorr will fully become a Red Lantern or not. There’s definitely enough in this issue to make me come back next month.
