Rise of the Third Army Review: Green Lantern Corps #16 by Peter J. Tomasi & Fernando Pasarin

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Review:  Green Lantern Corps #16

“Bad Guys”

Published by DC Comics

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Art by Fernando Pasarin

Coloured by Gabe Eltaeb

The Plot

The Third Army continues to assimilate beings from across the universe with Guy Gardner still in jail over the events of the past issue.  An inmate “attempts” to intimidate him and Guy is called in to speak to his siblings, Gabe and Gloria.  Guy is uncooperative and is indulging himself with self pity until the Third Army arrives at the station.  Meanwhile over in the Unknown Sectors, Fatality and John Stewart deal with a ship utilizing pieces of Mogo as their power source.  Afterwards they trade notes on recent events, which leaves John wondering.  Back at the station, Guy helps to coordinate a response to the Third Army, but they are quickly being overcome.  B’dg and Baz show up and help get survivors out of the immediate area.  They try a plan to deal with them and afterwards Baz replays the message left in the ring by Hal and Sinestro.

The Breakdown

Green Lantern has been a great and consistent title, which has caused me to overlook this one from time to time.  However, this title has really been picking up some steam.  I’ve been enjoying it a lot all of a sudden.  Guy busting on the new…guy was funny and so much in character.  Only Guy would cut up his rescuer and give him such a hard time.  However, they do have similarities to one another and its good overall to see Baz slowly getting introduced to the rest of the Corps.  I also like seeing Fatality not acting like a psycho and allowing her ring to give her a new purpose.  Seeing her and John interact with one another like this though is still a bit strange (but enjoyable) as I’m used to them being bitter enemies (he did destroy her planet after all).  I’m liking John Stewart in small doses here.  I hope that after this whole storyline is finished that we’ll continue to see B’dg make appearances as I’ve been really enjoying him.  Seeing Guy going through such a wide range of emotions in the past few issues have really made him a stronger character.  Seeing him feel sorry for himself is a natural response to recent events and it’s refreshing to not see him acting with nothing but bravado and brashness.  However, he’s able to turn it around and go into kick-ass mode when the Third Army arrives.  With the last few issues, we’ve been able to get a better feel for his character and this has been the highlight of this title for me.  I also like how Baz doesn’t sit back and take Guy’s attitude.  My first thought when I saw Baz in a preview was why is he carrying a gun? Well his explanation this issue actually sells the look.  Also, as much as Hal and Guy don’t see eye to eye, it was nice to see Guy’s concern for Hal’s wellbeing…good moment.  Pasarin’s art was good in this issue and I like his rendition of Baz.  There were some really good panels in this issue and a strong assist must be given to Eltaeb for colouring some dynamic pages.  Another solid issue this month.

BUT…

So it seems that the Third Army has a weakness to explosions? They can sustain damage by power rings, kill Guardians, etc. but they are susceptible to explosions.  Perhaps it’s due to the strain of the Guardians’ power being spread too thin, but nonetheless, I’d like to see this addressed in a future issue.  At this point, it just seems kind of weak for me.

Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?

Buy It.  Guy Gardner has become the focus of this title and his character is reaping the rewards as a result.  The Rise of the Third Army concludes next week and I’m about ready for the story to move on.  The storyline will continue, but it seems that the focus is about to shift.  I want to see how Guy is going to get himself a new power ring as well as what John is going to do about Mogo.  I’ll definitely be back for next week’s Green Lantern Corps Annual #1.

I have been both an avid and casual comic reader over the years (depending on the quality of books). I have been reading Comics Nexus even prior to it becoming Comics Nexus and am glad to be a columnist. In addition, feel free to leave comments whether you agree or disagree because it always leads to discussions.