Reviewer: Mathan Erhardt
Story Title: A Tiny Spark
Written by: Benjamin Raab
Penciled by: Rick Burchett
Inked by: Rodney Ramos
Colored by: Moose Baumann
Lettered by: Kurt Hathaway
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
The issue begins with Kyle back in space, meditating (no doubt trying to clear his head of his recent crossover with Green Arrow.) Ganthet pops by and they both head to Oa to take a meeting. It appears as though Kyle sent out invites for the new Corps and a whopping four people responded. Kyle makes his argument for the new Corps but fails to get any takers. So he sets out to show how much good the Corps can do.
Man, there is a lot going on in Sector 2814 (kind of makes me wonder how the rest of the sector survived when Kyle was based in NYC.) Kyle does some good deeds, and then for some inexplicable reason we cut to Terry and David, our supporting characters who also happen to be a couple. Then we go back to Kyle on Oa finding out that his good deeds were sort of in vain, because the people he was trying to impress had already gone home. Finally Kyle finds some solace in words from Kilowog (when did these two become chummy?)
Raab has his work cut out for him. On one hand he replaces Judd Winick, who many GL fans (at least on the DC message boards) loathed. On the other hand these same fans weren’t too impressed with Raab’s handling of his share of the GL/GA crossover.
I found the issue to be good. Raab clearly has a grasp on Kyle. I guess that now Ganthet is going to be portrayed as more of a wisecracker and less a dispenser of cryptic wisdom. Having the visitors being leery of a GL from Earth was a nice twist, but their belief that the Corp was “an experiment that failed†strikes me as odd. L.E.G.I.O.N. and the Darkstars were experiments that failed, not the Corps. The scene with David and Terry was just jarring because it completely stopped the story. And while Raab handles Kilowog well I have to wonder how he and Kyle got so close. I guess I missed that issue. (You’re not the only one, when the hell did Kilowog even come back from the dead, let along become buddy buddy with Kyle? Please someone let me know. – Daron)
The art was cool. Burchett and Ramos make the aliens and their planets look distinct. They also convey action very well. The Kyle doing his best Batman impression on page nine was very well done. Baumann has the colors jumping off of the page. This team makes GL and Oa look almost regal again. Olivetti’s cover is beautiful.
This issue does what it is designed to do. It sets up things to come. We see the reluctance at forming a new Corp. Kilowog is having nightmares, and Kyle is adjusting to life in space, and Terry has some life decisions to make.
