Reviewer: Kevin S. Mahoney
Story Title: Assignments
Written by: Dave Gibbons and Geoff Johns
Penciled by: Patrick Gleason
Inked by: Prentis Rollins and Christian Alamy
Colored by: Moose Baumann
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics
To eliminate (or maybe just point out) reader/reviewer bias up front, one admission and one confession. I admit I’m a fan of the GLC. If there were a broader canvas for storytelling in terms of characters or settings, I must have missed its exit. The sheer number of alien societies found in this book could springboard dozens of one-shot stories and grosses of interacting story arcs. Combine that melting pot of alien cultures from literally the whole universe with any imaginable geography/geology and there are no limits to the types of stories that might be told. On the confession front, I hate Hal Jordan. And when the post-Emerald Twilight editorial dictum came down to completely back away from the space cops angle of Green Lantern and embrace the everyman maverick that was Kyle Rayner, it was a hefty (but not impossible) price to pay for the death of a character I couldn’t stand. But I didn’t mind after the first year or so. I missed the Corps, but preferred the new lead and cast to what came before. And if books like GLCQ, Guy Gardner, and Darkstars taught readers anything it’s that a power ring blackout did not necessarily mean the death of previously shown characters. Thus, Hal, Kilowog, and the Guardians have all “gotten better” and the Corps is recruiting again. My favorite non-terran GL (guess it and I’ll buy you a cheeseburger next time you’re in Boston) even survived the purge! GLCR #1 left me rather stoked.
This issue seems a poor follow-up to the promising premiere issue. It has ten less pages, two new characters, and fewer alien vistas than issue one. The rising action/plot progression masks the best things about the characters readers were introduced to last month. The reluctant lantern is missing. The bickering GL’s of sector 2682 get their first assignment (strangely in a sector of space known as “theirs” but referred to sector 1099 in the new issue) and don’t fare all that well. The Earth GL’s and two other corps members defend and then visit Mogo. A vision motivates the foursome to leave Mogo and venture into forbidden space without informing their Oan benefactors of their mission. And the last page reveal sets the stage for the crisis that forces the GL’s from Thanagar and Rann to work as a unit for the first time. Not much Lantern training, terran GL one-upmanship, Batman baiting, or even characterization of the new recruits enrich this episode. It’s a wasted opportunity that derails this installment of the mini-series.
This weaker book needn’t doom the series, if some of the plot threads laid here bear fruit in future chapters. It just felt like too much heavy lifting and not enough time to explore either all the new worlds, or the new characters. In a story designed to reinstall an ensemble cast, this movement works diligently to separate what will inevitably become a team by the story’s end. Since it is a mini-series, which implies a more flexible printed format, it might have been wiser to keep the increased page count of the first issue for the duration of the tale, thus allowing the characters a few pages to simply interact with each other and their narrative obstacles.
The art falls as short of its prior issue as the plot. Guy Gardner, who looked terrific in issue one, looks like a blockhead with no upper lip to speak of in this issue. While the alien landscapes are lovingly done, very little action occurs there. The space battle scenes are illustrated well enough, but sure seem crowded and jumbled in places. A larger page count would also have given the art team the choice to space the fights out a bit less hectically. The colors, inking, and lettering, while not outstanding in the field, are not a cut-rate version of what readers got last month. Consistency is a virtue, even in the dotting of t’s and the proper coloring of eyes.
