Green Lantern #62
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke
Yep, there’s an event incoming and it shows, that isn’t to say that this is a bad issue, just that combined with last weeks Emerald Warriors this book is definitely setting up the War of the Green Lanterns. With Krona revealed as the hooded figure that had been taking the entities, it’s now up to Hal to do what he does with whatever backup he can find. The unpredictable Earth man that’s saved the universe countless times against the Mad Guardian himself. There’s a lot that goes on in this issue not the least of which is that War of the Green Lanterns finally starts to come together.
The majority of the issue is the fight to stop Krona from gathering the rest of the entities, as when last we saw what was going on he had just captured the Indigo and Blue entities after riding in on Parallax. As Hal battles the Mad Guardian we learn really quickly just what he’s up against, as well as just what he gains by having the entities in his possession. His control over Ion allows him to suck Hal’s ring dry as if he were a Manhunter, and despite having Indigo-1, Saint Walker, Larfleeze, and Atrocitus at his side, his partnership with the Orange Entity infested Hector Hammond is enough to bring them all to their knees.
Not to be a spoiler, but by issues end he has come into the possession of all but one of the entities, which means he has control over all but one of the spectrums. This actually goes into the motivation Krona is given, that while the other Oans sought to bury emotion he wanted to understand and control it. It makes sense that the rogue Guardian would have done something so obviously anti-Guardian, as with emotions and the spectrum, and the fact that the Guardians buried the Blackest Night prophecies rather than admit to the emotional spectrum, combined with Krona’s own insatiable desire for knowledge? It pieces itself together nicely.
On top of being an insane crazy badass of ridiculous power, he’s also somewhat hilarious. He’s the epitome of unbalanced, his mind seemingly completely gone after the millenniums spent in banishment. Sure, he’s coherent enough to exposition his motives well enough, but he also says he wants to cleanse the universe of the emotionally unbalanced. His face in that panel makes it priceless. We also get a little idea about just how brilliant the man was, as he reveals his contributions to the Oans…which include imprisoning Parallax in the Central Battery, the invention of the Sciencells, and discovering the pocket dimension where all Lanterns (of all colors) store their batteries.
So what do you get when you put a handful of the New Guardians up against someone who controls their spectrums of energy, and an Orange Hector Hammond? You get a very heroic splash page followed by immediate ownage of the entire team. Seriously, I think I’d have been disappointed if this book went positively for the good guys, it would have just been disruptive. Johns does a great job here with Krona, building him up not only by showing just why he’s important to the overall story that he’s been crafting the past several years, but also making him one of the more powerful beings we’ve seen in quite some time. Nekron may have been powerful, but it was more his machinations and minions that did the damage of Blackest Night.
There’s also his warning to Hal, that once he flies too high the Guardians will cast him down, and that while he came back after Parallax, will he be able to do so again? Apparently he’s not the first ‘greatest of the Green Lantern’s’ to follow the path, which makes me assume that Sinestro was not the first either. If War of the GL’s delves into some of the pre-Abin/Sinestro era GL Corps, I will be happy.
What can I say about Doug Mahnke’s art that I haven’t said before? There is a ton going on in this issue, and even when the book starts to grow chaotic, the art never gets sloppy. He handles a lot of characters, from Hal and the New Guardians to the Justice League, and he still draws an incredible Superman. In fact, if I have any complaints at all to make about the art, it’s that the Batman in the issue is Bruce but he’s wearing Dick’s Batsuit!
Next issue is being previewed in the back of a lot of DC issues this week, and it’s being called a prologue to War of the GL’s. This issue does a nice job of both wrapping up the entity story line as well as building up things to come. We’ve got a villain, we’ve got motivation for the villain, and we’ve even got a general understanding for just what he’s going to do. Not to mention that things he’s alluded to have already begun to pop up in future solicits. Amazing how one issue can completely get me on board for a crossover that, while I was already set to buy, I wasn’t too hyped up for.
Overall?
9/10
