Green Lantern Corps #60
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Tyler Kirkham and Batt
Part eight opens up with our Blue and Indigo former Corpsmen taking the fight to Mogo. With Krona in control Mogo has seen his primary purpose in the Corps being abused, namely the fact that he’s the one who send out the rings to find new Lanterns. Not a good thing, as that means that we’ve got tens of thousands of Green rings seeking new hosts to empower and infect. It’s already four against an army, so it’s time for our more military esque Lanterns to stop the rebuilding and expansion. Couple this in with some great art by Tyler Kirkham, and part eight is immediately a step up from part seven.
Bedard wisely continues the fish out of water mentality to our heroes and their new rings, having each only figured out basic uses for their current rings. John can teleport, Kyle can speak to other rings, oh, and John finally figured out how to channel another color. Too bad his big display is using the Green to his advantage…I mean, it’s smart to use the weapon he’s already mastered, but I kinda liked his constant failing at using Rage. Still, hard to complain with John actually being useful…and believe me, he more than proves his worth in this issue.
The journey to the center of Mogo is pretty cool, and that’s where Kyle gets his chance to shine a bit as his blue light manages to do more than just super charge Lanterns. It also leads to a first ever look at just what resides inside the core of Mogo, which becomes a game changer in and of itself. Bedard draws on some of Mogo’s recent outings to explain what exactly he does here, and it’s a nice use of continuity. However, the fact that there’s a giant gaping hole on Mogo that leads right to his core, Death Star style, and then craps out GL rings…that part I could live without. For one, it gives a giant DEATH STAR weakness to Mogo, while at the same time making me more literal than I’d like to be when I say “Kyle and John fly up Mogo’s ass to get to his brain”. I should not be able to say that with any sense of reasonable honesty, it should be a huge exaggeration, there shouldn’t be a giant gaping hole that craps GL rings!
….that said, the fight in Mogo’s ass is short and sweet, and that’s where we get to see that Kyle’s blue light can remove the impurity. It benefits from being short though, all of two pages from entry to destination. And it’s one hell of a destination when you see it, the core of Mogo…the brain….it’s pretty freaking cool looking. However, it’s the attempt to free him from the impurity that a seperate one is detected. That’s where the conflict comes from…that’s where the game changer comes from. Not to give away too much more, but as the book draws to its conclusion John finds that simply tapping into the Green can grant Krona access to him. This sets up the climax and….I can’t spoil it here. That’s what spoiler posts are for. Needless to say…it’s huge.
Tyler Kirkham is a definite break out star from the War. His action is top notch, his constructs are highly detailed, oh, and hey, I happen to really like the way he draws Kyle Rayner. There is a lot of good to say about this book visually, especially with John Stewart. yes, I’m not the hugest fan of his bright purple camo, but it works a lot better in this issue…especially at the end. His style is energetic, and this issue doesn’t stop moving for a moment (in contrast to the past few issues of barely moving from place to place). The rings are worth mentioning, if not just for the fact that Kirkham draws so freaking many of them, they all look good, and they all get across one singular point…more infected GLs. He’s a ridiculously good fit for this title.
This was one hell of an issue, and Bedard did a great job of not letting it slow down from start to finish. The end is especially big, and I’m not kidding when I say that we got thrown a game changer, not just for this title, but for the entire GL Corps. It’s in character, though I fully expect that just what exactly happens to live in character infamy for those involved. Seriously, this will never be forgotten. It will be the stuff of memes, message board comments, and believe me, I will be personally bringing many of them to the table as early as next week. This was a damn fine issue, and it did a great job giving us a few ‘this is why this crossover matters’ moments. I wish I could go a bit deeper in, but I’m not spoiling something this big in reviews. Read it, it’s awesome.
Overall?
8.5/10
