Green Lantern Corps #62
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Daniel HDR, Keith Champagne, and Nei Ruffino
The war might be over, and the aftermath may be halfway though (though this issue takes place after the mini wraps up), but there are still loose ends in need of tieing up before September. The GL line is one of the few books that DC is relaunching without being on the receiving end of any sort of overhaul, well, an overhaul that they wouldn’t have received otherwise. Now, things like Green Lantern Sinestro might seem like the bigger deals, but Tony Bedard is moving from here to a book called The New Guardians, and he’s taking Kyle Rayner with him while Peter Tomasi takes….everyone else. Now, this may seem like the natural progression, and it is the natural progression, but it does leave a few things up in the air.
Like if Kyle and Sora would stay together after having been the centerpiece couple of the Corps over the past couple of years. That’s the story told in this issue, as the two have suffered a bit of a falling out coming out of Aftermath…I’m going to assume that Kyle is on the side of not killing her father and she’s on the side of putting his head on a pike. And the whole thing crux’s over a little lie Kyle told her what feels like years ago, when they first started dating. The Star Sapphire, Miri, was an often seen supporting character during Tomasi’s run on the title, and she was not only the one who brought Kyle and Sora together in the first place, but also the one who used Sora’s love for Kyle to save his life during Blackest Night. Given the nature of her abilities, at least the ones established, she would be aware immediately upon realizing that Kyle and Sora were on hard times as she was previously dragged across the galaxy to save Kyle when she felt their connection severed.
Bedard tries to get some mileage out of Kyle’s lie, and given that Kyle is his character now, it’s needed. Looking into the Sapphire’s crystal they saw their true loves, and while Sora saw Kyle, Kyle saw his dead ex Jade. He lied, he told her that he saw her [Sora], it wasn’t meant to be malicious, and he wasn’t trying to be deceitful, but Jade was dead. She had been dead for a while, and she really shouldn’t have been brought back, and it really was just build for the Blackest Night encounter with Black Lantern Jade. This leads to Kyle feeling like a prick, which is in character for him as Kyle is one to blame himself and to get a little too introspective…or be a regular guy. Kyle could brood on this for days, and I could believe it, but Bedard sends in fan favorite Tomar Tu to help grant him a little perspective. Tomar is a welcome addition to this book, and it’s nice to see him get a little attention after being in the complete panel filling wordless background for the past few years. He brings a very diplomatic and well thought mindset to the table and provides a nice balance across the field with the other characters.
The plot revolves around Kyle and Sora both being teleported to a planet under attacked by Star Sapphire Miri, with Tomar brought along for the ride due to his proximity to Kyle at the time of the teleport. Miri has gone on a rampage and our three Lanterns have to stop her. The fight is pretty entertaining, and I enjoy the uniqueness of the Sapphire’s abilities, as well as Tomar’s more passive methods. The actual purpose of the battle is relatively transparent, and a definite means to an end for Bedard, but that doesn’t discount the entertainment. It’s not perfect, but it’s fun to read, and the characters are all believable in their roles. On top of that, it was nice to see Miri again and I hope to see her in New Guardians.
I’m not overly familiar with Daniel HDR, but he’s a natural for this book and for filling in for regular artist Tyler Kirkham. I like the character work and action both quite a bit. There’s a lot of nice detail work, and the style itself is smooth and energetic. I mean, there are some panels that don’t quite live up to expectations, but I could see him growing into the kind of artist you look for on a book like this. He could make for a great fill in artist for Tyler Kirkham is he can get a bit more consistent.
The story becomes rather straightforward as the battle goes on and you see why everything it happened, and to be honest, it’s not a spectacular issue. Both this and Emerald Warriors are suffering from doing one and done’s in the wake of the War instead of ending to wait for September like Green Lantern did, and it’s varying degrees of success. Emerald Warriors reads like Tomasi had stock issues written for Guy and wanted to use them before the relaunch, but this title, on the other hand, has definite post War of the GLs issues done in the same one and done format. The book feels like it’s stalled in place, and it kind of is since it ends in one more issue, but if it gives Bedard a platform to do some last minute lead in to New Guardians…then I think the ends justify it. It’s not a great issue, but it’s readable, and if you’re a Kyle fan then you’ll get something out of it.
Overall?
6/10
