Writer: Geoffrey Thorne
Artists: Tom Raney & Marco Santucci
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artists: Bernard Chang & Alex Sinclair
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
It’s a new paradigm shift for the Green Lantern with the official formation of the United Planets. However, what started as a bright new horizon for the emerald knights has turned into a great, big disaster signaled with the destruction of their Central Power Battery. Green Lantern #3 shows some of the aftermath of this event and where the lanterns are now.
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Review:
First, for those wondering, yes, this comic is exploring the Future State storyline of the GL Power Battery being destroyed. Like plenty of other flagship titles, we’re seeing the beginnings of the Future State storyline in effect. Sadly, this comic isn’t as epic or suspenseful as the synopsis builds it up to be.
John Stewart is struggling to survive, make no mistake about that, but it’s not life-threatening or filled with intense action. Heck, he’s not even in much danger until the very end. The same goes for Jo Mullein. She provides a very brief recap of who she is in the second half of the comic, though it doesn’t explain why she, the Teen Lantern, or a certain other Green Lantern still have powered rings. Mullein doesn’t even get much action either, despite what the solicitations say.
However, what the comic lacks in epic action or drama, it makes up for in character interactions, most of which are relatively wholesome. We see Jo Mullein interact with Teen Lantern and Simon Baz, considering his previous state in the end of the last issue, and how she’s handling everything else is fine too. She’s put in a position she never expected, and while she’s not an ideal leader she’s doing the best that she can. Not great, but not terrible either.
The same goes for John Stewart. We see what happens to him and his crew, and while the comic leaves some mystery on what happened to them, it does solid work covering John Stewart’s time during all of this. The issue is the character isn’t really tested here, it’s more like he’s making an adjustment that’s better than expected. It’s only until the end when we see some danger and the villains he confronts are sadly unimpressive.
Spoilers:
One thing the comic tries to do is in the second half is show brief instances of the predicament some of the alien Green Lanterns are in without their rings. To establish the danger they’re in. The problem is most of them are throwaway background characters with possibly one or two mainstay members. So the drama is diminished than it would be if readers actually recognize or knew most of them beforehand.
Final Thoughts:
Green Lantern #3 is well-written but very light on action. This story arc is directly diving into material from the Future State storyline, which may turn some readers off. We see John Stewart and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps in the aftermath of the last issue. We see where most of them are, and what some of them are planning to do. The comic takes its time to explore John Stewart, showing what he’s doing during all of this. Sadly, nothing exciting happens in this comic. However, it looks like the next issue will be bringing more suspense.