Heroic characters of all types…

Green Lantern – review by The Nerd

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

In the months leading up to Blackest Night, I had stopped reading Green Lantern.  Although GL is one of my favorite superheroes, the stories that Geoff Johns was writing were simply too “far out” and convoluted for me to follow.  The art, although brilliantly done was too busy and had far too many aspects in each panel to be able to focus clearly on what was transpiring with the story. Blackest Night renewed my interest in Green Lantern and kept me focused through the relaunch.

How Green Lantern ended its previous run was more shocking than any of the other titles.  With the relaunch, GL was one of the few titles that kept the majority of its back story in place.  Hal Jordan was kicked out of the Green Lantern Corps and returned to Earth, only to be replaced with Sinestro.  Yeah, I know…I was quite shocked as well.  I eagerly awaited the release of Green Lantern #1 to find out how Geoff Johns intended to go from where he left off.

Sinestro, a Green Lantern, although he’s far from enthusiastic to be wearing a green uniform again and is more interested in finding a way out of his current predicament.  Duty calls even for Sinestro and he has to liberate his home world of Korugar from the reign of his former Yellow Lantern Corps.  To do this, Sinestro seeks the aid of the last person in the universe willing to help him, Hal Jordan.

Sinestro provides Hal with a power ring and the two unlikely allies set out to free Korugar from the Yellow Lanterns.  This is only one of many things going on in the GL universe.  With other far more sinister plots being weaved by none other than the Guardians themselves.  They have lost faith in the Green Lantern Corps and are now making plans of replacing them with a new and more powerful army.

Geoff Johns has made Green Lantern fun to read in the New 52.  The intricate and multi-level story arcs are building into what promises to be an event that will rock the foundations of the DC universe.  By placing the two most unlikely allies of Sinestro and Hal Jordan, Johns has set a flame of a virtual powder keg of conflict.  Overall I am quite pleased with the direction Green Lantern is going.

The Grade:

If Geoff Johns can adequately keep these different plot lines going, readers are in for one hell of a ride in the next six months.  Green Lantern to me has always been an acquired taste, even for comic book fans.  You either get it or you don’t.  Most non-fans of the series probably wouldn’t enjoy Green Lantern from the get go, but the direction Geoff Johns is taking this reboot deserves to be read, even by the casual fan.  Hardcore fans will consider this a must read while newer or even uninitiated readers might struggle with it.

Green Arrow – review by Geek Faerie

Written by J.T. Krul

Art by Dan Jurgens and George Perez

Green Arrow has been getting some pretty mixed reviews from fans of late.  Sadly, the majority of these reviews have been negative.  I have to say my previous exposure to the character was very limited.  In this incarnation, we find our billionaire hero, Ollie Queen, doing what he does best: breaking the law and breaking bad guys.  Armed with an array of weaponry created by his own company, our smooth talking emerald archer takes on the latest batch of baddies who have been using the media to their advantage.  In this universe, super heroes are the bad guys and their executions are televised across QPhones and QPads.  Insert eye roll here.  Written by J.T. Krul with artwork by Dan Jurgens and George Perez (issues 1-4) with Ray McCarthy taking over for Perez from issue 5 to present, critics have called the art static and lifeless and the writing bordering on juvenile and slow to get going.  Not a crowd pleaser it seems.

I was hard pressed to find a positive objective review beyond issue 1.  It’s a little sad because Green Arrow could succeed, if DC listens to the fans and makes some changes.

Hawk and Dove – review by Rachel Proffitt

Written by Sterling Gates
Drawn by Rob Liefeld

He’s the avatar of War, she’s the avatar of Peace.  They fight crime with their powers and their fists.  They use phrases like “insolent infidels,” and “kick some tail.”  All in all, Hawk and Dove are in many ways a throw back to 1950s style heroes, complete with at times heavy-handed morals to their formulaic stories.

There is some excitement added to the first five issues with the presence of Dawn Granger’s (AKA Dove’s) boyfriend,  Boston Brand, AKA Deadman, and a magical slant to their first case of the reboot.   There is a somewhat awkward mix of magic and old school super hero conventions that may work itself out as the series progresses.  I doubt I will stick around to see it, however.

One thing I will point out is that this is an entirely safe title for teens.  The harshest word so far is “ass” and the creative team really does draw a fine point on those moral lessons.

It’s not bad, but it’s not all that interesting either.  Grade: C

Static Shock – review by JP

Writers: Scott McDaniel and John Rozum
Artists: Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens

What can I say that I have not already said? I love Static and have for some time. I think Virgil is just a cool character with a great personality, a geek who refuses to accept that he is not socially awesome. The unfortunate part of it is he cannot carry his own title. I picked the title up until issue four and only during that issue did it finally begin to show promise. However, a short time later we found that it would be one of the books cancelled to make room of the six new books releasing in May.

Scott McDaniel clearly wanted to carry on Dwayne McDuffie’s vision for Static, his cool personality, intelligence and even some other characters from the McDuffie’s repertoire (Hardware). Ultimately, however, it just fell flat. The story was as chaotic as was the art. Virgil did more talking than actual crime fighting and the plots seem to lose sight of the interesting parts.

Grade:

I started to get into the book with issue four but when we found out it was getting cancelled I made room in the budget for some other titles. In the Dakotaverse he was the star, in the DCU he is just another kid hero. Seeing how Cyborg seems to have skipped directly to the big leagues, maybe there is a whole in the Titans that Static can fill. I will probably go back and pick up the rest of this short lived run, but let me save you all the trouble. I still think there is some value to Static going forward, but I think he needs some time to connect to readers and find a new voice in the new universe. Save you money on this one, but do not forget how awesome Virgil can be.

Legion Lost – review by Rachel Proffitt

Written by Fabian Nicieza
Drawn by Pete Woods

Wildfire, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Tellus.  In the far future, they were part of a youthful group who dedicated their special abilities to helping all planets and races.
Now, they are trapped in time, without their friends or technology, but never without hope…

I couldn’t have put it better myself.  The first six issues of Legion Lost have detailed the team’s hunt for Alastar, a villain born of pain and hate, as he attempts to avenge the death of his sister at the hand of the Xenophobes of 3011 by traveling back 1000 years and infecting the human population with a pathogen that will turn them into human/alien hybrids.

While in many ways this series suffers from some of the predictability and blandness of Hawk and Dove, there are moments of depth both in writing and artwork that demonstrate potential.  There are levels to these characters, and occasional glimpses of beauty that will keep me reading for at least a few more months.  It would be nice to see the strengths of the creative team continue to grow.

Grade so far: C+, but that may go up in time.

Make sure to come back all month long for the rest of this comprehensive review!

Check out part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

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