I was skeptical, at first, about the new Green Lantern. Not that I didn’t trust Geoff Johns, but the origin was rife with cliche. The first issue was better, but this, the second issue has sold me on the book for a pretty simple reason:
Baz doesn’t win the obligatory superhero fight in the issue because he’s stronger than everyone. He wins it because he’s smarter.
Along the way, Johns is playing with Green Lantern’s powers, and turning a boring, God-like character into somebody genuinely worth reading.
I don’t hate superhero fights, in fact I quite enjoy them, but they are a bit obligatory. And Johns knows it, so, first of all, it starts out as a reasonable conversation where Baz flatly states that Superman could kick his ass and that maybe he could take Batman.
And the Justice League actually listens. In fact, until something goes wrong, it’s actually a reasonable conversation. And when the crap does hit the fan, Baz doesn’t stand and fight, he runs like hell, and Doug Manhke gets to show off his love of cars:
Johns is slowly establishing that Baz can use the ring but he doesn’t have unlimited power like Jordan or Sinestro.
If the issue has a flaw, it’s the fact that it’s got a lot of plotlines to juggle. There’s the Third Army, there’s Black Hand, and frankly, Baz’s story is by far the more compelling.
But, in the end, this is how you reboot a superhero. It’s familiar enough to be faithful but different enough to stand on its own.
Let me know what your favorite book of the week was, and let’s talk some comics.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/569/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/06/gammasquadmanofsteel1-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/06/Evolution_of_Superman-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/06/gammaquadsupermanwonderwoman1-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/06/cccc140613-10-150x150.jpg)
I’ve been a big fan of Earth 2 since Issue 1. I never read any DC books before New 52 with the exception of a few Batman graphic novels and Kingdom Come, so all of the characters were new to me, while having recognizable names (I know what a Green Lantern, Hawk Girl and Flash can do, but not the 3 people beneath the masks). The story was full of intrigue and excitement, and Grundy was a pretty awesome villain for a team of new heroes to have to take on. And then Issue 6 just sort of… stopped. I know most comic plot lines go for 12 issues these days, but I was expecting a big bang out of #6. At the very least an intro to the rest of what I presume is the JSA on the last page. I dunno, something better than Solomon Grundy, lives on the Moonday, right? I’m not gonna stop reading it though, still a really cool comic.
I agree that Earth 2 was a bit abrupt, but I think it’s less about the arc and more about consistent, ongoing threads. It seems a bit like JSA meets the Ultimates, and so far, it is working.
he has a ring, is learning how to use it and its not a fix-all like it is on Jordan?
so… Kyle Rayner, then?
Actually, this feels way different, partially because Baz has a sense of urgency in that he could get packed off to jail if this goes wrong, and partially because he’s way, WAY depowered. He can’t fly, and it’s heavily implied the ring isn’t even supposed to be on his finger.
So happy to have the Manhattan Projects back.
Did read a few things last night.
AvX: Consquences #5 (finale)–I was hoping for at least a brief Avengers fight when Magneto came for Cyclops. I think this comment is abstract enough to not be a spoiler: I hope the 3 criminals consigned to limbo aren’t just a one-off; If I were writing this stuff they’d come back later, full off hellish badness and hatin’ mutants.
Avengers. Does Marvel for some reason own some but not all of the rights to publish the Microverse? The enemy in this one is basically Baron Karza from the old Micronauts comics and before that, the action figures, only with another name (Lord Forgettablename). Would be cooler if they just went full microverse with Acroyear and Pharoid.
Defenders. Is that it? Is Issue 12 a series completion or is there a 13 in the future, just with a new storyline? I need to go back and re-read issue 12 because the ending left me a little confused. (Was that whiteness followed by a reset? Or was that whitness followed by a cut to an alternate universe?…). I think i was just too tired to comprehend it correctly.
Consequences disappointed me. Cyclops has been pushed way, way, way into douche territory.
Yes! I kept waiting for the writer to give him some redeeming qualities. Then I thought, “Maybe it’s braver not to have him cop-out”. Next thing you know there’s an X carved into a man’s face! G-zus, have all his morals faded away? More Magneto than Magneto.
To be fair, we are expecting moral rectitude from a dude who humped his second wife on his first wife’s grave.