Better dead than Red
With the introduction of the Blue Lanterns, and the quest to rescue Sinestro on the shoulders of Hal Jordan and his two blue brothers in arms, there was bound to be a moment when there would come a conflict of interest between all the parties involved. Green Lantern #37 sees the first major battle featuring the Lanterns of blue and the fall of yet another long time Green Lantern character.
The blood vomiting Red Lanterns are my least favorite characters DC ever dreamed up, and that’s coming from a guy who read the adventures of the Detroit Justice League. The claim that these lanterns are nothing more than rabid dogs is appropriate, but I just can’t get into them as ominous villains because of that blood vomiting.
There are definitely some very good moments in this issue. The appearance of the Sinestro Corps riding in to save the day is a pretty cool moment. It is unfortunate that these Yellow Lanterns decide to divide their forces by fighting the Blue and Green Lanterns instead of temporarily teaming to defeat the common enemy. It’s also unfortunate that Sinestro also chooses this time to kill Laira, the former Alpha Lantern, to simple prove a point to Hal Jordan.
While these moments serve the base desire to see action in comics, the most interesting part of this issue isn’t that Hal Jordan turns into a Red Lantern due to the amount of hate and rage he has for Sinestro (don’t worry it won’t last long), nor the implication that Laira will more than likely make her return to the Lantern universe later this year as a Black Lantern (alongside Kal-L of Earth-2 and the Martian Manhunter), but rather the subtle hints that Sinestro may be the key component in this entire battle.
Before Hal Jordan horned in on his gig, Sinestro was the greatest Lantern of them all. When he was deposed and became a Yellow Lantern, he was more than a match for Hal. Heck, the entire Sinestro Corps War proved he was the baddest of the bad, willing to do anything for the cause. But there are two moments in Green Lantern #37 that may cause readers to reexamine Sinestro’s motives over the last couple of years to see if there is something they missed. The first are the comments made by the Blue Lanterns that they need to protect Sinestro from coming to any harm. The other is the moment when Sinestro warned Jordan that the presumed dead planet was really a trap, with the Red Lanterns lying in wait to attack.
From the Green Lantern Origins retcon, to the current revelation that Sinestro has a daughter no one knows about, Geoff Johns has been slowly been building up reader sympathy for this character. If he continues to slip these little morsels of change into his stories, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Sinestro ends up being the one that saves the day at the end of Blackest Night. Although the final panel of Hal Jordan wearing both a Green and Red Lantern rings may throw that all out the window.
This issue is well paced, and I was surprised at how much story is packed into the first seven pages. The flashbacks are necessary fill ins to let newer readers know the past history between Sinestro and Hal Jordan, while the predictions made by Atrocitus may be a glimpse of the chapter following the end of the next major Green Lantern event. In any case, I was once again drawn into the events unfolding, and the build up to the Blackest Night is getting better by the issue. Green Lantern #37 earns 4 out of 5 Stars.
05/05
14 Comments
Isnt it said in Guardian Lore that Sinestro will be the one that saves the day and such ? and I would love to see Hal Jordan get all the rings and then be all RAINBOW LANTERN !
No..please…not Rainbow Lantern..that would be too much (and I’m a definite lover of Hal Jordan)…and every (angry) Kyle Fan would try to assasinate Geoff Johns…
Let him be like Atrocitus…a red Lantern with sane mind…or the greates Blue Lantern…I think he (and Kyle too) has to be a bit more, than just an ordanary Green Lantern…but a rainbow Lantern oder white Lantern…-.-
I love Hal, but he sure is – uh – receptive.
How many times was he possessed by something, again? I lost count.
Can’t wait to see his purple lantern costume, though. I bet is pretty.
Thanks for bringing my attention to all the fuss around Sinestro.
Don’t think too hard on the Red Lantern thing. My guess: Hal gets a blue ring on panel 2, and it burns out the red ring. Then he chooses to stay Green.
where are the white lanterns?
you will see the white lanterns at the end of the Blackest Night series
I think hal with all the rings would be cool. I was sure from the start of the corps war tha Sinestro would safe the green lanterns in the end.
I hope that Johns does not redeem Sinestro completely…making him the hero of Blackest Night? Ok. Making h im good and Greent Lantern again? No!!!!!
Hal Jordan, yellow lantern with red polka dots and green-blue strippes of sector 2814…
Laira was a Lost Lantern, neven an Alpha. The most interesting bit for me was when Sinestro tells Jordan that the Corps doesn’t need the Guardians. Then I come back to an earlier comic where we see a Lantern making the rings, we have Kilowog trainning the rookies, Mogo gives the rings, the main baterry is not powered by the Guardians… do the guardians play an actual role in the Corps other then bitch and moan about their Lantern’s actions?
*****Spoiler*****
New Red LAntern:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2008/10/1023_david_beckham_splash.jpg
@Creep
I don’t see Sinestro as being redeemed, really, more like *necessary* (to win the war). Johns seems to place him firmly in the category of an evil Magnificent Bastard, and he’s done a good job of it so far.
Who else is waiting for Star Sapphire Hal? Anyone? Anyone? Aww c’mon, guys, can’t you see it? “I can’t forgive anyone who would break a noble heart! I’ll punish you with the Purple Prose of Looo-oooove!”
Hopefully, we’ll have fewer corps when the blackest night is over with. Every one of them serves a purpose, but here are few predictions/opinions:
Black-Black hand will rise to prominence as a major threat(Think Vader or the Emperor). He’s been set up pretty much for that since issue #1. Mongul’s dead sister Mongal will come looking for payback.
Orange-Rather see Mongul take them over. Seeing him fight over control of the Sinestro corps seems forced. But we’ve seen the least of them so far. Agent Orange is coming, and I’d like to see more…They’ll try to steal rings of fallen corpsmen, but other than that, no clue as to how they’ll end up. Wouldn’t mind them surviving…
Red-Hopefully exterminated before/during/after the Blackest Night. I get the whole demonic, savage, attack every thing that moves aspect. But they need to get put on the backburner ASAP due to overexposure of Atrocitus. Has yet to be considered a threat. He’ll be in a sciencell at the end of this arc(or dead if we’re lucky).
Blue-I see them dying heroically, and one or more of the GLs from Earth being offered a temporary shot(possible resurrection of Katma Tui as well, and her going to the Star Sapphires).
Yellow-they will side with the GLs during Blackest night. The Black Lanterns are a threat to everyone, hence “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Sinestro’s importance is practically stamped all over this issue and the previous one.
Indigo-not sure of their role in this one, if they represent compassion, they’ll be wiped out if they’re nothing but pacifists.
Violet-As the all-female corps, their motivations will be similar to the Yellows; they’ll aid the GLs, but cause friction afterwards, by competing for control. Not bad on the eyes, so I hope they stick around.
Green-lastly, Sodam Yat will go all out and nearly destroy one of the new corps. We’ll see alot of resurrected GLs(Katma, chimmuck, jack t chance) Another Earth GL will be seriously injured(my bets are on Hal). The Guardians laws will cause more harm than good. New Alpha Lanterns will be chosen.
“Who else is waiting for Star Sapphire Hal? Anyone? Anyone? Aww c’mon, guys, can’t you see it? “I can’t forgive anyone who would break a noble heart! I’ll punish you with the Purple Prose of Looo-oooove!â€
That’d be me! :)
Damn Sailor Moon…