Major Spoilers
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Twitch Discord RSS
    Major Spoilers
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Random Access Memory
      • Retro Review
      • So You Want to Read Comics
    • Podcasts
      • Critical Hit
        • Critical Hit House Rules
        • Critical Hit World Building
      • Dueling Review
      • Finally Friday
      • Geek History Lesson
      • The Legion Clubhouse
      • Major Spoilers Podcast
        • MSP TPB for 2019
        • On the Next Major Spoilers Podcast – 2013
        • On the Next Major Spoilers Podcast – 2012
        • On the Next Major Spoilers Podcast – 2011
      • Munchkin Land
      • Top Five
      • Wayne’s Comics
      • Zach on Film
    • Features
      • Casual 60
      • Comic Casting Couch
      • Comics Portal
      • Did You Hear?
      • Editorials
      • Features
      • Gamer’s Corner
      • Hero Histories
      • Let’s Get Nerdy
      • Major Spoilers Adventures
      • Random Access Memory
      • So You Want to Read Comics
    • Movies
      • Did You Hear
      • Movies
      • Television
    • Comic Previews
    • Patreon
      • Patreon
      • Store
    Major Spoilers
    DC

    REVIEW: Red Lanterns #0

    George ChimplesBy George ChimplesOctober 1, 2012Updated:October 1, 20123 Comments3 Mins Read

    Red Lanterns are like Green Lanterns, but instead of willpower, they’re fueled by rage and instead of protecting the universe, they spit up burning blood on people. Red Lanterns #0 tells the story of their leader, Atrocitus – but will it make this Major Spoilers reviewer sputter in anger?

    RED LANTERNS #0
    Writer: Peter Milligan
    Penciller: Ardian Syaf
    Inker: Vicente Cifuentes
    Colorist: Peter Pantazis
    Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
    Cover: Miguel Sepulveda & Santiago Arcas
    Editor: Pat McCallum
    Publisher: DC Comics
    Price: $2.99

    Previously, in Red Lanterns: I don’t read this title, but I am lead to believe it involves angry aliens flying around space and vomiting burning blood on people. So there is that.

    NEEDS MORE BLOOD VOMIT

    Red Lanterns #0 focuses on the origins of Atrocitus, the first Red Lantern. Once simply Atros of the planet Ryutt, he witnessed his family (and the rest of the planet’s population) murdered by faulty Manhunters built by the Guardians of the Universe. Found by a quartet of demons from the “Cancer Worlds,” Atros joins forces with them to form the terror group known as the Five Inversions, waging a war of vengeance against the Guardians. This war continually enflames his rage as his other emotions die off, until finally he founds the Red Lantern Corps.

    Peter Milligan has done over-the-top, insane, intelligent work before (see: X-Statix), but the spark I expected is missing in this issue. Atrocitus’s story relies on hoary old tropes about vengeance and prophecy without bringing anything original to the table. We’re told that Atros is full of rage, but why is he more full of rage than any other denizen of the planet Ryutt? Presumably, millions of other inhabitants witnessed their families murdered, but Atros lives to become Atrocitus… because he does? There is nothing seemingly special about Atros other than the fact that we are told he is special. This doesn’t make for terribly interesting reading. Everything is played deadly serious too, which results in this issue being a bit of a slog.

    MY EYES ARE BLEEDING NO WAIT THAT’S JUST THE PAGE

    Syaf and Cifuentes do a fine job with the illustrations. The non-Atros members of the Five Inversions are particularly good, as Syaf draws some bizarrely inventive demons. But the art suffers from a fairly obvious problem. Unsurprisingly, the art calls for a whole lot of red, meaning Peter Pantazis has a thankless job as the colorist. He does a decent job breaking up the tone as much as he can with varying shades of red for Atrocitus’s skin or for the blood seas or blood magick (you get the picture), but there is only so much that can be done. The red becomes extremely tedious by issue’s end, matching the exhausting storytelling.

    BOTTOM LINE: DIDN’T SELL ME

    Red Lanterns #0 did not draw me in as a new reader. It’s clear that Atrocitus is one angry, messed-up guy. But there’s little to separate him from the many other similarly angry, vengeful characters that litter the comic book landscape. The guy’s got blood magick and ties into the larger Green Lantern mythos, but nothing in the storytelling here hooked me for further reading. I have the feeling that Peter Milligan is shackled on this title, for whatever reason. If he could cut loose, maybe it could actually be fun. Red Lanterns #0 rates a disappointing one out of five stars.

    Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

    DID YOU READ THIS ISSUE? RATE IT!
    Reader Rating

    [ratings]

    dc comics red lanterns Review
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleNew Comic Releases for October 03, 2012
    Next Article REVIEW: Batman Incorporated #0
    George Chimples
    • Twitter

    George Chimples comes from the far future, where comics are outlawed and only outlaws read comics. In an effort to prevent that horrible dystopia from ever coming into being, he has bravely traveled to the past in an attempt to change the future by ensuring that comics are good. Please do not talk to him about grandfather paradoxes. He likes his comics to be witty, trashy fun with slightly less pulp than a freshly squeezed glass of OJ. George’s favorite comic writers are Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison, while his preferred artists are Guy Davis and Chris Bachalo, He loves superheroes, but also enjoys horror, science fiction, and war comics. You can follow him @TheChimples on Twitter for his ramblings regarding comics, Cleveland sports, and nonsense.

    Related Posts

    Major Spoilers Podcast #1020: Fruit, Part 3

    Read More

    Who is Isildur’s sister Eärien? – Let’s Get Nerdy!

    Read More

    Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #1 Review

    Read More

    3 Comments

    1. Patrick on October 1, 2012 4:38 pm

      Actually, I avoided Red Lanterns but tried them out during the #0 issue, but reading this issue made me want to see what else is going on in the series. However, this is only because I didn’t expect to see so much random green lantern lore woven in (such as the demons, etc), so not sure that most readers would find that interesting or even if the rest of the series has that much back story woven in. So “your mileage may vary”…but “I liked it!” :P

      Reply
      • George Chimples on October 1, 2012 5:44 pm

        Good point – I should note that I am not a regular Green Lantern reader myself. I came for the Peter Milligan and the blood-spewing aliens. So folks who are more into the GL mythology might receive this issue better.

        Reply
    2. Bluecho on October 3, 2012 12:26 am

      I gave up on Red Lanterns after issue 9 because the plot was moving slower than congressional hearings where all the senators are high on weed. And even then I think I gave the series too much slack. It is true things happened, but they were things that could have happened in roughly half the time it took for them to actually happen. Spinning its wheels is how I described it on my blog, and that’s basically what occurs in that series, at least up until issue nine.

      And yes, everything is red. It doesn’t help that most of the series up to the point I stopped reading took place on the Red Lanterns’ homeworld, which used blood as its predominant color. Red and brown. I jumped for joy every time it cut to anywhere besides there, just so we could get variety.

      Reply

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Support this site by making a purchase through our Amazon affiliate links

    Reviews
    7.0
    March 29, 2023

    Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #1 Review

    6.0
    March 29, 2023

    Rocketman and Rocketgirl #1 Review

    6.7
    March 27, 2023

    Milestone 30th Anniversary Special #1 Review

    8.0
    March 26, 2023

    Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants #2 Review

    7.0
    March 26, 2023

    Retro Review: The Black Rider #8 (March 1950)

    Patreon Support
    Major Spoilers Store
    Recent Comments
    • J Michael T on Ten Abandoned Aliases
    • Doni on Titan Comics announces Gun Honey spin-off series
    • Karl G Siewert on Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU #1 Review
    • R. Eric Smith on Retro Review: So Beautiful And So Dangerous #1 (1979)
    • Daniel Langsdale on The X-Cellent #1 Review
    Subscribe to the Major Spoilers E-Mail List
    Sponsor

    ComiXology Home Page

    Follow Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Twitch
    ComiXology Home Page">
    Major Spoilers Patreon
    • About
      • Major Spoilers Terms of Use
      • Major Spoilers Frequently Asked Questions
      • Major Spoilers Privacy Policy Statement
      • Major Spoilers Podcast Gear
    • Contact
    • Cookie Policy (EU)
    Major Spoilers is copyright 2006-2022 by Major Spoilers Entertainment, LLC

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.