Nov 18 2008
Final Crisis - Rage of the Red Lanterns
Greetings – once again – from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Today is Tuesday, November 18th, 2008. Welcome to my daily comic book review blog – thanks for tuning in! Are you interested in a comic book but not sure you want to shell out the cash? Let me know and I’ll review it for you – letting you know if it’s worth your hard earned money!
Today’s Issue:
Final Crisis – Rage of the Red Lanterns #1, published by DC in October, 2008. It was written by Geoff Johns (The Flash, Infinite Crisis) with pencils by Shane Davis (JLA, Superman/ Batman).
Premise:
Sinestro is being executed for his crimes, but his Yellow Lanterns have different ideas. Meanwhile, Atrocitus - the Red Lantern - gathers an army of Red Lanterns. They are the antithesis of everything good about the Green Lanterns and intend to throw some major hitches in the giddy-up of the Guardians. All this and the introduction of the BLUE Lantern.
Awesome Parts:
The Red Lanterns are awesomely evil. And I’m excited to find out more about this Blue Lantern. I definitely enjoyed this comic. Also, thank God for editor’s notes. “These events take place between Final Crisis #1 and #2.” Because without that, I would have ABSOLUTELY no idea how this was happening when Hal Jordan had just been arrested.
Un-Awesome Parts:
I felt that the dialogue was a bit drab and forced at times. Sinestro and Jordan were having a conversation that just feels poorly written. They were expositing. I also don’t like that this is clearly a one-shot that is essential in order to understand the events happening in Green Lantern #36. With that being the case, why bother making a one-shot? And how exactly does this tie in with Final Crisis? I guarantee that everything that happens here will wrap up before Final Crisis #2 – they already told me that at the beginning of the issue. Maybe there were scheduling problems and this was supposed to get released long ago, before Final Crisis was in mid-swing.
My Recommendation:
I’m teetering. Not having a lot of experience with the Lantern characters, it’s tough for me to tell whether or not this was something special. There was definitely a lot going on, and it appears to be a significant tale for Green Lantern, if not for Final Crisis. I did like the character of Atrocitus. I wish I understood the different Lanterns better. See how I keep going back and forth? The thing is, if you’re a GL fan, don’t miss this one-shot. But if you’re a GL fan, you probably already read it. If not, you might enjoy this issue just for its epic space battles, but it’ll be hard to get into the characters, as there are A LOT of them in this issue. So again, I’m teetering. I think I’m going to do something completely unprecedented and not go either way on this one. I’m not going to specifically recommend it, but I don’t think it would be a waste of your money, either.
Alright - that’s all my rambling for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you tomorrow. And don’t forget to let me know if there are any comic books you’d like me to review for you – I take requests!
-Searnold, SuperSearnold@yahoo.com www.myspace.com/SuperSearnold
