Green Lantern #64

The various Lanterns react to the revelation that Krona is the man that had the Manhunters go rogue. Hal and Atrocitus argue when Larfleeze's lantern pops out of the Book of the Dead. Larfleez goes for it and gets pulled into the book. Lyssa Drak appears and has the book chain them up.

Meanwhile Krona arrives on OA and drops in on the Guardians. Krona has the entities possess the Guardians. Back at the Book of the Dead. Sinestro and Hal use their rings to create a big explosion and Hal is left looking at all of the rings of the other Lanterns. Salaak and a group of GLC members arrive at that moment.

Salaak tells Hal that he's under arrest. Hal wants a moment to explain and the other Lanterns want to hear him out. Just then, Parallax flies into the Central Power Battery. As a result, all of the Green Lanterns go crazy. Hal appears to be the only one not effected by this turn of events and escapes into space. The issue ends with Krona planning to unleash the GLC on the universe like he did the Manhunters.

My Take: Are we really going the mind control route here. Didn't we just have this with Final Crisis? I don't know what it was with this issue. I just didn't like the sudden direction the book took. It seems like the odds are really stacked against Hal so how are we going to get out of this hopeless situation?

I don't really understand Krona's motivations here either. Revenge on the Guardians to destroying the universe with Green Lanterns seemed like kind of a big leap there. Likewise, Parallax going into the power battery doesn't add up all the way. Why does that give Krona control of them? Wouldn't it just bring back their weakness to yellow?

I really hope this doesn't turn into some "Hal Jordan is such a bad-ass storyline." It has the workings of Hal beating all of the other Green Lanterns and I really don't want to sit through that. We'll just have to see where this goes. I for one am a little worried with the direction that the first issue took. This could turn out to be a colossal disaster.

I think the event fatigue, for me, really hurt this issue. I know that I'm in for some big multi-part storyline and I think I'm just worn out on it. I really think I needed another year for me to be more accepting of this. I feel like Blackest Night ended and things for the War just started ramping up.

I'll give this a C overall.

Green Lantern #63

The Guardians are meeting with Salaak. They want him to form a band of Green Lanterns and hunt down Hal Jordan. They believe that he has gone rogue and needs to be captured. Salaak seems very hesitant to follow the order but goes along with it.

Meanwhile, Hal Jordan and the other Lanterns are having a strategy session on how to bring in Krona. Krona attacks and the Lanterns scramble until Sinestro arrives on the scene and reveals that it was just an image and no real threat to the Lanterns. They teleport down to a planet and find the Book of Black. It contains the missing chapters of the Book of OA.

The book opens and they're taken back to Krona avoiding the Manhunters. The scene then shifts and it's realized that Krona turned the Manhunters rogue to show the other Guardians that no emotions is a flawed way to police the universe. It's also shown that Krona discovered the green light that would become the Green Lanterns' power. The issue ends with the book saying there can be only three and an image of Kyle, Hal and John diving for rings.

My Take: I was really surprised when the end of the issue popped up. It didn't feel like there was very much to this issue at all. I enjoyed what there was but I think I read this issue in maybe 5 minutes tops. I really hate shelling out $2.99 for a book that's a five minutes read.

This issue seemed like mostly filler to me. It felt like they needed another issue before they kicked off the War crossover so they strung out about 8 pages of content into a full length comic. Like I said, I enjoyed what was there, there just wasn't a lot of it. I am a little frustrated though. It felt like the Guardians learned their lesson a little after Blackest Night and it seems like they're back to being ridiculous and counterproductive to the cause again. Maybe the Green Lanterns would be better off with no Guardians around at this rate.

The art was good as always. I think Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are two of the best drawn books in the DCU right now.

That's it for the stuff leading up the War of the Green Lanterns. I'll be back with Green Lantern #64 to kick off the War in a day or two.

I'll give this a B- overall.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #7

Zardor subdues Sodom Yat as the issue opens. He reveals that Krona has been influencing Yat since he removed the Ion entity from him. Zardor plans to override Krona's influence and use Sodom Yat as his own weapon. The mind control snakes swallow Guy and Bleeze and start to take hold. Guy in desperation smashes his snake into the one that has Bleeze and kisses her to bring out the red rage. They escape the snakes and Guy dukes it out with Zardor while Bleeze tries to help the telepaths escape. Zardor gains the advantage by using his flame sword. Killowag and Arisia arrive on the scene to join the battle.

Sodom Yat briefly regains control and tells Killowag to kill him. He hesitates and Yat attacks. Zardor collects Bleeze, Yat and his telepaths and starts to make his escape. Guy follows and enables lethal force for himself. He goes for a shot at Yat but Arisia knocks his shot off the mark. Zardor and company make their escape as Guy argues with Killowag and Arisia. Arisia still plans to try and save Yat. Guy thanks them for coming to the rescue as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: I really dislike Zardor as a character. He seems needlessly overpowered and I don't know. He's just bugged me since he showed up around issue 2 or so. This whole War of the Green Lanterns is kind of a bummer because he's going to play a big part in it.

My complaints with Zardor aside, this was a pretty solid issue. It's put a lot of the pieces into place for the War to begin. We now know that Yat is the one that has been stealing power from the other Green Lanterns. We know that Zardor wants a GLC of his own. It's a nice lead in to the actual War. I am intrigued by what all three titles have done leading into this event. I wish it wasn't so close on the heels of Blackest Night but that's the way the comics world is.

This issue finally had the action that had been building up for the last couple of issues. Guy and Zardor duking it out was pretty cool. It was one of the better fights I've seen in a comic lately. I didn't care for the end with the flame sword and Aleesun. The first part of the issue was a little slow but that was putting the puzzle together with you.

The art was really good. The art has been one of the strongest aspects of this series. Really, the art has been really good for all three of the titles.

I'm hoping Killowag is the one to take Zardor out in the end. He deserves it for seeing all of his recruits get killed in the previous issue. Yat is pretty expendable to me. I've never really cared for him since the GLC series started. Kill him, save him, whatever. I'm also hoping that this is the last Green Lantern event for awhile. I'm a little burnt out on GL events. I think a few years of letting the individual series breathe would be a good idea. I doubt I'll be that lucky though.

I'd give this issue a solid B.

Saturday Morning Batman: Detective Comics #33

Cover Date: November 1939

Plot Overview: This issue opens with the telling of Batman's origin. You've probably seen this reprinted before so I'll gloss over it. The real story begins as the town is attacked by a group calling itself the Red Horde. Bruce is on the scene and helps a few of his fellow citizens out.

Later Wayne reads that Professor Carl Kruger has been released from a mental institution. Wayne theorizes that Kruger might be behind the attack. Dr. Kruger has a Napoleon complex which of course means he's dressing himself up like Napoleon and planning to conquer the world.

Batman unsuccessfully confronts Kruger and barely escapes with his life. Batman then decides to focus on the minions of Kruger. One unwittingly leads Batman to their base. Batman tries to destroy the death rays but Kruger shoots him in the back. Kruger appears to kill Batman with a death ray but it's quickly revealed that Batman switched places with one of the guards.

An aerial battle follows and Batman manages to cause Kruger to crash into the bay killing him.

My Take: This issue was really up and down. For the first half, I was really impressed as it seemed the writing had really improved with this issue. Then it all fell apart. The part where Batman switched places with the guard made no sense. It, literally, was impossible due to how the book presented it. That really took me out of the issue and it made the good points of this issue a little harder to stick with.

But, the writing was a little better in this issue. It flowed as a story better than previous issues have. I didn't feel like I was forcing myself to push through the book. I am kind of curious to see how Superman reads from this time period now. I wonder if the writing is as bad as it can be in Batman. I'm guessing that it probably is.

I was so-so on the art this time. It didn't seem to set the mood that previous issues have. It felt kind of generic and rushed. There was also a point where Batman got hit in the head with a gun and you really couldn't tell from the art that it happened.

Overall, I'd give this issue a D for some up and down writing and for some less than stellar artwork.