Green Lantern #7 – Geoffrey Thorne, Writer; Tom Raney, Marco Santucci, Artists; Andy Owens, Finishes; Mike Atiyeh, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The Green Lanterns are still scattered across the galaxy—and in this issue, across time. The history of the Corps with the New Gods has been spotty at best, but now John Stewart finds himself taken back to the beginning of time, before there even was a Corps, and is front and center to the first encounter between the Oans and the New Gods. That New Gods army, by the way, happens to include a brash young God named Uxas—the future Darkseid. As things go from bad to worse, John risks a universe-ending time paradox to intervene, and winds up triggering the next evolution in his time as a Green Lantern. What’s the future of the Lanterns with the central battery shattered? We may be starting to find out. This segment is fast-paced, but manages to tell a compelling story amid all the chaos and brings in some major players from around the DCU.
I think I preferred the story that unfolds in the back half of the issue, though, While the stakes are still high, it’s a much more intimate tale as Simon Baz and Jo Mullein deal with the fallout from Keli’s attack on New Korugar. Not only did they encounter a mystery Yellow Lantern, now revealed as Jessica Cruz, but Keli’s battle has left her catatonic—despite no evidence of serious injuries. As Thanagarian representatives demand she be turned over, the Lanterns try to keep the girl’s night terrors—which manifest as Lantern projections of her former Young Justice teammates—from destroying the ship. Thorne’s run has been controversial, to put it lightly, with how many Lantern elements he’s taken off the table. But as its core is still a strong character-driven tale about the survivors trying to keep the legacy of the Corps alive, and maybe build something stronger in its place.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
