Green Lantern: War Journal #3 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Writer; Montos, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: While Jeremy Adams has been taking Hal Jordan back to basics with a high-flying adventure, Johnson and Montos have been putting John Stewart through a much darker trial—setting him against the Radiant Dead, a corrupted group of hard-light beings from another universe that can convert anything they touch with ease. Stewart’s rival, a ruthless Lantern out to get his ring, was one of the first to fall—and now John faces a cosmic being with a personal vendetta against him. Infected and with his elderly mother trapped on a damaged train, John seems on the ropes—until he’s given an assist by Caolan Shepherd, a young Lantern from another dimension where John is essentially a God—and the Radiant Dead and their Queen have overrun the world. Together, they’re able to abort the immediate crisis, but another one is brewing—and it’s literally growing all over John.
The idea of a zombie plague in the Green Lantern sector of the DCU isn’t new—obviously, one of the most famous DC events of all time hinged on this plot—but the Radiant Dead seem different. They’re not mindless, but rather function like locusts in service of a specific cause. The art style by Montos also makes them seem genuinely otherworldly, with a sickly purple glow. The main plot is fascinating, introducing an older version of Kyle Rayner from Shepherd’s universe and leaving John with the challenge of living up to his own legacy. But the best scene by far in the issue is a one-sided conversation between John and his unconscious mother, as he grapples between his promise to her and his promise to the universe. John is a complex character when written well, although too many writers treat him as one-dimensional stoic. This could wind up being one of the character’s defining runs.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
