Green Lantern: War Journal #10 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Writer; Montos, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: We’re in the last act of this brilliant companion piece to the main Green Lantern story, which has neatly balanced a cosmic story for John Stewart with a human story on Earth and some amazing, haunting art by Montos. This issue opens with Lantern Shepherd waging war against the entire corrupt Green Lantern Corps. There’s a stunning two-page visual of constructs of every color bearing down on him as the “unauthorized ring user” stands alone that really drives home the scope of the entire thing. As for John Stewart, he’s found himself in paradise, raising a small cosmic being as they literally build a new world together. It all seems a little too good to be true—because it definitely is. He’s in a lotus-eater machine, being kept pacified by the very cosmic force he’s been chasing—and when he starts to realize it, the tone of the issue shifts dramatically for the scarier.
The same goes for the story back on Earth, as the little sanctum John built for his mother and “sister” comes crumbling down, with a supernatural being infiltrating. We know what this being truly is, but it takes a form that’s deeply personal and designed to hurt Shirley in the cruelest way possible. While it tries to force her to relive the most traumatic moments of her life, Ellie taps into her true powers and comes to the record—but seems to be losing a bit of her humanity in the process. Is there any way this plot won’t break our hearts by the end? I kind of doubt it, but Johnson is doing an amazing job of leading us down the path to a compelling resolution. With only two issues left after this, there is still a lot to resolve, but a major player enters the fray at the end who might just even the playing field. Hopefully Johnson gets to continue a lot of the momentum here into a new series—maybe JLA when it relaunches?
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
