Green Lantern #17 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; Xermanico, Artist; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Jeremy Adams continues to deliver an explosive cosmic thriller, as not one but two major villains have ascended to new levels of power. High Premier Tharros, thought dead, has actually bonded with the Darkstar ring and is now found at the heart of Mogo, forcing the possessed planet-sized organism to make a beeline for Oa to destroy the planet. But he might not even be the main threat – his nephew Varron is now bonded with a dark cosmic phantom and has his eyes on an even darker power. The Lanterns are split across the planet, each on their own mission – with so many dark powers at play, like the magic-using Unseen, this plot can almost be overwhelming at times, but it has such great energy that it’s fun despite the chaos. Adams is balancing a pretty huge cast here – pulling in just about every Lantern from Earth and beyond and surprisingly giving them all something interesting to do.
Some of the most interesting beats here include the mysterious resurrection of Kilowog, who now seems to have fear energy powering him – or controlling him. Additionally, Sinestro’s new red gear seems to have given him a level of power we’ve never seen before. When he first appeared in this title, he seemed to be back to his roots as a hard-core villain, but in this issue he actually plays a very unlikely hero role. Alan Scott’s magic roots gives him a unique advantage against the Unseen, and the mysterious Ellie – a construct who seems to have gained her own consciousness – has bonded in a strange way with the captured Keli Quintana. And then there’s Kyle Rayner, the Lantern who has probably had the least to do so far in this run. It’s almost like he’s been waiting for his moment to shine, and when he does – something truly unexpected is set up. This issue was almost dizzying, but I can’t wait for more.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
