By Robert Venditti, Billy Tan, Charles Soule & Alessandro Vitti
Wow, Green Lantern and Red Lanterns in one book. From a collector standpoint, this issue is driving me insane. Two issues from two different titles is going to mess with my long boxes. However, from a consumer perspective, $2.99 for two full issues is a great deal. It also helps when the writers are Venditti and Soule.
The Green Lantern side deals with some of Venditti’s lingering plots, but mostly deals with Supergirl. She’s found wandering in space, only now she’s in possession of a Red Lantern ring. The ring is driving her insane and needs to be dealt with, so Hal decides to bring Guy and the Reds in on the fun. Venditti’s charm continues to ooze all over the place, with interesting character work and raising the stakes to massive degrees.
Part 2 of this story is in the Red Lanterns section. Charles Soule wraps up Guy’s trip to Earth from the previous RL issue. He also ups the ante with Atrocitus, who is back to full power and prepared for vengeance. The overlapping story with Supergirl eventually comes into play, with Hal and Guy being forced to make some hard decisions about The Girl of Steel, as well as their own relationship with each other. Much like Venditti, Soule is a master of character work and brings you to care about each and every Lantern. You’ll even find yourself rooting for background characters that you previously gave no thought to.
The Green Lantern portion is drawn by Billy Tan. I have become a huge fan of his. Tan is perfect for what Venditti is trying to do with the story. Alessandro Vitti draws RL. His style is very similar to Tan’s so both stories nicely flow together. Both artists have mastered the contrast between the Greens and the Reds. This book is beautiful.
If you’re looking for value, this is probably the best deal in comics. Both titles have been two of DC’s best. At this point, Venditti and Soule can do no wrong. Add Tan and Vitti to the mix and this book is worth well beyond the $2.99 price tag. Well done, DC.
Interesting take. From everyone who’s been reading these I hear these were good issues. But I was trying to jump on with this, and I just felt lost. I had too many questions and 0 answers.
The Supergirl issue in two weeks apparently will explain some more. Unless you meant lost about the Corps in general to which I can only say you gotta back track a bit. At least to the start of Venditti’s run. I’d suggest reading Rise of the Third Army and Wrath of the First Lantern too, because it’s awesome, but that’s a bigger investment.