Friday, February 27, 2009

Green Lantern #38

You have to admire the craft Geoff Johns is demonstrating in his work on Green Lantern.

He's taken a comic book that's already about a big concept - namely, an intergalactic police force made up of thousands of alien creatures - and made it even bigger.

He's done that by introducing six new forces in the universe - each one a Corps of its own, and each one represented by a different color.

There's red for rage; yellow for fear; orange for avarice; blue for hope; purple for compassion; and violet for love. Some of those can co-exit, but most cannot, so the story is building to a major battle between those forces - but there's a bigger threat on the horizon, represented by black.

This issue wraps up the "Rage of the Red Lanterns" story, while setting the stage for the next chapter, which will introduce the Orange Lanterns.

To be honest, the story sounds kind of silly when you say it out loud (all the colors will fight) - but Johns keeps the tension running high, and the action rolls right along.

It doesn't hurt that he's teamed with artist Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert, who turn in some strong work here. Reis has a great knack for creating new and terrifying aliens, and he gets lots of chances to show off his skills here.

Johns was the writer of last year's best story (the Sinestro Corps), and the next chapter is shaping up nicely. You really should be reading this comic.

Grade: A-

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