There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we go through brightest day and blackest night with “Green Lanterns.”
Who Is This By?
“Green Lanterns” is written by Tim Seeley, with illustrations by Carlo Barberi and colors by Ulises Arreola. Dave Sharpe does the lettering, Matt Santorelli the inks, and the cover this month is drawn by Mike McKone and Dinei Ribeiro.
What’s It All About?
There have been plenty of Green Lanterns throughout DC’s run, but this comic focuses on the latest two, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. They’re still learning the ropes of being Green Lanterns, not to mention members of the Justice League, and still have to balance being a hero with being a human being, which means finding work and dealing with their personal issues.
What Makes It So Great?
Rather than just be a run-of-the-mill superhero story, “Green Lanterns” strikes a nice balance between the heroics and letting us get to know these characters as people. They have a lot to handle in their own lives, from Jessica’s severe anxiety to Simon’s family drama, and we get to know them as people as we see them work through their issues. Additionally, they’re still relatively new as both heroes and Green Lanterns, so we get to see them learn, grow, and develop both as characters and as heroes in their own rights.
Sure, there’s some fun heroics, ring-slinging space battles, and villains to fight, but the real meat of the story comes from the leads as characters, and their arcs have made the comic one worth reading.
Of course, it looks fantastic as well. While Carlo Barberi takes over as artist this month, he’s managed to maintain the same unique look to the book as prior artists. The comic is filled with a wide array of unique alien designs, intense action, and fantastic lantern constructs. A Green Lantern’s power comes from their willpower and imagination, and “Green Lanterns” is imaginative enough to provide some great designs.
Come for the characters and the art, stay for the adventures.
How Can You Read It?
Pretty much any comic shop will carry “Green Lanterns,” and if you can’t find a store near you, there’s always Comixology. You can catch up on previous issues by finding the trade paperbacks, as volume 4 hits stores today along with issue 37, which starts a new story arc.
