Written by Geoff Johns
Illustrated by Doug MahnkeStarting with this issue, 2011 becomes the year of Green Lantern, and we’re kicking it off with the shocking conclusion to “New Guardians”! Hal Jordan and Sinestro must make a great sacrifice in an attempt to protect the entities. But the future of Hal Jordan and the Corps falls into doubt when they’re betrayed by one of their own! The drums are beating, the tensions are rising and the upcoming WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS is set to ignite!
As I’ve said before, as much fun as I’ve been having fun with Green Lantern, Geoff Johns still needs to sell me on War of the Green Lanterns before I add two more books to my pull. Did the final issue of “The New Guardians” succeed in that? Find out after the cut.
When Geoff Johns is on, boy is he on. Sinestro Corps War was one of the best superhero comics in quite a while. Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite returned to that level of greatness in quite some time, with Blackest Night being a bit of a bust, and New Guardians being enjoyable but still just alright. This issue, though, was a bit of a step down in quality. Last issue’s reveal had me rather interested, as I love almost anything related to the original Crisis On Infinite Earths, but I soon lost interest as a character that could have become an interesting, multi-faceted antagonist became yet another “Blargh I’m evil” sort of character instead. What makes this especially disappointing is that Johns has proven that he can write interesting villains in the past – just look at his work with Sinestro. Sure, our mystery villain claims that he’s in the right to resist the guardians, but Johns completely fails at convincing us to even consider taking to his side.
Beyond this, the issue was just a lot of what Johns’ comics have become lately: action, action, action. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with action in a superhero comic, but this issue in particular felt especially formulaic: page or two of witty banter, action-packed spread, rinse and repeat. Even at $2.99, I really don’t feel like I got my money’s worth with this issue. Admittedly, the end of the issue was a bit unexpected, and much more interesting than the rest of it, but it didn’t really make up for the rest of the issue, which – for all of its punches and explosions – was quite boring. If Johns has this much trouble with making this comic seem worth its cost now, I’m very wary towards how it will be once it is cut down to twenty pages.
As with previous issues, the best thing about this book is Doug Mahnke. Just yesterday in this week’s Fund It! I discussed how great he is at drawing monstrous creatures, which is why this book fits him like a glove. Our not-quite villain looked great and genuinely disturbing while not going too over the top, and man does he draw a creepy Ophidian/Hector Hammond. For the bulk of the issue, Mahnke was all that kept me turning the pages, though there were a few more rough panels than I’m used to from him here and there. Still, his work on this issue was great overall, and I’ll miss it most of all.
As that last sentence indicated, I’m dropping this book as of this issue. It’s still enjoyable for the most part, but I can’t add two more books to my pull right now in order to follow the crossover. By all reports, War of the Green Lanterns is going to end at a good spot for readers to jump in, so I figure I’ll start picking the book back up then. Until then, I’ll just read a friend’s copy of the issues and maybe, maybe get the trade if it ends up being better than I thought.
Final Verdict: 6.7 – Browse
