sinestro corps war

5.2 Reasons to Love the Green Lantern Universe

The GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1 lit up comic book shelves yesterday, and can you believe... Wait, you have read it already right? If not, stop reading this article, go buy it from the comic shop or download it onto your mobile device, and read it immediately. It's okay. We'll wait.

Back? Awesome. So, crazy, right?! The First Lantern! Black Hand! The Third Army! Holy Moley. We've been fans of writer Geoff Johns' Green Lantern epic since he kicked things off with the GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH limited series, and since then, Johns has crafted a veritable space opera filled with amazing character development, epic action, and continuing twists and turns that leave us desperately wanting a ring to fly through our ceiling and recruit us into the Corps. (We don't know what the word "reality" means).

As such, this week, we're listing off the 5.2 Reasons to Love the Green Lantern Universe!

1. New Characters
The upcoming GREEN LANTERN #0 introduces readers to a brand new recruit: the mysterious Baz. Not much is known about him, but we're already pretty stoked to find out all we can. After all, this is part of a time-honored tradition with this title. Over the years, the Green Lantern comic has introduced quite a few new characters, and everyone has their favorite—Hal, Guy, John, Kyle, Kilowog, G'Nort for some of you out there, we're sure... probably. Needless to say, we can't wait to see Baz join the ranks of the Green Lantern greats.

2. Diversity
The Green Lantern Corps also boasts a very diverse cast of characters—from strong female heroes like Soranik Natu and Laira to one of comics' most prominent African-American characters, John Stewart, to whatever the heck Chaselon is—and with his Arab heritage, the newest Green Lantern adds to this mix. Of course, when making a point about diversity, it would be unthinkable to limit it merely to humans, and Green Lantern is proud to feature more Korugaran, Xudarian, Bellatrixian and Ungaran characters than any other comic book in history!

3. Epic Events
The introduction of the newest Green Lantern comes in conjunction with the latest chapter in the Lantern saga, "Rise of The Third Army," which in itself follows previous game-changing crossovers like the incredibly popular "Sinestro Corps War" and "War of the Green Lanterns." We still remember the chill we felt when Batman rose in "Blackest Night," and this moment in Sinestro Corps War is still one of our favorites ever for the character:

4. Seeing the Guardians Completely Lose It
We mentioned earlier the character growth present throughout all of Johns' GL run, but nothing stands out as both terrifyingly awesome and awesomely terrifying as the once-thought benevolent Guardians of the Universe ever so slowly going totally insane.

5. The Emotional Spectrum
If you’re new to the world of Green Lantern (welcome, by the way!), you may not realize that Lanterns in this world come in far more colors than just green. Johns introduced an entire emotional spectrum, each with its own Corps, color, and power. And like arguing whether you belong in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw (poor, poor Hufflepuff), fans have long since enjoyed discussing and theorizing about which Corps they'd belong in. Not to mention the replica lanterns, rings and shirts you can get to show off your Corps pride.

5.1 Ch'p and Dex-Starr Are Two Characters That Exist and It is Awesome

5.2 So. Many. Cosplay. Options.

Tags:

5.2 Reasons, Green Lantern, geoff johns, Baz, sinestro, sinestro corps war, Rise of the Third Army

A few thoughts on BLACKEST NIGHT

The dead shall rise.

The concept was simple yet precise. What happens when the fallen - hero, villain, friend, enemy -- rose up from the ground to torment those still left standing?

But a concept alone can't make up the critically acclaimed blockbuster that is BLACKEST NIGHT. It's all down to execution, and the book was blessed with two spot-on and inventive talents in writer Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reis, and an extended crew of A-list talent that included - but is not limited to - Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Doug Mahnke, J.T. Krul, Tony Bedard, James Robinson and many more.

Starting off with the creaking, nervous tension that was more old school horror movie than superhero epic, BLACKEST NIGHT never catered to expectations, veering from answering "Who'll come back next?" to posing the arguably more interesting question of "Who will wear the rings?" before steamrolling to the epic, jaw-dropping conclusion you now hold in your hands.

How many stories cover so much ground so capably and so well? From chilling thriller to galaxy-spanning epic, it's not a stretch to say BLACKEST NIGHT had it all - drama, humor, action and, most importantly, heart.

Because, in many ways, BLACKEST NIGHT is the story of one man's redemption. Geoff Johns took the character of Hal Jordan and returned him to form, re-energizing him by going back to the two words that made the character so compelling before: No fear. Through REBIRTH, SINESTRO CORPS WAR and now BLACKEST NIGHT, the readers have literally been to hell and back with Hal. They're invested and excited, and that's a testament to Geoff Johns' creativity and ability to weave what's come before and use it to his benefit.

And it's contagious. Whether you're watching Peter Tomasi pit a Red Lantern Guy Gardner against Kyle Rayner or watching across the DCU as heroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman face off against their deadliest enemies and most-missed loved ones, BLACKEST NIGHT was more than just a crossover. After you finish reading the final issue you'll see very clearly - there's no easy reset button. Things have changed.

It's been remarkably interesting to not only sit and read - and thoroughly enjoy - the comics tied into BLACKEST NIGHT as they came out, but see the process from behind the scenes. Whether it was sitting in on a meeting and listening to Geoff break down the story's major beats and just sitting back, psyched about what was coming to walking into the offices of editors Eddie Berganza and Adam Schlagman and cherry-picking awesome pieces of artwork hanging from their walls to tease and tantalize a hungry and eager audience. From day one, I think it's safe to say that everyone involved in the process - from top to bottom - knew that BLACKEST NIGHT was going to be special. The momentum, the story, the amazing art - it was all there.

Now, if you're anything like me, and you've just finished the final issue, you don't want it to end. What happens to this character? How does this affect X and Y? The final issue will not answer every question, but it'll end with a bang so loud your ears will be ringing for a while.

And you know what? This is only the beginning.

Tags:

blackest tnight, doug mahnke, Geoff Johns, green lantern, ivan reis, j.t. krul, James Robinson, patrick gleason, peter tomasi, rebirth, sinestro corps war, tony bedard

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