The villain of this arc of Green Lanterns has been unleashed!
The last issue of Green Lanterns revealed the truth behind the corrupted rings. While the Corps went to war with an intergalactic army called The Ravagers, their rings began to act against them. This plot was pushed to the side after Hal Jordan came to help the Green Lanterns in the war. Despite this shift, however, that mystery had been brewing under the surface. During the fight against the Ravagers, Simon is sent to Earth when there is a distress signal from the Man of Steel. As he heads to the Fortress of Solitude, readers learn that it was Cyborg Superman that corrupted the rings and called Simon. Will the rookie Lantern learn the truth before he makes a grave error?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
After the Ravagers retreat, the Green Lanterns of Earth move Pelops’ race to a new planet. The battle killed around 90 percent of the population, as well as deal a crippling blow to Lantern morale. As the relocation concludes, Guy Gardner speaks to the other Green Lanterns about Simon being a traitor. Jessica defends her partner, but the rest of the Lanterns believe it’s worth investigating. Meanwhile, on Earth, Simon breaks into the Fortress and inadvertently releases Cyborg Superman. The villain proceeds to beat Simon down as he explains how he executed his plan.
While I liked the issue as a whole, there were a few missteps. The biggest one for me is how quickly the Green Lanterns put the blame on Simon. I understand for the sake of story; pointing fingers will always be a part of stories like this. The problem is we had this plot point as a full story right before Dan Jurgens took over as the writer. It was a short, two-issue arc, but it still feels like this arc is rehashing that plotline, with Simon as the suspect. Speaking of, the other big problem is the cliffhanger ending involving him. It removes a piece of character development that I liked.
There are positives in this book, but the biggest is Cyborg Superman. His beat down with Simon is brutal, and his explanation behind his corruption of the rings is brilliant. Able to manipulate the technology within the rings, Cyborg Superman was able to move the entire corps like chess pieces. The actual reason he is doing all of this takes the cake, and while I won’t spoil it here, it will make the coming issues much more fun.
Art:
Marco Santucci continues to kill it with his illustrations. The Green Lanterns look great, and their constructs are imaginative. Santucci is able to grasp the large-scale sci-fi feel the Lanterns need to have. Cyborg Superman also looks phenomenal, with wonderful flashback panels littered through to explain his plan. With the fantastic colors of Hi-Fi complimenting Santucci’s work, we have one beautiful comic.
Conclusion:
This comic does have a few glaring issues with the story, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. While the beginning with the Green Lanterns and the cliffhanger ending got under my skin, the middle with Simon against Cyborg Superman is fantastic. It also looks amazing thanks to the art team once again knocking it out of the park. With the villain now loose in the galaxy, I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
