The Green Lanterns series comes to an explosive ending!
It’s sad to see a series go, especially when it’s out of the blue. This is the case of the Green Lanterns series. Throughout this arc, we have seen the corps face off against one of their biggest threats, the Ravagers. It was only learned recently that Cyborg Superman has been leading them and has hacked the Power Battery that gives the Green Lanterns their powers. After Simon Baz leads an attack against him, however, Henshaw flees to Earth, aiming to destroy Coast City. How will all of this end?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
After escaping from the battle on Mogo, Cyborg Superman prepares to destroy Coast City. As the fake Superman prepares his Phantom Ring, Hal Jordan arrives just in time to stop him. This leads to an all-out brawl across the city; a callback to Coast City’s destruct in the 90’s. Meanwhile, back on Mogo, the Green Lanterns overtake the Ravagers. Even the all-powerful Eon was brought down by the Guardians.
This is not a good way to end an arc, let alone a series. It was rushed, lacked reason, and just felt empty. This story should have felt grand in scope but failed to give motivation behind the Ravagers. Even Cyborg Superman’s motivation feels empty, as he was only brought in as a reference to the destruction of Coast City.
The biggest problem, however, is that this arc does not do the series as a whole any justice. When the series first started, it followed Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz as the Green Lanterns of Earth. It was a series that focused on developing the rookie Lanterns, building them as characters. In this arc, the focus drifted further and further away from them. In this conclusion, we get so little of either, I almost forgot they were in the story. While Jessica is moving on to Justice League Odyssey, Simon has been pushed back into obscurity. Some of us have been reading since the beginning, and it’s a shame to see it end like this.
Art:
The art for the issue may be colorful, but It fails to live up to finale status. Mike Perkins illustrates the issue, and while the action is great, the characters are not. Their faces appear to look like clay sculptures instead of people. There are a few notable exceptions, especially during the slower scenes, but it’s bizarre to see. It completely pulled this reviewer out of the story as even the human Green Lanterns looked more alien than the aliens. The color work of Hi-Fi is always a pleasant sight, but not even that could save this issue.
Conclusion:
This was a disappointing issue. The story felt rushed, the art felt off, and it just failed to live up to finale status. We may be getting more adventures of our rookie Jessica; it’s clear this was goodbye to the corps for a while. This was a great series that deserved a much better send-off than this.
