Tim Seely’s run on the title has been fairly even. Dealing with two main protagonists can lead to balance problems in making sure each character is properly served. While the prior volume was more focused on Green Lantern Simon Baz, this volume puts Green Lantern Jessica Cruz front and center.
If you are looking for something that you can easily pick up and enjoy without needing to know everything about a character, then this trade is for you. Personally, I don’t have a deep back knowledge of Clint Barton or Kate Bishop as Hawkeye. I was keeping up to date on these trades once upon a time and then fell behind. Coming into this volume, I essentially was coming in with a new reader’s eyes. While this story highlights Madame Masque as the antagonist, she really isn’t very present. This truly is a story about Bishop and unresolved issues with her father.
Tim Seeley’s second trade for Green Lanterns is a quick read. This trade consists of four issues and an annual written by Andy Diggle. While it is quick, Seeley does a nice job tackling issues efficiently. The title of the trade tips its hand on some of the issues covered. What is interesting is the dovetail that Seeley writes that intersects the human trafficking with religious zealotry: superheroes kidnapped and enslaved to do work to benefit a religious cult.
Tim Seeley comes aboard as the new writer of Green Lanterns, taking over from Sam Humphries. Humphries launched the title and created a great foundation to build on. Seeley doesn’t waste any time and accomplishes quite a bit in this first trade. First and foremost, the relationship between Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz doesn’t skip a beat. It feels like Seeley has a good handle on how these two characters work individually and he understands the dynamic between them. This allows a wide range of subject matter to be covered in this trade.
Stranded ten billion years in the past, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz have to find a way back home, and along the way team up with the first seven Green Lanterns. What happens when two of the newest Green Lanterns added to the Corps have to train the first Green Lanterns ever? Here is where Sam Humphries excels in writing fun characters who have a believable reliance and relationship with each other. It was quite a nice touch to have the last issue primarily dedicated to Jessica and Simon back on Earth dealing with real issues in Simon’s family.
This is a nice bite-sized trade that Sam Humphries and the team have put together. The Green Lanterns title gives new readers an easy entry point to come into the Green Lantern universe with the two newer GL recruits, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. The heavier legacy Green Lantern mythos is left to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. We get the buddy cop adventure between Jessica and Simon whilst building on the Green Lantern story.
When last we left the Green Lantern Corps, they were coming off a rescue mission of the Guardians of the Universe from a resurgent contingent of Controllers (their ancient enemy). The Controllers escaped and resurrected one of the Lanterns’ strongest foes, The Darkstars. What ensues is an all-out fight between the heavily outnumbered Green Lanterns and The Darkstars. Ultimately at stake is who will prevail as the police force of the universe. Will the law and order methods of the Green Lanterns hold the line over the lethal, eye-for-an-eye methods of The Darkstars?
Hal Jordan and the Corps vs General Zod and his family. It almost makes you want to say “Nuff Said.” That said, I didn’t know that Zod had a child. For the purposes of this trade, all you need to know is that he has a family and has taken Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner as prisoners. It is up to the rest of the Corps to rescue them.
This trade is a nice quick read compared to the prior volume, in page length alone. Robert Venditti continues a solid run, showing a strong understanding of the Green Lantern universe and the principal Green Lantern characters. In what seems to be a recurring theme in modern Green Lantern lore, Guardians of the Universe are murdered, further reducing their numbers. As a result, we get an adventure of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner all working together to solve who is killing the Guardians and stop any more from dying.
A lot is tackled in this volume. Robert Venditti picks up where he left off, with the united Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps working with each other to help police the universe and re-establish trust in the Corps. Not everything that is as contentious as these two factions can last together in a long peace. While I won’t detail what breaks them apart, I will say that I was a little sad to see it go.
