A long, green journey
Nine years. Nine years since Geoff Johns took over the Green Lantern franchise; nine years since I wrote this. Meaning around 19 years have passed since I first picked up a comic book starring Kyle Rayner. Kind of ridiculous, how old that makes me feel - but maybe not, given it's slightly less than half my life to date. I am thinking of all this tonight, of course, because of The Resignation. Pope Benedict XVI is leaving us and... I'm kidding. Johns has announced he's stepping down from Green Lantern, and the emerald sect's entire creative team is following suit.
My first reaction? Annoyance. Half the reason for the DCnU's screwy continuity was exempting the GL books from rebooting. The other half was an identical indemnity for the Batman titles - and both bloody arcs are coming to an end in the same blasted month! What a waste of time and effort. Still, it leads to my second reaction: relief. There's a chance, now, that the "New 52" will finally start to line up and achieve cohesion now the vanity projects (John's run and Grant Morrison's Bat-plan) are over. And being totally honest, I'm long past ready for the "Johns era" to end. Like any long-serving creator, his work's become impenetrable and inbred; the time has well and truly come for a new spin on the ring-slingers.
Before any of that, of course, there must be an ending - and it looks to be a good one.
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GREEN LANTERN #20
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY
Wraparound cover by DOUG MAHNKE
It’s the final battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians in this, the extra-sized finale of Geoff Johns’ historic run on the title! Plus, don’t miss a special retrospective on Geoff’s run on GL!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #20
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN and SCOTT HANNA
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
“WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN” epilogue! In the aftermath of their battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians, it’s up to Guy Gardner, John Stewart and the other survivors to try to put the Corps back together, or decide if there should even BE a Corps anymore. Join Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin for the epic conclusion of their run!
GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #20
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by ANDRES GUINALDO
Cover by AARON KUDER
“WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN” epilogue! As a White Lantern, Kyle played a crucial role in the battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians. But a loss they suffered in the battle has left Kyle devastated, throwing off the control he had over the entire emotional spectrum. Has his time as a White Lantern ended before it’s truly begun? Find out in the conclusion of Tony Bedard’s run!
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It's nice to see a GL event solicited without any of the usual "who will survive?" garbage. We know Kyle, Guy, John, Kilowog and the New Guardians are coming out of this alive (as for Hal, well, who cares?). It's refreshing and allows me to be genuinely excited about the conclusion to this crossover - and, especially, the ramifications for Kyle. Potentially losing a newly-gained, hard-fought set of powers in the wake of a big ol' dust-off is a much more compelling and interesting consequence than the old "death!!!" chestnut.
Am I setting myself up for a fall? Probably, but what the hell - it's my last ride on this version of the emerald express, why not go into with a tinge of blue energy?
Nine years. I'm sorry, but I still can't believe that much time has passed. Like I was explaining to a co-worker today: comic book time moves slower than real world time. Issues come out monthly but the events depicted within are separated by minutes, sometimes seconds, so the flow is completely different. So it's fairly trippy for me to be here at the end of this long and (for better or worse) definitive era in GL history. I'm grateful to Johns for treating Kyle Rayner well, and I'll be very interested to see who and what comes next. As long as it's not Chuck Austen or Howard Mackie, anyway.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
My first reaction? Annoyance. Half the reason for the DCnU's screwy continuity was exempting the GL books from rebooting. The other half was an identical indemnity for the Batman titles - and both bloody arcs are coming to an end in the same blasted month! What a waste of time and effort. Still, it leads to my second reaction: relief. There's a chance, now, that the "New 52" will finally start to line up and achieve cohesion now the vanity projects (John's run and Grant Morrison's Bat-plan) are over. And being totally honest, I'm long past ready for the "Johns era" to end. Like any long-serving creator, his work's become impenetrable and inbred; the time has well and truly come for a new spin on the ring-slingers.
Before any of that, of course, there must be an ending - and it looks to be a good one.
---------
GREEN LANTERN #20
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY
Wraparound cover by DOUG MAHNKE
It’s the final battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians in this, the extra-sized finale of Geoff Johns’ historic run on the title! Plus, don’t miss a special retrospective on Geoff’s run on GL!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #20
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN and SCOTT HANNA
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
“WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN” epilogue! In the aftermath of their battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians, it’s up to Guy Gardner, John Stewart and the other survivors to try to put the Corps back together, or decide if there should even BE a Corps anymore. Join Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin for the epic conclusion of their run!
GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #20
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by ANDRES GUINALDO
Cover by AARON KUDER
“WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN” epilogue! As a White Lantern, Kyle played a crucial role in the battle against the First Lantern and the Guardians. But a loss they suffered in the battle has left Kyle devastated, throwing off the control he had over the entire emotional spectrum. Has his time as a White Lantern ended before it’s truly begun? Find out in the conclusion of Tony Bedard’s run!
---------
It's nice to see a GL event solicited without any of the usual "who will survive?" garbage. We know Kyle, Guy, John, Kilowog and the New Guardians are coming out of this alive (as for Hal, well, who cares?). It's refreshing and allows me to be genuinely excited about the conclusion to this crossover - and, especially, the ramifications for Kyle. Potentially losing a newly-gained, hard-fought set of powers in the wake of a big ol' dust-off is a much more compelling and interesting consequence than the old "death!!!" chestnut.
Am I setting myself up for a fall? Probably, but what the hell - it's my last ride on this version of the emerald express, why not go into with a tinge of blue energy?
Nine years. I'm sorry, but I still can't believe that much time has passed. Like I was explaining to a co-worker today: comic book time moves slower than real world time. Issues come out monthly but the events depicted within are separated by minutes, sometimes seconds, so the flow is completely different. So it's fairly trippy for me to be here at the end of this long and (for better or worse) definitive era in GL history. I'm grateful to Johns for treating Kyle Rayner well, and I'll be very interested to see who and what comes next. As long as it's not Chuck Austen or Howard Mackie, anyway.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF