Green Lantern #27 – Thoughts, Reviews….just Wow!

OK, I’ll do the Short Shorts later (complete with horrifying imagry) but first there are two comics which I feel that I must discuss in detail.  First up will be Green Lantern #27.

Yes, this will be chock-full of spoilers, so if you don’t want to be spoiled then by all means: DO NOT CONTINUE ANY FURTHER!

Green Lantern #27, written by Geoff Johns with guest-artist Mike McCone.  The Alpha Lanterns are here, and my god – could they be any creepier?  This title has not slowed down since the conclusion of Sinestro Corps War.  If anything, business seems to be picking up.  This issue moved several plot points forward, including, but not limited to:

1. The Ramifications of the First New Law of the Book of Oa.
2. The continuing dissolution of the Lost Lanterns.
3. The coming threat of the Black Lanterns.
4. Sinestro’s continued manipulation of the Guardians.
5. The continued threat of Sinestro’s Corps.
6. Moral and ethical division amongst the individual members of the Green Lantern Corps.
7. Growing doubt in the decisions of the Guardians.

We pick up where last issue ended (like you do), with the ring of Amon Sur looking for a new bearer.  It makes it’s way to Earth where it has selected one Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow, as it’s new bearer.  That does not come to pass, however, as it is stopped by Hal Jordan and John Stewart.  We discover that some of the new duties of the GLC include preventing Sinestro Rings from finding bearers once they are detected.  Johns uses this situation to explore the characters of John and Hal.  He plays on both of their military backgrounds (the banter was very believable, from my experience) as well as show that they tend to spend their nights in very different ways.  Of course, once the rings are on they are both all business.

From their discussion we find out that the GLC has been rather pro-active in terms of dealing with the Sinestro Corps, with Volk leading a team into the Anti-Matter Universe to destroy their forgeries.  Upon learning who the ring belonged to, they take it back to Oa for destruction and walk into the Corps quarrelling amongst themselves over the actions of Laira, the Green Lantern of Sector 112 who killed Amon Sur in a fit of rage.  Johns quickly establishes distinct voices for several Lanterns (something he is very good at doing with a large cast) as we find ourselves in the middle of this discussion.

The truly shocking part of this for me occurred when the Lost Lanterns unamimously agreed that Laira’s actions were Murder and not Justice.  I cannot help but feel that Laira could become one of the coming Red Lanterns, as she seems to be full of anger and bitterness at this time.  She has definately fallen, and if the Red Rings are like I suspect, then they will only need a moment to get into her before overwhelming her.

Before we get there, tho, she’ll stand trial.  Our new judges are the Alpha Lanterns.  Amongst those chosen by the Guardians for this “Highest Honor” are old, familiar characters like Chaselon (the crystal guy…yes, he has always had a name!), Boodika (further splintering the Lost Lanterns), and Green Man.  Others chosen are new (or at least new to me) Lanterns, Varix and the absolutely intriguing Kraken.  They all accept the “Highest Honor.”  The only Lantern chosen who does not accept is John Stewart, which obviously displeases the Guardians.

It should be noted that of the 9 remaining Guardians only 8 are present for all of this.  The ninth Guardian, the female who was scarred by the Anti-Monitor, is far away, charging the Green Lantern, Ash, to track down the remains of the Anti-Monitor.  Ash seems to feel that she may be acting in secret from the other Guardians, which she denies, but her eyes show the image of Black Hand, which we know is the logo of the upcoming Black Lanterns.  I cannot help but think that the “Scardian” is not entirely right in the head.  Could she have been somehow infected by the Anti-Monitor’s power?

When we come back to Oa we deal with an escape attempt by Laira, who gets away from the other GL’s, but suddenly everyone’s power drains: the Alpha-Lanterns have arrived.  What we see are the grotesque remains of those chosen for this “Highest Honor.”  The Guardians have combined the technology of the Manhunters with these individual Lanterns, removing the stain of emotion which they feel hampers the GLC.  Underneath the “faces” of the Alpha Lanterns are the internal faces of the Manhunters, only with Green Energy coming out of them.  They have similar power-draining abilities that the Manhunters possess, obviously so that they can subdue any GL whom they have determined are not acting in accordance with the Book of Oa.

These Alpha Lanterns have “Train Wreck” written all over them.  This can only end badly for them, the Guardians and the GLC.  This is on the level of “Hey – let’s keep the Cyborg-Superman and Superboy-Prime on Oa!” in terms of bad ideas.  One cannot help but think tha the Guardians have become perhaps to arrogant in their own powers that they keep making what appear to be horrible mistakes by everyone else.

Yes, the First New Law was needed to win the Sinestro Corps War, but in the long run can that be what defines the GLC?  The First New Law has had an incredibly profound effect on the GLC already, and one cannot help but wonder what Laws 2-10 will entail.

It is amazing enough when a writer puts out a comic this consistantly incredible, but what Johns is doing here, in the Justice Society of America, Booster Gold and Action Comics is simply mind-boggling.  I have been a fan of his for a long time, and he has only managed to get better and better.  I have always been a Green Lantern fan, but never moreso than now.  It’s hard for me to think that there was a point in time when I thought that Johns did not have his heart in this comic and possibly should step aside.  Yeah – I actually thought that.  We’ll chalk that one up as a mistake on my part. 

Next month is Part Two of this War Crimes arc, but it should be obvious to all that it is simply chapter 27 in what is shaping up to be a grand, cosmic tale.  Laira’s fate as a Green Lantern will be determined, but I think that her sad story is only beginning.  As for the other passengers on this coming train wreck: the Scardian; the 8; The Alpha Lanterns; John Stewart; Sinestro; the Green Lantern Corps; and of course, Hal Jordan…I wait with great anticipation to learn what the future has in store for each and every one of them.  I know that I sound like a gushing fanboy when discussing this comic, but in all fairness is there any other reaction?  This has taken the spot of my single favorite comic being published, and month in and month out I become more convinced that is well-deserved.