Green Lantern #40

The Guardians have dispatched Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and a crew of mostly unnamed GLs to raid the Vega system. At Sayd's urging, the corps will no longer stay out of Vega, and they are targeting all the galactic criminals who have been hiding from justice for years and years. At the urging of the corrupted Guardian Sayd, the Guardians themselves are heading to Vega to take on Larfleeze and his Orange Lantern Corps. Geoff Johns confirms the theories about the Orange Lantern Corps, they are energy constructs made up of anyone consumed by Larfleeze or an Orange Lantern. We see the GL of the Vega system get chewed up and immediately he regenerates as an evil Orange Lantern. It is a neat idea, and it seems Johns will be doing back-up stories of the Orange Corps. The backup here was entertaining and introduced a fun (and hungry) new villain. I am really pretty impressed at how well Geoff Johns is differentiating his corps. They all have different feels to them.

I didn't realize how much I'd been missing John Stewart in this title until he showed up here. I also got a real kick out of seeing the squad of GL's accompanying the Guardians into the Vega system. The whole sequence really had a police raid to it, which is a perfect fit for a space-cop book. I believe the only non-headlining but still-named GL is Torquemada, the magic-wielding GL. I hope he doesn't get killed off. I love the variety in that 2nd tier of GLs, and he's a neat part of that group. I find it interesting that Sayd didn't accompany the other Guardians to Vega. There's no way the Guardians will be slaughtered again, right? Since Ganthet is no longer part of that crew, I could actually see the Guardians' ranks thinned quite a bit, but I don't know if I'd like the idea.

Phillip Tan's art seems a bit less sketchy this time. Almost like he had more time on the first issue, but that extra time didn't actually make it better. I enjoyed his take on Fatality-Sapphire at the opening of the book and his Orange Lantern designs are fantastic. Overall, Johns is trucking along nicely with the rainbow corps story. He's won me over and I'm excited to see where all this goes.

Good

Green Lantern Corps #34

Peter Tomasi continues writing one of the most consistent comics on the stands. As things begin ramping up for Darkest Night, GLC is setting up nice conflicts for almost the entire cast. Sodam Yat and Arisia are lining up against Mongul on Daxam, Soranik is heading back to Korugar - no doubt to be involved with Sinestro's daughter (she couldn't be that daughter, could she?), and there is a break out in the science cells of Oa. There is plenty going on here, much of it established previously in this title. In addition, Krybb's rehabilitation as a Star Sapphire is ongoing too, so I'm sure that won't end well. This book is a masterful balance of plots, with the entire ensemble of characters getting quality screen time while the main story moves towards the overarching plot of the DCU. I never thought I would care so much about the GL's jailor, or about the kids Krybb has taken, but Tomasi has me anxiously awaiting each and every issue so I can see how all of these compessing stories develops. The great thing is that it isn't all plot, when Sodam Yat's mother shows up, we have some great interaction with the two of them, and his anger at her and his homeworld is palpable. This is a great comic, and while Tomasi does bring the gore (check out the bystanders getting smashed during the Mongul fight on Daxam), he balances it out and usually gives the gore meaning.

What can I say about Patrick Gleason, who always brings his A game to this title. He's a DC MVP penciller at this point.

Excellent