Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2

This was a stronger issue than the premiere of Tales of the Corps, but not by a lot. This time we get two Geoff Johns stories, and I actually think they were the weaker ones in the issue.

The first gives the origin of one of the Red Lanterns, the lady with the bone wings and the wings on her head. It seems she was some sort of hottie whose world was destroyed and she was taken prisoner by Ranx, the evil city from the Sinestro Corps. The story was ok, but a bit on the generic side. I did appreciate the attempt to redeem Carol Ferris as a Star Sapphire. Carol is justifiably doubtful about accepting a pink ring and joining the Sapphires after all of her terrible experiences in the past. She's never been in control while possessed before, but now it seems she may end up being the leader of the Sapphires. I did like the way she knows her love for Hal Jordan will never work out, so the Star Sapphire will have to mend her broken heart. It's a melancholy origin for her new persona, but it is a neat idea.

Peter Tomasi writes the third origin tale. The floating head construct in Larfleeze's Orange Lantern army was once a "space god" traveling around the world eating whatever sentient beings valued most. He craved money, art, jewels and the like, but seemed to draw the line at killing kids, which was nice. His insatiable hunger makes a lot of sense for a member of the Orange Lanterns, since he was pretty darn greedy on his own before Larfleeze assimilated him into his army. This was pretty fun.

The art is solid throughout, with nice DC house style work on the origins. I wish we could get more work from Gene Ha (who does the Star Sapphire story), he's such a top talent I'd love to see his art regularly.

Fair