REVIEW: GREEN LANTERN #25
THE COMIC OF THE YEAR!!!

by Michael McDaniel

     As the year slowly grinds to an end and we enjoy springtime in December, I am looking back on 2007 and the many comics released which have filled my Wednesdays. It has been a pretty eventful year in comics from both major publishers and even some of the smaller ones as well. Non-traditional comics like Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures, Dark Tower, and the Umbrella Academy have made their mark along side old favorites.
     This year at Marvel, we have been treated to a rampaging World War Hulk, the whimpering end of the Civil War and the aftermath of registration, the death of Captain America and its effects, and whatever is going on with the Amazing Spiderman in regards to the ‘One More Day’ storyline. At DC, the two big team-books, the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America, have both gotten under full swing and have been highly successful. The sequel to ‘52’, ‘Countdown’, is well…counting down and at the same time spiraling off into a plethora of spin-offs and annoying crossovers that just won’t end. There have been surprise hits like Booster Gold’s new series, Batman and the Outsiders, and the new Green Arrow/Black Canary book.
     With all this happening in the comic industry that I love so much, sometimes books get lost in the shuffle and are buried by the hype of others. With all of the afore-mentioned things going on and two old-school crossovers in both X-Men and Bat-Books now underway, some of you may have missed the story of the year: ‘The Sinestro Corps War’ playing out in the Green Lantern titles.
     It has been months since James Pritchett in his article entitled ‘Why you should pay $4.99 for this book” opined about the beginning of the war. It ended this week with the fifty-thee pages of art and story that made up Green Lantern #25 (which is also priced at $4.99).  Its conclusion came, not with the whimper of Marvel’s ‘Civil War’, but with an epic finish, like a 15 round heavy-weight fight that ends at the bell. Why DC didn’t hype this more than they did, I’ll never understand.

Although he might look like a Bullwinkle villain, he's about as bad as they get!

     The mark of a good storyline is often defined by its villains. The Sinestro Corps War has not one but three great villains. First, there is the former Green Lantern Sinestro. This guy is about 12 times more arrogant and self-centered than Namor - and has a freakin’ yellow power ring to boot. DC scribe Geoff Johns came up with the idea of an anti-thesis to the GL Corps. Sinestro, tired of getting his ass handed to him by Green Lanterns since he ditched/was booted from the outfit, has formed a corps of his own to follow his villainous lead - each with a yellow power ring. Candidates are chosen, not for their ability to be without fear, but rather their ability to instill it - Batman was briefly chosen to represent Earth’s sector of 2814 before Bruce rejected the offer back in GL #17. Along the way, he allied himself with Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg-Superman, and Superboy/Superman Prime.

Yowzah, with enemies like these guys...I hope you got lots of powerful friends!!!

     The new Sinestro Corps, now as numerous as their Green Lantern counterparts, unleashed a cosmic war in which battlefields stretch across our universe from Oa to Earth as well as into the Anti-matter universe. During the course of the war, they assaulted the main power battery on OA and released the fear-feeding parasite known as Parallax - who promptly latched onto Kyle Rayner. The minions of Sinestro also managed to resurrect the Anti-Monitor! Yeah…you read that right…the same Anti-Monitor that managed to set-off the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths and the deaths of Barry Allen/Flash, Supergirl, and countless other heroes and universes.
To combat this massive threat, those lovable Smurf-like Guardians of the Universe authorized their space-cops to use lethal force on the Sinestro Corps members. The deaths of Ringslingers on both sides are countless - it is a war after all. With the brief loss of Kyle Rayner, the Guardians also picked a new torchbearer to be Ion, a Daxamite named Sodam Yat. The new Ion has the powers of a mini-Guardian of the Universe and under a yellow-sun enjoys all of the powers of Superman! Unfortunately, he ran afoul of Superman-Prime and got his hat handed to him - thanks to a weakness to lead (but he did survive). The crossover one-shots were all well done and served as vehicles to further define the characters that were the subjects of the individual comics. I have never been fond of the Cyborg Superman but his stand-alone issue put his character in a whole new light for me - being simply motivated by the urge to die…and not being able to.

     The real gem in the crossover is its final act. In the 25th issue, the battle is on Earth and the stakes haven’t been any higher. During the course of the battle, the Anti-Monitor unleashes a mini-Crisis wave, Guardians of the Universe die, and a certain whiny Superman-wanna-be gets cosmic payback. All of the human members of the Green Lantern Corps shine and their light is awesome.
     Simply put: the twenty-fifth issue of Green Lantern is hands-down the best comic to come out this year - maybe this decade. It is action-packed from start to finish. It will no doubt have lasting effects not just on the Green Lantern books but the entire DC Universe as it heads towards next years ‘Final Crisis’ to which ‘Countdown’ is…well counting down. Even if you have missed the other parts, you will enjoy this one. It is what comics are meant to be.