Art by: Victor Drujiniu, Ivan Fernandez and Allan Jefferson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 13, 2013
Flashbacks and Flashbangs
John Stewart is a man without fear. Some have wrongly labeled him as a man without personality. He has always been a strong character who tries to do the right thing. Unfortunately, this has led to him being labeled as boring since he's not as brash as Hal Jordan or cocky as Guy Gardner. This may be the reason that of all the Green Lanterns of sector 2814, John Stewart has been the most underused. Van Jensen and Robert Venditti try to rectify that by giving us a glimpse at what made Stewart the man he is today.
Gotham is in the middle of the Zero Year blackout and Super Storm Rene is about to hit. A young John Stewart and his marine battalion are sent to help evacuate a couple hundred people from the Gotham Seaside Colosseum, but as you can guess, things don't go as smooth as hoped.
Jensen and Venditti use a flashback in a flashback to show how John's Mother helped show him right and wrong and the grey areas between. She taught her son that power and authority aren't inherently right or wrong, it's the people who wield it that determine it. As the Zero Year story unfolds, the reader sees first hand how these lessons have shaped John into a man who values justice and doing what's right over following orders blindly.
Beyond showing the hero in the making, the story is pretty dull. Furthermore, I can't help but question it's necessity. As a John Stewart fan, I'm glad to have read it. However, as a Zero Year tie-in it is hard to justify it. John Stewart has no real connection to Gotham or Batman. The Dark Knight makes a very, very brief appearance in the issue, but it's actually pretty ridiculous. He seems more like a stalker than a hero in the couple panels he is in.
The art is a mixed bag. The three artists don't equal regular artist Bernard Chang in quality, but what they present here is serviceable at least. Nothing looks horrible, but nothing stands out either.
Bits and Pieces:
Green Lantern Corps #25 is a good John Stewart book, but an unnecessary Zero Year tie-in. Readers get to see what shaped John into the good man he is today, but beyond that the story is dull and uneventful. This book is not a must read for anyone but true John Stewart fans.
6.0/10
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