No Power, No Problem
It's the year 2035 and the Green Lantern Corps.. or what's left of it is in a bad way. Mostly because there hasn't been a Green Lantern for some time, what with the power battery going down, but beyond that idea, it seems kind of mysterious about what actually happened to the emerald cops of the Universe. For this issue, we'll be seeing John Stewart for our main story and Jessica Cruz and Guy Gardner for the backups so let's get to as we take a peek into the Green Lanterns' future. Let's check it out.
If you've been reading Future State so far you'll know that for the most part you're just kind of thrown into the middle of something dealing with our heroes and you're only left hoping that the writer will be able to fill you in on the details as you go along in a way that feels natural and not forced to get an explanation from a character who would never just come out and say what's been happening to them for the past bunch of years..... I kind of wish we got some forced exposition here because I felt lost in this John Stewart story where a bunch of former GLs and him, including a bulked-up monster G'Nort, are trying to save a planet from invasion. It was just so in your face with so little explanation that it was jarring as hell and I felt like I didn't really understand all the things that were happening in this story.
Beyond the main story though, the backups of this issue are pretty amazing, where first we focus on how badass Jessica Cruz is after the main power battery went down and what her future status quo will become, not to mention we have a story featuring Guy Gardner that shows us what happened to him after his ring ran out of juice. It's so much fun and I love both these backups so much that I want them to be their own series..... I just wish the initial Jon Stewart story was as fun or as easy to digest.
All in all, there's not much that I really enjoyed from either the story or the art in the initial John Stewart chapter, but after that, both the stories and the art are great and work fantastically in the stories they're depicting. Jessica Cruz pulling a Home Alone on some Yellow Lanterns and Guy Gardner being stranded on a planet where he's seen as a prophet from the stars are some of the most fun I've had with our Lanterns in so long that it makes me mad that we didn't have these types of stories for the past bunch of years that the GL books (The Green Lantern not counting) have been missing. So yeah, it sucks that the first story isn't the strongest but at least this book saved the best for last.
Bits and Pieces:
We get a good look at what three of our Green Lanterns from Earth are up to in 2035 in this book and while I find it odd that the Flash Family is without their speed and now we find out that the Green Lanterns are powerless as well a strange choice for DC to make concerning the future, it does lead to some fun to be had with that concept. Beyond that, though I loved the second and third stories in this book and only found the initial John Stewart one tough to swallow.
Thanks for the review. I agree, that first story is the worst of the bunch. If I didn't know that was John, I would've thought this was a new character or something. The last two stories were better, especially Guy Gardener's story. Jessica Cruz's story was a bit comical for my liking. The idea of the Green Lanterns temporarily losing their power is a cool idea for a major story arc, but not for a miniseries like Future State. Especially if they don't show us what happened to the Central Power Battery. It seems like this concept would've best reserved for the main GL series AFTER Future State, so it can be more fleshed out and explored.
ReplyDeletethe first story is by the guy who will be writting Green Lantern coming up in regular continuity
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