Written by Geoff Johns Art by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope and Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert and Mike McKone & Andy Lanning Cover by Shane Davis The War of Light begins in this hardcover collection! First
Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.
His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.
Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.
This TPB edition contains “Green Lantern” #26-28; #36-38, and “Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns” #1. Featuring the “Rage of the Red Lanterns” event.
Creative Team:
Writer: Geoff Johns
Illustrators: Mike McKone, Shane Davis & Ivan Reis
TASTING BLOOD
The Sinestro Corps War was supposedly a victory to the Green Lantern Corps…
…but a new law in the Book of Oa had to be approved…
…Lethal Force was enabled against any member of the Sinestro Corps.
The Guardians of the Universe feared the affirmation by Sinestro that the GL Corps were an “empty threat” since they couldn’t kill, while the Sinestro Corps were doing literally a massacre against the GL Corps.
Only killing Sinestro Corps members was possible to win the war…
…but once blood was tasted by the GL Corps…
…it’s hard to retreat from it.
And now the things are getting worse since the Guardians of the Universe in “full panic mode” are activating the second new law in the Book of Oa: Enabling Lethal Force against any enemy of the Green Lantern Corps.
Yes, Sinestro is laughing from his science-cell. Green Lantern can kill anybody seen as an enemy of them. The universe will have fear of the Green Lantern Corps. His Sinestro Corps War was won by him and the Guardians of the Universe don’t know it.
However, for a couple of bad ideas…
…nothing like an even worse idea!
Enter: The Alpha-Lanterns.
They will be the “Internal Affairs” equivalence in the Green Lantern Corps. Having the “best qualities” of their two previous peacekeeping forces: The sentient impulse and thought process of the Green Lanterns, combined with the efficiency and logic of the Manhunters (hey, and the silly of me thought that if the Manhunter truly were logical and efficient, they wouldn’t be deactivated in the first place, ha!)
The universe is changing and the Guardians are the guilty ones for it.
MORE THE COLORS, MORE THE FUN
In the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War, now there are more colors to get in the galactic picture…
Atrocitus, deadly enemy of Sinestro and Hal Jordan, is founding the Red Lanterns, recruiting all those in the galaxy who embrace rage…
…yes, the recruiting line will likely collapse with so many contestants!
The Red Lanterns power rings overwhelm so badly all the rage feelings in their members that they barely are able to speak, much less to make coherent structures with their red lights, but certainly they are dangerous and only thinking about unleash their rage!
And rage is quite infective!
But…
…not all new colors are bad!
Ganthet and Sayd, the expelled Guardians found the source of the blue color in the spectrum and now they are forming the Blue Lanterns, representatives of the hope in the universe, and while their power rings can’t work on their own, if they are around at least of a Green Lantern, they can increase the power reserves of the GL power ring in more than the double of the usual maximum charge and also the Blue Lanterns can use the sentiment of hope of everybody around to perform real miracles!
Willpower, Fear, Love, Rage, Hope,…
…the universe is getting full of colors, feeding from the best and the worst of the feelings of the inhabitants in the galaxy…
In this follow-up to The Sinestro Corps War, the increasingly paranoid and fearful Guardians have not only granted the Green Lanterns permission to use lethal force against any enemy of the Corps, but have also formed the Alpha Lanterns , an internal affairs division of the corps.
Geoff Johns begins to really deepen the Green Lantern mythology and continues to move steadily toward the fulfillment of the Blackest Night and War of Light prophecies by introducing more colors of the Emotional Spectrum and different lantern Corps. A tortured prisoner named Atrocitus has discovered a way to harness the energy of Rage and form the deadly Red Lanterns while renegade Guardians Ganthet and Sayd have begun to form the Blue Lantern Corps of Hope.
It's been cool to see how the world of the Lanterns is expanding in fascinating ways and to see Hal and John Stewart struggle with whether to execute Sinestro or protect him from the Red Lanterns as well as struggle with the direction that their Corps is going in. The centerpiece sequence in this one, where a Green Lantern convoy transporting Sinestro to execution is ambushed by both the Red Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps, brings together all the new colors in an epic space battle. It's pretty epic, and one of the best sequences I've seen in a Lantern story so far.
This book was epic! We have first the execution of the son of Abin sur by Laira in a fit of rage as the new GL law states and then Hal and all witness her trial and we also have the birth of the Alpha Lanterns and they are manhunters-GL hybrids and its gruesome to see. Next up as the execution is commencing, we also see Laira becoming a GL, Sinestro as he is being transported attacked by the Red Lanterns and then the story just explodes! It just keeps becoming more and more epic, we have the coming of Red Lanterns led by Atrocitus and how they wanna execute him and then him being taken to Ysmault, Hal meeting with the Blue Lanterns and so much more revelations and the "War of the light coming" and how Hal and Sinestro are to be involved. He meets up with Saint Walker and they go to rescue Sinestro and there is an all out war, Hal becomes a Red Lantern then a Blue one, its just crazy dialed 12, the scope of the story is just epic and informs so much of the coming stories, every moment in this story was so good and worth of mention, the art is fabulous and the colors compliment it even more, there are foreshadow of things to come like with Agent Orange and Carol Ferris and ultimately Blackest Night! This maybe one of the best runs in DC comics period!
I find myself fascinated by the whole emotional light spectrum, and the Reds really turned out some freaky characters. Of course, nothing beats messing with Hal when it comes to story time. I think the Blues hold the best promise, and the Violet's the greatest danger, but this is just too obvious, all considering.
I actually enjoyed this the most out of all of Geoff johns run so far! I really enjoyed rebirth and sinestro corps war but seeing all the different lanterns appear is such an interesting concept and the way they all got built up in here was cool. And this is just a lead up to blackest night so I’m looking forward to eventually reading that.
Probably knowing more about the Green Lantern Corps than I do would be helpful here. Certainly knowing what the Sinestro Corps was all about would have been nice. But I didn't really need that to enjoy this trade.
There are seven issues here. The first three detail the founding of the Alpha Lanterns, surgically altered Green Lanterns that serve essentially as internal affairs. Necessary now that the rings have been authorized to use lethal force against all enemies. The last four issues are about the Red Lanterns, wildly creepy blood-spewing villains driven by unthinking rage and hatred to destroy both the Green Lanterns and Sinestro Corps. Did I mention that they're creepy? It also introduces the Blue Lanterns, which run on hope.
Rage of the Red Lanterns was positioned at least partially as a tie-in to Final Crisis, but it's really much more about setting Blackest Night. And after reading this trade, I'm actually interested and looking forward to reading it.
Acabei de ler esse LAcrE. Me julguem, mas é por isso que leio lanterna verde. Não sei direito como explicar. Mas toda a trama que existe no universo de lanterna verde me intriga muito. Seus superiores corruptos, um vilão sempre 1km a frente do herói, o espectro emocional das cores. Ai, enfim. Esse quadrinho me lembrou de tudo de bom que os quadrinhos de heróis super comerciais ainda tem para nos oferecer <3
That's the question Geoff Johns purposes in this book. As the lanterns sentence Sinestro to execution, Hal Jordan must come to terms with whether this is right or not. He knows the suffering that Sinestro has brought upon millions, and Hal Jordan even admits that Sinestro is not worthy of life. But does that still make it right?
It's not long after Atrocitous goes out to recruit The Red Lanterns to get revenge on the "Greatest Green Lantern"... Sinestro!
This book was awesome! I love how Hal has to rediscover himself a bit in this book. I know it's going to go full force in the next volume Agent Orange.
Oh, Hal Jordan. You and I have such a terrible relationship, and it was not improved by Rage of the Red Lanterns.
To be sure, there is some interesting stuff here, including the birth of a new Corps. and the creation of a new division within the Green Lantern Corps. But the focus of the book - and this sucks if you're not a fan - is on Hal Jordan, how awesome he is, and on his ever-evolving relationship with Sinestro. And that other stuff can't save this book for me because Hal is Just. So. Whiny.
I can't blame the authors on this. I think this is how he's usually written, with this massive ego and irritation at everyone around who doesn't react to him in just the way he thinks they ought. But if you don't like Hal, steer clear - I suspect this won't improve his standing in your eyes.
Overall, it's nice to get to see more of the red lanterns, though we don't get too deep into them. They're angry, they have reason to be, RRRRAAAAAARGH! Also, the blue lanterns spend the trade more or less being made fun of, which is a shame since Saint Walker and Warth are enigmatic and a bit fascinating to me in this book.
Another volume in whats probably the greatest Green Lantern run ever. In this volume we see a Green Lantern tried for murder in a situation that makes one question just when lethal force is authorized for the Lanterns. Sinestro is on Death Row, but his sentence is interrupted by the Red Lanterns, an event which also heralds the first appearance of the Blue Lanterns. The Violet Lanterns are also lurking on the fringes, so this volume is pivotal as far as character introductions go.
The art is great also, as well as the coloring, which really helps bring all of the various alien races to life. I am a little curious as to how all of these new rings are suddenly appearing, and also how these characters are ending up in possession of them.
All I can say after reading this is that I'm reeeaaaallllyyyy looking forward to diving into the Blackest Night event now... You know a comic's good when you're reading it in public and you're having to stop yourself from gasping out loud and swearing on a subway. I did miss seeing Guy and Kyle in this one though. Still, this event is going to be just colossal and I am absolutely here for it. Bring on the marathon.
I know this is the Red Lantern storyline, but the real standouts here are the Blue Lanterns. Also, love that the Red Lanterns just have a pissed-off housecat as one of their members.
This was pretty good actually. I still really feel like I need to read an origins story about Hal Jordan in order to fully appreciate the Green Lantern series but I thought this one was really interesting. I guess that normally there are only two colors: Green (Willpower) and Yellow (Fear). But in this one I got to see Green, Yellow, Blue (Hope) and Pink (Loss maybe?). My husband recommended it to me for two reasons: (1) Because Green Lantern is his favorite comic series and (2) Because he likes seeing the variety of colors.
I’m going to admit that the whole idea of the Green Lantern universe seemed pretty lame when I heard about it. Super powers based on emotions? Lame. But it turns out that it’s not. I actually kind of like it. Not like how I like Batman man but still, it’s pretty good.
If I had to recommend one of the two Green Lantern’s I’ve read, I would recommend this one over Tales of the Sinestro Corps because the story isn’t as halting and you feel like you learn more about the characters so you can connect with them easier. Plus there is more about the main character (I guess he’s the main character), Hal Jordan.
As for the art I thought it was really cool. There was even a cute kitty cat that spews blood. You don’t see that every day.
Wow, we had green lanterns, then sinestro corps (yellow lanterns) and now red lanterns (led by Atrocitus and powered by...read and find out) and blue lanterns (powered by...ditto).
I can't wait for Blackest Night...
Geoff Johns may just make Green Lantern a DC mainstreamer. Big Three beware (okay, Batman is probably safe but after the Superman Returns bomb and Wonder Woman unable to sustain any amount of profit in any medium) Green Lantern is on the rise.
Aside from maybe the Bendis/Brubaker current run on Daredevil and Brubaker's run on Captain America...I can't think of a better superhero series to be reading right now...this is top notch.
2.5 stars: Green Lantern now becomes a chaotic clusterf**k to follow with the addition of Alpha, Red and Blue Lanterns, references to orange and black lanterns, set up for the Blackest Night event and obscure references to Alan Moore Green Lantern story that few people honestly have read or remember. Hal is still a cocky, arrogant unlikeable jerk, the other Green Lanterns are basically useless and Sinestro is still the best written character in the room. The red lanterns are mindless and angry, blue lanterns are small but "chill" group that has some fun lines. Honestly, there's so much going on that I just don't care for any characters. Stuff happens and on to the next volume
The birth of the Alpha Lanterns, the birth of the Red Lantern Corps, the enactment of the second new law from the Guardians.... This volume is a clear indication of the massive, massive scope of things to come in the Green Lantern universe. Geoff Johns may seem a little too cryptic at times in this volume, but I trust that he knows what he's doing. It's mostly all lead-up and the artwork is a little flat, average. But I love the killer kitty!
Another stellar chapter in Geoff Johns' Green Lantern saga. The build-up toward Blackest Night is done masterfully. It's so exciting seeing all of the pieces coming together.
In this volume, we are introduced to both the Red Lanterns, as well as the Blue. The story that ensues is inventive and fun. No other writer has taken GL to the heights that this saga goes, than Geoff Johns.
In my review for The Sinestro Corps War that original Green Lantern writer (and creator of the Hal Jordan version) John Broome had set the stage for a whole spectrum of power ring bearers by creating both Sinestro and the Star Sapphire. It took nearly fifty years for this to take fruition under writer Geoff Johns, but maybe Broome had a whole spectrum of rings in mind and just never got to the ones that weren't green, yellow or violet. The fact is that eventually someone did and with The Sinestro Corps War set the stage for a color spectrum war that is prophesied in Green Lantern #25 (with awesome double page color spread of the potential battle to boot. But at the end of The Sinestro Corps War we still have not been introduced to any of the other color Corps (technically this is true because of the nature of color) and so for this war to occur we need to meet some of the other color Corps, and in this volume we meet two more of the Corps in the ROYGBIV rainbow. More on that in a second.
There are actually two story arcs in this volume--the first is the Alpha Lanterns who become the "internal affairs" for the Green Lantern Corps. Through their creation and subsequent execution of their new duties, the first of the Red Lanterns is revealed, which leads to the second arc, which actually is attached to this volume because the origin story of the main Red Lantern, Atrocitus is covered in the next volume, Secret Origin. For the most part knowing Atrocitus' story is not necessary for the action here, but readers may be confused as to why Atrocitus has it out for both Sinestro and Hal Jordan. However, it is during this arc that we are also introduced to the Blue Lantern Corps and of course, as is the case with Jordan, we see him wield both the Red and Blue rings along with the Green one. While I usually am not a fan of Jordan, the fact that with Jordan wielding the rings we see him as a mirror for humanity and I think it's kind of cool when he gives in the rage of the Red Lantern and the hope of the Blue Lanterns. If the splash page in Green Lantern #25 is an indication of what's to come this is going to be pretty cool.
An important disclaimer should be made first and foremost. Volume 7 in the series of Geoff Johns Green Lantern is titled "Rage of the Red Lanterns", however this story is made up of two parts - "The Alpha Lanterns" issue series, and the eponymous "Rage of the Red Lanterns" issues. While ultimately related of course, for the most part these stories are disconnected enough that the only reason they would be featured in the same volume is to thicken the spine. Those looking to read the complete story including the "Green Lantern Corps" series may get a little confused, as "Ring Quest" technically comes before "Rage of the Red Lanterns". However, the "Alpha Lanterns" storyline must be read first BEFORE "Green Lantern Corps: Ring Quest" in order to understand what is happening and who the Alpha Lanterns are. So in truth, one would need to read the first three issues featured in this volume, then "Ring Quest", and then go BACK to "Rage of the Red Lanterns". All this mess being said, it is imperative to mention that both stories featured in volume 7 are marvelous. The Alpha Lanterns' saga not only gives a bit more development to the "Lost Lanterns" - particularly Laira -, it also serves as a morbid sign that the Guardians are heading down a very dark path. Where they once condemned their original creation of the Manhunters, they now make a cyborg-bastardization of the very thing they once abhorred. The Red Lantern storyline also proves to be incredibly engaging. Atrocitus shows himself to be a multi-faceted character. While not a "good person", per-say, in many ways it is undeniable that he and the Five Inversions were victims. And he himself is not a villain, just one more wheel on the wagon leading up to the Blackest Night. The hatred and rage of a majority of the members of his new Corps is often based on vengeance and justice - the members being victims of injustice themselves, rape, genocide, torture, wrongful imprisonment, etc - and only want to see capital punishment inflicted on those who wronged them, at their hands if possible. Therefore, they aren't the "bad guys" just because they come to blows with the Green Lanterns. This opens avenues for interesting discussions among fans of Green Lantern, and is as such a sign of natural good writing. The Red Lanterns are still being discussed to this day, and are still relevant in DC Comics. If you are simply a fan of the overall general idea of the Red Lanterns and their particular "look", you will not be let down by Volume 7 in this incredible series.
A prelude to 'Blackest Night'. Following on from the events of the Sinestro War, the Green Lantern Corps has been irrevocably changed not only by the rise of the fear-powered Sinestro Corps, but also by the Guardians' shift towards lethal force. As Hal Jordan struggles with the implications of the Corps' intention to execute Sinestro, a new Corps appears powered by the red light of rage.
On one level the introduction of the Red Lanterns, the Blue Lanterns and the new corps of Star Sapphires is an interesting and colourful expansion of the Green Lantern mythos, but on another it's actually the least interesting thing going on in this book. It would be easy to be distracted by the expansion of the emotional power spectrum and that doesn't work in the book's favour.
Instead what you should focus on, and what I most enjoyed, is seeing the deeper ways that the new corps affect the Lanterns and Hal in particular. We see the Guardians becoming more ruthless and somewhat fascistic in reaction to Sinestro's fear powers, which actually plays directly into the villain's hands. Meanwhile we also get to see Hal wrestle with his duty as a Lantern, his anger at Sinestro's crimes and his need to hope for a better universe.
"Rage of the Red Lanterns" follows Hal Jordan's story after the events of The Sinestro Corps War storyline. Due to past circumstances, the Guardians have lifted the mandate on a "no kill" rule for the Lanterns, and now the limitations are put to the test. The Green Lantern Corps must reconcile their role of protector with the possibility of acting as executioners as well. The concept is pretty intriguing, and Johns does a decent job exploring the idea, at least initially.
Johns introduces many different colors of rings in this volume, with varying colors representing emotions from which the Lanterns draw their power from. The prominent one here is the red rings which yield Red Lanterns - those who are fueled by rage and bloodlust. Though some of these Red Lanterns seem justified in their rage, Johns makes it clear that their anger pushes them towards distasteful practices. Introduced here are Blue Lanterns as well, shown to be even more powerful and hinted to play a major role in subsequent arcs.
The story is a bit over the top at times, but it's entertaining from start to finish. Ivan Reis does a solid job on artwork, and Mike McKone on the opening chapters does a good job mimicking Reis' aesthetic to give the series a consistent vision.
É uma história de meio do caminho - pós guerra dos anéis - onde nos é apresentado mais do espectro dos sentimentos ao mesmo tempo em que vai assentando o terreno para a noite mais densa.
Acho muito interessante toda essa criação de diversos tipos de lanternas. E fiquei surpreso que eles foram criados pelo Johns em uma fase relativamente recente - pré, durante e pós novos 52 - porque eu tinha certeza que tudo isso sempre fez parte da lore dos lanternas, mas não, é algo que surge ali no início dos anos 2000.
Essa fase, de toda forma, é muito requisitada e bem-quista por grande parte do público. Gosto como cada espectro reflete também na personalidade do portador do anel energético, junto de toda essa questão das cores e juramentos que por mais brega que sejam me agrada muito. Apesar disso tenho minhas ressalvas com esses mega-eventos já que o renascimento é legal e os retcons são interessantes, enquanto a guerra dos anéis já não me pega tanto. Espero que a noite mais densa - que parece ser a maior de todas - não me decepcione.
I just want to dive in The Blackest Night event after reading this. This is the most thrilling and exciting part where Red Lanterns emerge and target Green and Yellow Lanterns both with Sinestro on top in their hit list. Atrocitus, killer and one who instilled fear in Abin Sur, gets hold on power he's been trying to get for years and spread rage among Yellow and Green slingers. Red Lanterns, More barbaric and lethal than Sinestro corps will ever be, are tough competition even for Hal's will.
I like the Blue Lantern concept but their powers are almost nothing without the blue. But that's obvious, Hope is nothing without Will. Everyday people hope for something but a many can't do anything about it just because they lack will to act.
For almost a month I am continuously reading Green Lanterns' Mythologies by Geoff and Venditti and not a single part, Nay not even a single panel made me yawn or lose interest. This is a Great Literature.