Green Lantern Corps, Volume 1: Fearsome

Green Lantern Corps (2011)

by Peter J. Tomasi (Writer), Various (Illustrator)

A #1 New York Times Bestseller!
As part of the DC New 52 event, the Green Lantern Corps return, led by fan favorite Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart.
When a new menace, The Keepers, begins to march across the space sectors and devouring not only their natural resources but their entire populations, it is up to The Corps, severely outnumbered, to stop them. The Corps soon find one of their own held by the ruthless Keepers and must figure out a way to save their comrade and defeat the Keepers without the Green Lantern's most powerful weapon, their power rings.

Collecting: Green Lantern Corps 1-7

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 2012

About the author

Peter J. Tomasi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, such as Batman And Robin; Superman; Super Sons; Batman: Detective Comics; Green Lantern Corps; and Superman/Wonder Woman; as well as Batman: Arkham Knight; Brightest Day; Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors; Nightwing; Black Adam, and many more.

In the course of his staff career at DC Comics, Tomasi served as a group editor and ushered in new eras for Batman, Green Lantern, and the JSA, along with a host of special projects like Kingdom Come.

He is also the author of the creator-owned titles House Of Penance with artist Ian Bertram; Light Brigade with artist Peter Snejbjerg; The Mighty with Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee; and the critically acclaimed epic graphic novel The Bridge: How The Roeblings Connected Brooklyn To New York, illustrated by Sara DuVall and published by Abrams ComicArts.

In 2018 New York Times best-selling author Tomasi received the Inkpot Award for achievement in comics.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad addition to the GL books, but it almost feels like there are too many GL off-shoots out there right now. It's getting hard to keep up with all of the stories floating around in the Lantern-verse.

This one deals with John and Guy on a mission to stop some bad guys called The Keepers. Unfortunately, they are mostly just cleaning up the mess made by the Guardians. It's a good story and the writing and art are solid, but I'm not convinced that I care enough anymore. It may be time to streamline these stories into one or two titles.
Just sayin'.

Best part of the whole book was Matian Manhunter and his Stormwatch reference.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, this is a heck of an introduction to the Green Lanterns. There's so many characters and concepts packed in, and I had to play a fair amount of catchup. I was never sure what was a New 52 innovation and what was established canon, how I should be judging the storyline. So I couldn't tell you if someone was suddenly overpowered or turned into an enormous asshole.

I did enjoy it, though. It's a bit thin on character because there are so many Green Lanterns in the story, but it gives us an introduction to the Corps and who they are, what they believe in. There are some interesting character moments for John Stewart, which I found intriguing: he makes some rough decisions and has to live with them, and does so honorably, to my mind.

I actually enjoyed this enough that I will pick up other Green Lantern comics in the future, at least to try.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great. Peter really does as good a job as Johns on Green Lantern.

This is the story of Guy and John teaming up and trying to find out what happened to a whole planet of dead aliens. What they find is something far more dangerous than either have expected and they come full on to take out the Green Lantern. This is a action packed volume with huge fights, emotion, and great surprises.

To be honest I was worried Peter would have lost some of his edge by now in writing Green Lantern but he's back with a vengeance. Detailing a awesome story with sicko bad guys and great chemistry with the cast. Guy and John have never been more likable in my opinion and the fights and a huge twist on the story line and last issue made this extremely enjoyable.

While a bit too wordy at times it hit all the right levels for me. A 4.5 out of 5.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Easily one of the very best of the New 52, maybe even the best. Tomasi's been handing in terrific stories now for years and he should be considered DC's best and brightest. He's right up there with Johns and Morrison and often he's better than either. Though I must admit that the gimmick of the Guardians' screw up biting the Corps on the butt is getting a bit tired. It's time to see them as wise and flawless for a few years or their screws up won't mean anything. Still what we have here in this volume is compelling and suspenseful.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for not having Hal or Kyle in it at all. The first Green Lantern comic I’ve read that didn’t feature either of them. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of violence in this, which sounds kind of strange. It’s just people getting sliced in half pre-Black Label, which is why I was surprised.

[Fluffyroundabout · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the weaker GL titles going off this volume alone. It's a pretty standard GL story and the bad guys, the keepers, seemed badass but man do they get boring quick!

You might want to buy this to read more John Stewart and Guy Gardner but they're not very interesting in this title, they're just not written well (especially Guy).That being said, there is one action which is actually really impactful to the reader and to the person who commits this action (it's a big deal).

The art is good, the writing is just ok and the story is nothing special overall.
Recommended to GL completionists only, unless perhaps this title gets better which I've yet to find out.

[Gary Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out with a great an wondrous idea. But this idea was wasted as each new chapter took the story further from the cool and more to the stupid. 3/5

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Lantern Corps has always played second fiddle to the main Hal Jordan Green Lantern book. While it’s understandable, because Geoff John’s is a talented superstar writer and really revolutionized the property, this series is just as good, if not better at times, than the main series. While the main series featuring Hal Jordan is always focused on the standard superheroics, the Corps series has always been the true heart of the franchise for me, focusing on what it truly means to be a Green Lantern, and the honour and camaraderie that comes with the territory. And Tomasi is also no slouch of a writer, providing an interesting plot featuring villains that not only pose a formidable threat, but also are tied closely to Lantern mythology, and we learn more about the little portals where the Lanterns store their power batteries.

The action scenes aren’t handled as well in this book as it has been before but it’s still pretty damn exciting mostly due to the chemistry between the great characters. While Hal Jordan seems to be the star Lantern that DC Comics wants to always focus on, we get further proof as to why honorable John Stewart and especially the wily and dedicated Guy Gardner are way more interesting characters than the comparatively boring Jordan. There’s no one else you would want leading you in a battle than Stewart, and Guy Gardner not only tells it like it is but there’s no one that loves the Corps more than he does and this book shows the lengths that he would go to leave no man behind.

It’s a rousing book, and a great way to bring the Corps into the New 52.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess the New 52 wasn't really a reboot. When you reboot something, you at least explain the basics of it over again for new readers. And that's definitely not happening here. Barely any explanation of what the Green Lantern Corps is, or who the characters are; instead it delves into minutia built off a new feature of the corps. The story itself is okay; not wonderful and the new twist is basically an excuse for new enemies who are in the end pretty uninspiring. It does explore a little of the key features of Lanterns Gardner and Stewart, but it's really not an introduction to either of them.

As a Green Lantern story, it's okay. As a reboot, it is woefully inadequate.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story with a great plot. A strange menace is killing Green Lanterns and Guy is sent to discover what it is. There's some very nice twists and breathtaking character development. A very good read.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly decent story, but I'm still not quite sure how it fits into the whole new universe.

[C.J. Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

All is new (to some degree) but not well in the GL Universe as this New 52 collection opens with the murder of two Lanterns in their own Sector House in Sector 3599 by seemingly invisible intruders that are immune to the Green Power Ring. With that the mystery is set and we move on to find our heroes, Lantern Gardner and John Stewart having issues with having to find a real day job as a coach and (with some red tape) an architect, respectively. It seems they are coming to accept and realize that they can do more good being a Lantern than having to balance a real and normal life in the process, as according to Gardner, “it’s not all that’s cracked up to be.”

Returning to Oa, they respond to a crisis on Sector 3599; the water planet Nerro, only to find it drained completely of water with the inhabitants of the planet all piled up with the exception of the bodies of two Green Lanterns skewered for all to see, sending the message to our Corps that this new baddie means business. The planet’s water, as revealed in the succeeding panels, has somehow been transported, or in this case, teleported to an unknown location ruled by a cloaked figure that has “missed the sound of the sea”. He responds to a report of a problem on the planet Xabas. And the problem is really more of Gardner and rest of the Corps trying to prevent the teleporting of another natural resource, this time the trees and forests. They are soon met by a force coming out of the warp hole dressed in black but wielding green energy blades that proves troublesome for our heroes as they are immune to the power of the Lantern ring.

*spoiler begins....*


Luckily for them, Lantern Porter from Oa with the capability of teleporting fellow Lanterns arrives just in the nick of time and proves to be the much needed reinforcement. But in spite of his best efforts, not all Lanterns were brought safely back to Oa. As it is, Lantern Vandor and Stewart were just some of the GL’s left behind for Lantern Porter was unable to teleport them all back. But in spite of the defeat, Gardner was able to capture one of the new baddies for interrogation and when they couldn’t make any progress, Jonn Jonz aka. Martian Manhunter came in and with his empathic abilities extracted the much needed intel and revealing these new baddies to be called The Keepers. And that they are called such for they are the ones tending to all of the batteries of each and every Green Lantern!

If you’d recall, the Lanterns safekeep their personal batteries in an undisclosed pocket universe for easy and effortless access. Now it seems these Keepers want more and are after the Central Power Battery in OA. Their existence was only known to the Guardians after the “Smurfs” discovered the existence of the planet called Urak. Its atmospheric core allowed an instantaneous conduit that allowed unlimited retrieval of a battery for every Green Lantern. The inhabitants of the planet were thus provided for in perpetuity, in exchange for “keeping” the batteries safe. But it was only a short time ago that the Guardians, without warning whatsoever, came in and removed each and every battery from the Keeper’s custody and thus severing the connection that has already formed between all the Lantern batteries and the planet as it served as a “crop” and sustained the planet and its people and infused their DNA with an already potent resource of “Will”. Without the Lanterns, the planet began to die.

This explains why the Keepers pillaged different planets for their different resources in order to stay alive. Meanwhile back on Urak, Lantern Stewart, Vandor and Kirrt are being interrogated, or should I say, tortured by the leader of the Keepers in disclosing to them the Vibrational Matrix signature that will allow them to breach Oa’s orbital force field without alerting the Guardians to their “stargate”. The interrogation which consisted of electrocution on top of three days without food and water proved to be too much even for a stalwart Lantern. And at the last minute when Lantern Kirrt was about to disclose the code and give way, John Stewart does what we say is the unthinkable, which is dispose of a fellow Lantern by twisting his neck and hereby leaving his ring to look for a new recruit. That served as the much needed distraction Stewart needed to break free temporarily from the Keepers and fly out onto the barren field while running on reserved energy.

And just when it’s back to square one for my favorite Lantern Stewart, Guy Gardner, armed with military weapons, along with the Mean Machine; a group of bad-ass Lanterns camping out below Gardner’s own bar called Warriors underneath Oa, comes to the rescue and engages the Keepers head on. And of course you could count on Gardner to think of a crazy idea and follow thru. He deduced that the only way to fight someone with that much willpower is to not engage it with the same element that fuels it but give it what it lacks, which is the element of FEAR. So he drops a “Fear Bomb” on the Keepers by way of two Sinestro Corps War prisoners kept in one of the science cells. The cells detonate on contact and imbue the Keepers with Fear and had them begging for mercy; which is pretty much the antithesis of how they were moments before.

The situation is soon resolved and decided upon by the Guardians (of course) that the Keepers dig a grave of each and every one of their victims, which according to Gardner is a lifelong sentence. The compilation ends with Lantern John Stewart bringing Lantern Kirrt’s body to his home planet of Lorror on Sector 2451, where not only was Kirrt regarded a hero by his family and also the recipient of a tombstone befitting a Lantern. All in all Peter Tomasi again has done a whirlwind of a good ride with this First volume of the New 52 for Green Lantern Corps that collects Issues 1-7. While I was expecting a cliffhanger of an ending, it was rather an emotional one with John Stewart accepting his guilt at having to kill Kirrt in order to protect the Corps and leaving it out from his report. Lantern Vandorr doesn’t condemn what Stewart had to do but also reminds John that at times the Corps needs someone to act as their conscience and that he is it.

Stewart for his most part may be racking up his list of high profile body counts by adding Kirrt to this list, as well as the decimation of the Planet Xanshi and most recently of Lantern Mogo, during the War of the Green Lanterns, who if in case you didn’t know was also a planet. But John Stewart, when you think about it, is the best person to handle radical life and death situations like these, for not only has he made difficult decisions and lived through them, his military background also allows him to focus on the task at hand, prevent his emotions from getting the best of him just to get the job done. Now does that make him the perfect emotionless Lantern that some may label him to be?

On the contrary, he is the Lantern that has a lot of emotion and heart to go around, and is good at having to distill what amount of it needs to be shown, needs to be channelled in order to continue to be good at his job. That’s why it was no surprise that prior to the New 52 and during the Brightest Day crisis, he was offered to become an Alpha Lantern; to which his quick thinking prevailed and allowed him to deny the post and think clearly at the consequences of being one. All in all it was good, for should that have happened, we probably would have one more emotionless sentry going about their duty and only seeing a situation in absolutes; the black or the white. But lucky for us, John still remains human and is willing to navigate the gray areas of being a Lantern. And that I think is a key ingredient why he has survived thus far and why the Universe is all the more better for it.

Can't wait for the next volume that pits our beloved Corps with a nemesis closer to home and more of the ramifications of John Stewart's decision to kill off a fellow Lantern.


{You can read the review (with pics) at http://cazgeekreader.blogspot.com/201...}

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little hesitant to read Green Lantern Corps, one, because I was only familiar with Hal Jordan being the Green Lantern. Two, was due to the fact I know little to nothing else about the series, and watching the Ryan Reynolds movie does not count. However, I am pleased to see that volume one does not get into too much exposition and neither was it hard to catch up on the backstories of Guy Gardner and Jon Stewart. This volume was all about fighting an invading army of Keepers who seem to be immune to the Corp's powers, and how they were destroying other planets to rebuild their own.

The action sequences were vibrant, definitely not campy or overdone. The story pacing was just right, an even break between the actions and building up the characters of the two leads and their companions. I did find that certain pages had one too many dialogues going on and about that it makes it hard to read through on occasions, but thankfully they were very few. I think I can get into this series, and hopefully other series as well, maybe Hal may appear in a future volume too.

[Sebastian Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me pone triste como cambian el cast del anterior volumen, pero me gusta la trama de los lantern de la tierra teniendo problemas en su vida diaria y los lantern que fueron reclutados despues de la guerra

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing here by Tomasi is horrid. He just feels the need to hammer you over the head and spell out everything he has just done. It ruins some of the rather good art, and some of the concepts in the storyline that might have been cool if not just bludgeoned to death by his awful dialogue.

The idea for the story is actually one I like: yet another stupid move by the Guardians in their arrogant treatment of everyone leads to another group of people pissed off, and this time they're immune to Green Lantern Rings and killing off Lanterns! I also liked the idea that Guy Gardner and John Stewart don't fit on Earth as easily as Kyle and Hal because they didn't hide behind masks. That being said, for a reboot, they still keep Guy one dimensional, only fleshing out John a bit more.
There's also an appearance from a former favourite of the JLA, who seems to be one of the only rebooted characters in the DCU: Martian Manhunter.
He's still part of Stormwatch here, but the group threatening is bad enough, he helps Guy out with some info...his appearance is one of the highlights, and that's bad when you've got a whole GL Corps to work with.

There's also some recycling of ideas from Tomasi's Batman and Robin Vol. 1: one of the major characters actually kills someone, and then has to live with it. If this is his major play now, throwing in a death/murder/killing to shock or make us examine closer, he's not going to be writing these books for long.

It really is a shame, because some of the secondary characters in the Corps that we meet (including a grizzled old vets group that lives beneath Guy's bar) are fantastic additions, and I hope to see more of them. It just all gets nearly ruined by Tomasi's writing/dialogue, which is the equivalent of TYPING IN CAPITAL LETTERS TO EMPHASIZE HOW LOUD AND VERY IMPORTANT THE POINT HE IS MAKING MUST BE TO THE STUPID READER.
In fact, he even includes a character who is slow 'due to birthing complications' as per his father...so that Tomasi has yet another excuse to explain to us again what has just transpired and what it means...

Approach with caution, if you're an optimist, focus on the cool Lanterns introduced, or John and Guy getting some book time, or MM showing up. Otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you.

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very strong opening volume in the NU52 run of GLC. While it has its silly parts, this is a thoughtful story with more depth than just "bad guys vs good guys."

It's a look at colonialism, for one, cloaked as a battle between the GL Corps and creepy aliens called Keepers. Consider a loose parallel from history: The Congo, a place colonized by the Belgians and plundered for its resources. When the Belgians left, they had taken almost everything of value, leaving the people poor and disorganized.

Now imagine if the people of the Congo got their hands on nuclear weapons. Out of desperation and anger, they killed a lot of people -- and then threatened Brussels and all of Belgium with destruction. In the end, the Belgians were able to use their superior resources to defeat the Africans before they could put their plan in motion, leaving the people of the Congo more downtrodden than ever. What would that say about the Belgians and their responsibility for the people they used and crushed (even as they were fighting a defensive battle against a very dangerous enemy)?

That's essentially what happens in this book. Tomasi doesn't linger on the politics, focusing mostly on telling a big, entertaining story. But he's given us enough to know that it's the kind of theme he had in mind.

The best part of the story is the epilogue issue, where John Stewart has to face the consequences of doing something horrifying-but-necessary. The last few pages made me tear up. Also, I liked the opening with Guy Garder and John Stewart experiencing difficulty building a "normal" life on earth given their public identities as Lanterns. Terrific character moments that make you care.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really good Green Lantern Corps story with plenty of action and testing of characters. I especially liked the final issue which acts as denouement/post-mortem to the first six issues and really focuses on Lantern Stewart's inner conflicts.

This volume really makes me wonder something, though: why do the Green Lanterns not jump ship? I mean, it is SOOOOO obvious that the Guardians are not the good guys, and it has been apparently so for a long, long time. If the Green Lanterns have such astute moral compasses, how can they bear continuing to work for such terrible bosses? This silliness really stands out in "Fearsome".

Also, is it just me or does the GL universe seem to be completely uninfected by the New 52 reboot? Nothing seems to have been altered at all with the Green Lantern Corps; it's as if the reboot had no bearing on its continuum whatsoever. Everything pre-Flashpoint has simply continued on, full-steam ahead, after the reboot.

And that is my biggest problem with this volume of Green Lantern Corps. It doesn't feel like it is a part of the New 52. It feels like an older story that never made it to print.

I'm hoping that future issues will give some indication that the GL universe has shifted just like every thing else in the DCU post-Flashpoint.

3.5/5

[Kitap · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read about the Green Lantern Corps, I hope for mind-stretching alien characters à la Alan Moore.

Like Mogo...


or Rot Lop Fan, blind member of what he calls the "F-Sharp Bell" Corps...


Alas the current volume, a "reboot" of the franchise, is a lot less about intriguing aliens and a lot more about the military nature of the Corps. The reader, like the contemporary US citizen, is treated to lots of morally ambiguous stuff that is glossed over with sentimentality. And when the story went all Dirty Dozen and the GLs replaced their emerald firepower with literal firepower—pistols, automatic rifles, and rocket launcers—I nearly threw the book across the room. (I'm not reflexively anti-gun by any means, but this just seemed egregious and sad.)

The art was nice but it was unfortunately at the service of a mediocre story about a mediocre group of space cops. We know they're mediocre; as Martian Manhunter takes pains to point out, they couldn't save Krypton or Mars...

[Robert Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

GL Corps continues as a solid book despite the New 52 "reboot." Though from the story, characters, and action on display here you'd hardly know there had been a reboot.

Good story that throws in some intriguing concepts, including where each Lantern's power battery goes when not being used to take the oath/recharge their ring.

Tomasi throws in some good character bits too. Like Guy & John not really having secret identities and how that impacts their daily life. Though honestly, as funny as the situation is, why Guy is hunting for a job—isn't his job "Green Lantern"?—is not really clear. Guess the Guardians don't pay in "Earth money."

Still, a fun read with solid art. Not a "great story," but then a monthly book doesn't turn out gold 100% of the time. Great storylines are praised and cherished precisely because they don't come along every day. Don't hold that against a book that simply turns out an entertaining time. That's rare enough in itself.

So, read & enjoy!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for action then this volume has it in spades, and green ink, wow, the Green Lantern comic line must have their own green ink reservoir somewhere! This was my introduction to Green Lantern comics, and there is a lot going on but for the most part it is fairly easy to follow. The only rough spot for me was toward the middle when the background on the Keepers was revealed. The reveal made everyone's motives suspect, and they never really followed up on that, which I thought would have made for a much more thought-provoking story. The final chapter was the best in my opinion, because it dealt with the consequences of decisions and what honor means. It was not enough to pull it to 4 stars, though, especially since one character gets basically no accountability which seemed hard to swallow. Points for racial diversity and gender diversity (though the women seem to provide supporting roles, and wear less armor than the men).

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this review and more on my blog.

Green Lantern Corps Volume 1 collects issues #1 - #7 of Green Lantern Corps.

Considering that the Green Lantern Corps are the group that I know the least about (I do not count the movie), I found it very easy to understand that was going on and why what was occurring had occurred.

The storyline follows Guy Gardner and John Stewart as they face off against the Keepers, a new alien race that no-one knew existed. A tad predictable a times ruined it for me, although there were moments where what happened was not what I expected.

The art style was what I expected from a space-based comic. I just wish that their had been more panels that made me go wow as space always does.

Since I have not read many other Green Lantern stories, I do not know how this one stacks up against them but I would still recommend Fearsome to most people.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't quite put my finger on it, what it is that makes this book so forgettable, what it is that is wrong with it. I'm not sure if I'm just tired of the corp. or what.
The writing is good, the art is great, the action is awesome, it just feels like the same ol' same ol'. I did keep putting off finishing the book, because of how dark (which is ironic considering how colorful it is), bleak and serious in can be. Any Corp member could die in any issue and many do die. They did.
Die that is. It's heavy emphasis on Corps. Because it's about wars and battles and strategies... and death. Well to give you an idea, how forgettable it is, I will copy and paste this unto the next volumes review.
So although I don't really recommend this.
It's something you have to be in the mood for, and I'm always in the mood for star wa... No wait, not that, .. battles in space!

[Eskana · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who isn't well-versed in a lot of Green Lantern lore, I felt like this was a good jumping-on point. And it should be... this was part of the New 52, DC's attempt at a reset of their comics (although some Green Lantern things were not reset) to give people a chance to begin reading.
This book focuses on the human Green Lanterns John Stewart and Guy Gardner, who most people might not have heard of (the main Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was being covered in the "Green Lantern" book.) This volume focuses on the Green Lanterns as a whole, using John and Guy as the main characters.

Plot: At this point, Guy and John are two of four Green Lanterns from Earth (the others being Hal- who is currently fired from the Corps- and Kyle Rayner.) Both are struggling to find side jobs on earth due to the fact that they do not have secret identities. Then they are both called to help the Lanterns deal with a crisis... a mysterious group who their rings can't identify is murdering Lanterns and stealing resources from various planets. The mission involves multiple Lanterns and ends up being forcing both Guy and John to make serious, character-defining choices. More details will be spoiler-hidden below.

Review: Overall, I thought this was pretty solid. I'm not a huge fan of Green Lantern stuff in general (I kind of think that most of the characters are a bit full of themselves,) but since I like both Guy and John I decided to give it a try. It was definitely serious... from the first issue, there are people getting torn apart, dismemberment, etc., and the volume doesn't back off, even delving into torture and nuclear-style war tactics. This really did help keeping you focused on the actual stakes and the role of the Green Lanterns as sort of a military group who is necessary in many ways... but who also create a lot of problems for themselves (or should I say... the Corps' creators, the Guardians of Oa, are always making issues?).
I appreciate that both John and Guy are allowed to shine here. John is his usual stoic self, and Guy (who has gone through a lot in his character's history and used to be always be depicted as an overly macho, childish hardhead) is still being shown more as a military-focused type who is willing to make hard decisions and doesn't doubt himself too much. I think they balanced well together, which I was surprised by. The other characters were pretty forgettable to me, but as I've looked at other GL books and saw these characters reappear, I see it was a pretty good introduction to the wider GL world.

Overall, a pretty solid read, while maybe not for younger readers due to violence. A good place to start learning about the Green Lanterns (and not just Hal's life problems.)

More plot details: Mostly, this book is what I said. There is a lot of action and a lot of violence, but again, this simply emphasizes the stakes. The enemy, known as the Keepers, end up being yet another group that the Guardians of Oa may have short-shrifted. In this case, it relates to the Corps' lantern power batteries, which they usually can pull out of nowhere. Turns out, they were not nowhere, but actually on another planet, the home of the Keepers, who were supposed to tend the batteries. In exchange, there planet thrived due to the batteries and they became imbued genetically with residual willpower (or something like that.) Then, the Guardians changed their minds and took the batteries, leaving the planet barren, so the Keepers decided to steal all the resources they needed from other planets, steal the main GL power battery on Oa, and kill any GLs they see.
But most of the characters don't know this until about the 3/4 mark. Meanwhile, many Lanterns die and a few planets are killed off when the Keepers steal their resources. John is captured with a few other GLs and they are tortured for information. When one Lantern is going to give away information that would lead to the Keepers attacking (and probably destroying) Oa, John kills him before he can. This is a decision he greatly seems to regret, but the one other Lantern who was there agrees with his choice. As far as anyone else knows, the guy was tortured to death and is a hero.

Meanwhile, Guy is forced to come up with a plan to stop the Keepers and save Oa. They receive the Keeper's backstory from the Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onzz, who because of the New 52, is not known to anyone and is actually not even part of the Justice League, but instead is on the newer team "Stormwatch." Guy decides on a frontal assault on the Keepers' planet (now that the know the location,) but keeps an ace in his backpocket. He is eventually forced to use it, and it turns out to be two Yellow Lanterns. They were mass murderers who have been kept in the Oan prisons, and are experts at spreading fear (a great way to counteract willpower, such as the Keepers'.) Guy fires them at the planet, effectively executing them and somehow this spreads a yellow "fearcloud" over the planet, letting the Lanterns win. He is not sorry about this and likens it to the choice to drop the nuclear bomb on Japan in WWII, a decision which killed many but probably spared the majority of Japan even greater destruction from an invasion.
So, the book leaves off with both of these Lanterns having made these big decisions. I can see Guys' coming back to bite him possibly, but his reasoning is pretty sound and there was a lot at stake. John is already suffering from his choice... he even volunteers to take the body of the Lantern he killed back to his home planet for burial. There, he meets his family and even his mentally challenged younger brother, so you know that this is just going to stay on John's conscience, and will probably lead to more down the line.

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite my limited knowledge of the Green Lantern universe, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. This story arc begins kind of ho-hum: exciting, yes, but rather thin. The story quickly fleshed out, both in terms of story and emotionality. The art is very well executed; however, I don't envy the colorist for this title, as those pencils must be ridiculously dense. While the corps members do tend to gravitate toward hackneyed battle cries and bouts of forced braggadocio, they are all awesome. While the it may slacken a bit during the more exciting bits, the character progression over the course of this slim volume is quite impressive. I may need to start getting to the racks on Wednesdays and follow these guys now.

Book received for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Alex Sarll]

Well, that's the last of the bastards. I can't even remember to whom I said that I'd read whichever of the New 52 volume ones turned up in the library. Whoever it was, I'm sure they wouldn't have held me to it, and yet I did it all the same. Even as it became ever clearer that - as so often - first impressions were entirely accurate: there was half a good idea (make accessible, clearly-signposted starting points for new readers) mired in oceans of shit (editorial micromanagement; a needless universe-wide reboot; pseudo-gritty nineties stylings that mistake tits, misery and gore for depth). With the exception of a quite moving epilogue issue, this is typical extruded New 52 product, and as such a perfect capstone to the most utterly pointless 'achievement' of my non-working life.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I'm relatively new to the Lantern Universe and this is the first time I've come across Guy Gardner. Can't say I liked his attitude much. But it also has my favourite Lantern: John Stewart. There are also over a dozen more Green Lanterns, a couple of which I'd heard of before. The story was action-packed but fairly cliche, being the story of a race who is wiping out entire planets and the Lanterns have to get them before they take over Earth, or in this case mainly Lantern headquarters, OA.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good new volume of GLC, and one that extends the GLC mythology in interesting ways without leaning on the crutch of the rainbow lanterns. The focus on the characters of Gardner and Stewart is particularly good, especially in issues #1 and #7.

On the downside, it's overly decompressed, as almost all of the initial New 52 arcs were, and the whole issue of Mogo from the war seems to have been rather inappropriately forgotten by Stewart.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this volume was interesting and the artwork was stunning. However with next to no previous knowledge of the Green Lantern universe I found it quite confusing. I was also unsure how this universe coincided with the Justice League universe (ie. Does the Green Lantern from JL appear in these comics at all? If so who is he?)

[Nicholas Donohue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great build-up for the coming fate of a certain Green Lantern. Seeds of the Third Army as well! Great read.

[Annice22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Read the single issues)

This was a very well written story.