Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns

Green Lantern (2005) (Collected Editions)

by Geoff Johns, Tony Bedard, Peter J. Tomasi

A malevolent force has usurped control over all the Green Lantern power batteries, leaving the Corps powerless except for a select few members. Now it's up to Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart and Sinestro to regain control - but can these warriors overcome their differences in time to save the universe?

Collecting: Green Lantern 63-67, Green Lantern Corps 58-60, & Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 8-10

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

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 22, 2011

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

When my son was three, my wife and I introduced him to the joys of sushi. For some reason he could not get enough of avocado. As my wife and I were trying to flag down the waitress, my son started to make a grab for a big ball of wasabi, assuming that it too was avocado. My wife and I moving in (what seemed like) slow motion and screaming “no” could not quite stop him from popping it in his mouth. In about ten seconds, my son’s face turned crimson, his eyes started to tear and his cute willowy blond hair was plastered to his now sweaty head. I think a little steam might have been coming out of his ears and nose.

By now you’re saying, Jeff, what does this charming tale of parental neglect have to do with the Green Lantern. Well, I’ve always thought of the Green Lantern comics as a big ball of wasabi, not fit for consumption. And the wasabi is, um, green.

I haven’t had any desire to pick up a Green Lantern book since Hal Jordan went nuts and Kyle Raynor’s girlfriend was stuffed into a refrigerator. I just don’t have the head for tales of derring-do on a cosmic level. I tried to read the Blackest Night and didn’t even make it past the first volume. I picked up this because it had “war” in the title and I thought Green Lanterns beating the crap out of each other might be fun (I’m shallow).

The basic story is this: some entity is sore about having his entire civilization wiped out by the Manhunters and now he’s going to take revenge on the entire Green Lantern Corp by turning everyone into evil Green Lanterns so they can carry out his nefarious scheme to control the universe. Something along those lines. This doesn’t affect Earth’s Lanterns for some reason I can’t recall. They get to try on new colored rings which represent emotions. Red-Anger, Yellow-Fear, Indigo-Compassion etc. I have a new Lantern Corp color: Mauve – Indifference.

And what has Geoff John’s done to that unlovable, degenerate Guy Gardner, the DC universe’s punch line and punching bag? Everyone took their best shot at Gardner (he had it coming): Batman, Lobo, Doomsday, Metamorpho, etc… The last one was especially painful because Metamorpho was in metal form. Ouch. How did this guy get his ring?* Daffy Duck was a more worthy Lantern. In this tale, Gardner’s just unlovable. And dull.

I give it three stars because all the different color Lantern Corps in the same panel was pretty.

If you take nothing else from this review, it should be Green Lantern = Wasabi

*That’s a rhetorical question. I know how he got his ring. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Read this review and much more at:

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I needed to read this one right away, because of the re-boot.
It doesn't matter, 'cause it's all going to get wiped out anyway, right?
I was wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong.
Oh, so very wrong...



Yep. You need to read this before Green Lantern, Vol. 1: Sinestro. Otherwise, you're going to find yourself in the same situation I was in while trying to make sense of this supposed re-boot. Mostly, it consisted of me scratching my head like a monkey, and muttering things like, What the f*$@ is this?!, while simultaneously praying to the gods of Google that something would pop up online to explain what I was reading.
In other words, Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro takes off right where War of the Lanterns leaves off.

Guy's story with the Red Ring plays heavily into this...so I guess I need to go back and read all of that, too. *sigh* The amount of information I'm missing seems to grow exponentially.
Anyhoo...Guy, Hal, Kyle, and John are the only Lanterns who were able to fight off Parallax's takeover of the rings. Or at least they could fight it off long enough to get their rings off. The Eeeevil Ex-Guardian (can't remember his name) has control of the Entities and has brainwashed the rest of the Corps. Good times.
Of course, our guys triumph in the end.
And then comes the twist!
I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't read it, but this is the pivotal part to understanding what happens in Sinestro.

Recommended for fans of GL.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its the corps vs Krona who is controlling the guardians and even the corps using Parallax and so the 4 Corpsmen must don the rings of other lantern corps and battle Krona from annihilating the corps and the world at large, its a massive story and has many moving parts but ultimately the ending is just too epic and there are moments in the middle of the story where you see them making bold choices and something they normally wouldn't and its normally interesting to see these new side of emotions. When towards the end they are at a standstill, John makes the boldest choice and destroys Mogo and well Hal towards the end kills Krona, and the guardians are shocked and expel him from the corps and its interesting the aftermath of what this war will be and many GLs are quitting because of what happened. It really like puts the GLC in a new position which has never been seen before.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Green lantern: Brightest Day, Hal Jordan and the leaders of the other colors discover that an old renegade Guardian named Krona has stolen all of the emotional entities, and now in this mini-crossover, he unleashes his grand plan and commands the entities to possess the Guardians of Oa and puts Parallax back into the Central Power Battery, restoring the Yellow Impurity and taking control of the entire Green Lantern Corps. The human Lanterns get their rings off in time, but how will they save the Corps without their weapons? Their only hope lies in rings of another color...



This brings the pre-New 52 section of Geoff Johns's Green Lantern run rocketing to a close in epic fashion. I love the idea of our heroes being forced into risking using the powers of other aspects of the emotional spectrum. The writers really made interesting use of the different powers and how they each contribute to the fight. All the human Lanterns are pretty cool on their own, but when they all work together that's when these stories are at their best. I can't wait to see where Johns takes the Corps in the New 52.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Green Lantern title where our titular crew spend very little time as Green Lanterns and instead get to explore how they'd do without their rings. It's a typical team up against the big bad featuring panels that pop, and a lot of the plot progressing through action sequences alone. Charming and colourful at its best, with a little bit of mess in the middle, it's a good event that may be smaller scale than the crossovers, but still delivers on fan service moments.

actual rating 3.5 stars

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well it's official, I am obsessed with Green Lantern and I guess anything Geoff Johns writes. He has made GL almost as badass as he made Aquaman- almost. This collect complies the crossover stories from GL and the GL Corps and promises big action and fights, but my favorite part was all 4 Green Lanterns of Earth working together to solve this crisis. The solution involves them having to wear the rings and colors of other Corps which make for not only a great story but a beautiful book for the eyes to enjoy. The colors and illustrations are as amazing as the story!

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book series definitely felt like it was being put into neutral for the company wide reboot, the ending blew all of those feelings away. Another winner from Geoff Johns.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end is very good, but the rest was written by three authors and the rules get a little confusing.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Krona sets his sights on the entities he unleashes hell on the Green Lanterns as he mind controls 99.9% of them. Who isn't effected? Well the green lanterns infected by Paralax back in the day.

So John, Hal, Kyle, and Guy must work together to tackle this Guardian who's pretty much wiping the floor with his mind control and unimaginable power. So each of them has to use a new ring that isn't the Green ring so it makes for some fun moments and explosive action. For a mini-event this is pretty great and a lot of fun.

The ending leaves the reader off in a shocking manner and gives way to the New 52 run. I enjoyed watching Johns, Peter, and Tony work together to give us a good event. While not as good as the War, or maybe even Blackest Night, it's still fun. A 4 out of 5.

[Georgie Zakka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really needed this book to get me back in the spirit, it’s the core of why I loved these books and recently I just haven’t been able to enjoy reading as much but this was awesome.

Alright so krona is pissed because the guardians kicked him out because he thought having emotions would be fine and so he comes back for revenge with the 7 entities and takes control of the green battery using parallax and all the green lanterns are trying to murder each other. Hal, john, guy, and Kyle save the day and sinestro becomes a green lantern.

I like this book so much because of how easy it was to get into and while there are some things I’m not keen of I still understood the story and I was able to have a good time reading it.

The art is great and the colouring is amazing. The colouring to me is one of the best parts of green lantern books, it brings so much life to the book and it’s awesome.

Overall, really good book.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the end, I didn't like this as much as Blackest Knight. For some reason, it all felt rushed to me. It also felt lacking in content. That was a bit of a disappointment for me. I know I probably shouldn't expect to get too emotionally attached to characters in big crossover events, so it maybe isn't fair of me to be sad it isn't there. But Johns has managed to deliver very emotionally effective moments in the middle of big events before, so I know he's capable. I will give this book for kudos for making it one of the few times that I've really liked Kyle. Of the four Earth GLs who get most of the panel space here, he probably has the best character work. No complaints about the art, though, it looks great.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good event! So War Of The Green Lantern has a villain named Krono, who captures all the corps entities, and now Hal Jordan must get it back, while on this quest Parallax finds his way into the Green Lantern power battery, so all the green lanterns are evil blah blah you get the picture. The One weakness i find these Lantern events have is theirs a lot going on, and each issue is done my various writers so its a collection of different writing styles; but in the end its enjoyable. And like all Geoff Johns Green lantern events the whole event has some quite moments here and there but mostly one huge fight scene! But in the end, another fun edition to the Green Lantern Lore.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Según cómo se lo cuente, este tomo es el #11 de la serie de Green Lantern (2005), el #9 de Green Lantern Corps (2006), o el #17 en general de la etapa de Johns en Green Lantern.

[C.J. Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been about 4 years now since I last re-visited Green Lantern and realized why I had this penchance for rings when I was a kid. Fast forward to today and after major yearly crises that has plagued OA and the rest of the DC Universe; I am still hooked and proud to be a Lantern at heart. Reading War of the Green Lanterns this month as it only came out in hardcover and compiles the entire storyline via different issues of Green Lantern and Emerald Warriors; Geoff Johns has once again won my heart and proved why he is the man who wears the DC crown.

Touted as the big crisis following the successful and my favorite GL crisis, Blackest Night and its 3 part sequel, Brightest Day, one would think that there would not be another crisis than can come close to equalling these past 2 big events. And it so happens that they didn’t have to create another villain to spin a brand new crisis that would incapacitate and affect our ring wielding friends because they already have one in their midst. And this came in the form of a renegade guardian named Krona. The hardcover 10-issue compilation collects the different runs of the storyline as it appears in Green Lantern #63-67, Green Lantern Corps #58-60, Emerald Warriors #8-10.

Having met Krona first in the 80’s series, Crisis on Infinite Earths and then have him associated with past DC events like Infinite Crisis and the 2 most recent GL crises, it was but natural that they bring him back to finally tie up loose ends with his fellow Guardians and to give Krona the centerstage attention that he so long desired. (I’m not saying, deserved either)

With Krona’s entrance, it’s also the resolution of the damage that the so called Guardians have had to answer for. From the secrets and lies that they told in order to keep the Lanterns in the dark of what they must not know and limit their knowledge to what they need to know, this war was very much a war among the Guardians themselves and not just confined to their Green “police squad”. Following the events of Green Lantern: Brightest Day, we find our hero Hal Jordan working alongside with the other members of the different corps, branded as such by the Guardians as enemies, in protecting the various emotional entities from Krona’s influence.

So far Krona has succeeded in obtaining all the emotional entities (Ion for Green; Parallax for Yellow; Ophidian for Orange; Butcher for Red; Adara for Blue, Proselyte for Indigo and Predator for Violet) and have “led” this temporary truce-bound group of lanterns to the Planet Ryut; which is in Sector 666, and homeworld of the red lantern leader, Atrocitus. This same planet where his Red Lantern, representing the emotional spectrum of rage, was formed and tragically is also site of the massacre of his people by the robotic Manhunters made by the Guardians eons ago. According to the Book of Oa that contained a history of the Lantern Corps, the Manhunters were robots manufactured by the Guardians to ensure peace in the galaxy but a glitch in their basic programming caused them to massacre everyone on the planet Ryut and thus begin Atrocitus’ lifelong dream of exacting his revenge on the Guardians.

On Ryut, the multi-colored Lanterns fell susceptible to the Book of the Black kept by Krona and protected by now Black Keeper Lyssa Drak who once was a member of the Sinestro Corps and wielded a yellow Ring that represented the emotional spectrum of fear. The Lanterns were thus given a glimpse into the true secret that the Guardians have kept for so long. The “secret” was actually the omitted and torn out passages or journal entries from the Book of Oa and were replayed in their minds as they are strapped to the book by Black Chains for the duration of their “virtual history lesson”.
As the book shows, Krona was one of the original Guardians hailing from the planet Maltus who sought out the meaning of life; the origin of creation.

He was a brilliant scientist that dared to question and in his result bungled his own experiment and created the opposite of all life called The Anti Universe. For this and for recognizing the existence and use of emotion to which the Guardians were totally against he was sentenced to death and was in pursuit by the Manhunters. The book further revealed, much to the horror of all that It was Krona who re-worked the programming of the Manhunters and to randomly select a world to kill; a point which he had hoped to bring across to the Guardians that he meant business. That an “emotionless” police force is not without flaws and must be corrected.

Having thus learned the truth, the Lanterns were sucked into the book, but not before Sinestro and Hal detonated their own rings and enabled Hal to be free of the chains that bound him. Which was well and good, had it not been for the arrival of several Green Lanterns lead by Salaak who were commanded by the Guardians to arrest Hal and bring him back to Oa for sanction.

Krona as this time had already returned Parallax, the yellow entity of Fear into the central battery and have begun manipulating the bearers of the Green Lantern ring thru Parallax and was havin them fight against Hal, former Guardian Ganthet (but now a self inducted Green Lantern), John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner.

That basically is the gist of the run of the storyline and I’m stopping here lest I be tempted to reveal more spoilers. Just like my favorite GL crises, The Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, this compilation has all the action that any GL fan has come to love and expect with its own share of character introspection and plot twists. Only when I re-read this a second time did it dawn on me that Hal for all his bravado and will is turning out to be rather Machiavellian in his ways and it is perhaps in this that the Guardians have begun to fear him and regard him as a threat; that he perhaps could be another Krona in the making. But in his defense, Hal is aware of the radical steps that he has taken and in one panel, has admitted he has bitten off more than he can chew at the height of this crisis.

Suffice to say, Johns has given us another reason to love the Green Lantern Corps and what it stands for and in the process have given two major lanterns a shot of soul searching and redemption. If you like your reads action packed and unpredictable then
War of the Green Lanterns is a must this holiday season. And although the end certainly paves the way for the new reboot of the franchise by way of the new-52 by DC, I can only imagine the next chapter that all our favorite Lanterns would have to go through following this devastating blow of a war. No one said that war will exempt the brave and the lucky ones from being a casualty. But after this, the word “casualty” is certainly being redefined as the Corps itself is being reshaped and put into the ringer. Power up Poohzers. Time for a new beginning!

[Jacob A. Mirallegro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very close to a 5 I really enjoyed it.
I thought the flow was surprisingly good despite going back and forth between three different series' each with a different creative team. The writing and art felt distinct but fitting to the stories/characters. I liked that the premise of the story was pretty simple and then established rather quickly so the rest of the book could be spent with the four main human GLs dealing with it. That said few moments felt off or inconsistent but it worked out by the end. The ending itself was also very sudden and anticlimactic but I actually liked it for that. It felt more thematic and gloomy in an interesting way.

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of this was on the goofy side, but it wasn't bad.

I don't know if you could "jump on" here. I've been reading a lot of Green Lantern tpbs, but some are earlier, and some are later.

[Sebastian Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que maravilla, super infravalorado, fue un gran final para el volumen 4 y leere el 5 con muchas ganas

[Everett Cole]

Kind of silly in some aspects, but the action is pretty cool. The day is saved by Guy throwing a tantrum and Kyle drawing pictures.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

When these stories were originally published in 2011, I was in the middle of a transition away from comics (which is something I'm in the middle of once again). I didn't have a chance to read most of them, only the concluding issues and a brief epilogue. I assumed that "War of the Green Lanterns" was less inspired than some of the other grand arcs that Geoff Johns brought to the franchise.

Well, I was wrong. As with most chapters of his grand design, Johns wove crucial elements into the narrative. For instance, the idea of the Third Army and the First Lantern, both subjects of later arcs recently concluded (as well as the creator's whole run) are deftly introduced. This was the last arc before the New 52 reboot that DC employed across its line in the fall later that year. It might almost have been Johns's final arc, but one can almost see how he saw the seeds he was able to plant here to make it last a few additional years.

As with all of his stories, Johns continues adventures from previous volumes in War of the Green Lanterns, specifically the uneasy alliances forged during Brightest Day between the conflicting impulses of all the corps (the great innovation of Johns's tenure was that the Green Lantern Corps represented only one point in the potential of power rings capable of channeling the great motivations of sentient lifeforms, from the willpower of the green rings to the fear of the yellow and so on).

The starting point and main villain is Krona, who was a member of the Oan species who have longed served as the Guardians of the Universe and ringleaders of the Green Lantern Corp. Disagreements in their ranks have provoked other schisms, such as the one that caused all the women to depart and eventually found the Star Sapphires (who wield love). Krona was previously best known for daring to look at the moment of the Big Bang, inadvertently creating the multiverse. Here, Johns also reveals how he sparked the rage of the Red Lanterns by destroying the population of Atrocitus's homeworld of Ryut, revealing the flaw of the Manhunters, original army of the Guardians, rejecting the idea that emotions lead only to chaos, which his peers have long believed.

Anyway, beyond all the mythology there's also Johns interacting with fellow writers Peter J. Tomasi and Tony Bedard in bringing all the human Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner) together in a common crisis for the first time since Rebirth, butting heads and working together in ways that show the strength of the franchise as it existed well before any of these writers ever came aboard.

The ending is another patented cliffhanger. Sinestro is mostly present at the beginning and end of the story. It's not until the stories that succeed it that his presence becomes even more significant than it has ever been before. In turn, Johns also puts a strong focus on the maverick nature of Hal Jordan, the character he helped revive in Rebirth, a trait the Guardians have never admired. Their decision by the end is exactly what it would have been at the beginning, and again, the consequences will be explored later. I've sometimes believed that Johns has lost focus on Jordan while he expanded the mythology, but it's moments like this that affirm that he always knew the character better than anyone, always knowing exactly what to do with him, building on what came before while forming a foundation for greater things to follow.

So yeah, War of the Green Lanterns is a strong link in the Geoff Johns cycle.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lanterns last stand against Krona; the Guardians embody their greatest fears; the capacity of an Earth Lantern's heart is tested; and Mogo. Mogo, Mogo, Mogo.

The triad of storylines from Brightest Day converge at last in this, the final volume of the Green Lantern series, pre-flashpoint. It's all been leading up to this for years now, and it only slightly disappoints.

It's not poorly written or drawn. It's not uneventful or slow. Really there is nothing wrong with this except that it is not exceptional. It should have been exceptional. With the names attached to it and the time it took to develop and the amount of lead up... It should have been exceptional.

What I did love about this series, from the reboot right up to this last issue, was that there was absolutely nothing Hollywood about it. The characters remained flawed, almost anti heroes at times, and good didn't always prevail... Evil sometimes seemed to have the best intentions. And that is what is on proud display in War of the Green Lanterns. The blurry, often confusing line between good and evil, right and wrong, heroes and villains.

Some excellent exposition and, dare I say, discourse. Nice artwork with lovely use of colour; nice splash pages; good story boarding, paced well from frame to frame. It was great! But not exceptional. 4/5

[Christian Oliverio · Rating 4 out of 5]

High stakes. High action. Lots of epilepsy. War of the Green Lanterns is a story that ties together a lot of DC lore and makes some pretty big changes to the status quo (at least for now).

Krona successfully obtained all the entities and now controls the emotional spectrum, turning each of the green lanterns into Parallax possessed baddies... except our earth heroes, who are now without their rings behind enemy lines. This, of course, leads to some awesome problem solving moments. It was also fun seeing all four of the humans reunited and their wonderfully clashing personalities. Each of the four had a big part to play and was important to the story, using their specialized skills. Ganthet shined, taking an active role in the story. When the Yoda dude is going all out, you know things are serious!

The ending was also spectacular, especially Sinestro [spoilers]. Very excited to continue this into the New 52. I just hope Flash doesn't screw this continuity up too much, because I'm loving Johns' work thus far. Note of caution: if you haven't read the previous volumes (all of them along with Crisis on Infinite Earths), there is bound to be some confusion. Luckily, it is worth it.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this certainly was... colourful. I don't deny the creativity behind the storyline and the obvious love for these characters that the writers & artists have, however this particular book didn't do it for me. I'm not particularly surprised, though. After The Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, the bar was set pretty high. This book was just... too much (as in, not enough). But the ending? Now *that* I didn't see coming.

Bring on the New 52 reboot.

[Blind_guardian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another epic tale from the pen of Geoff Johns ... in the aftermath of Blackest Night, the renegade guardian Krona has collected all 7 of the incarnations of the emotional spectrum (Rage, Avarice, Fear, Will, Hope, Compassion and Love), and with the use of Parallax, incarnation of Fear, has managed to take over the minds of the entire Green Lantern Corps and turned them against the four lanterns of Earth. Hal Jordan and company need to fight against the Guardians (who have been possessed by the incarnations) and the entire Corps. To do so they'll show new colors, putting on yellow, red, blue and indigo rings to replace their corrupted green ones ...

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun series, a bit confusing due to an overwhelming amount of story lines to keep up with. This series leads up to the 2011-2012 New 52 year for Green Lantern. Nothing much else needs to be said. Except, perhaps, the art work is fantastic.

[Primo S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, the art was pretty good and the plot wasn't as convoluted as I thought it'd be. The only minor problem I had was Hal seemed to be a bit Mary Sue/Gary Stu-ish towards the end, but other than that, pretty good

[TJ Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that I'd eventually get tired of this rainbow coalition of rings. Not yet. After the shocking ending (which I shall refrain from exposing), I can't wait to read the next volume.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think when one is pressed into writing a serialized story, one is eventually going to get tired of writing for that character. It happened with Ed Brubaker in the latter days of his Captain America run. It happened to John Byrne toward the end of his run on Fantastic Four before he jumped to Superman. Hell, it even happened to Geoff Johns during his first go around with The Flash . I think that getting sick of working with a certain character is human nature--even Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes because he was tired of the character, only to bring him back because the money was too damned good. In the world of comics, creative teams are forced to go back to the well month after month, and once the good ideas are exhausted, often times even the most talented creative teams are left scraping the bottom of the barrel.

In some ways, I'm kind of shocked that War of the Green Lanterns exists, as the high water mark for me on Johns run with Green Lantern was Blackest Night and given how epic that story arc was and how, as a publisher event, it was executed fairly successfully, it would have been a good time for Johns to step aside and see if collaborators Peter Tomasi and Tony Bedard could go forward without him, especially since he had plans for the recently returned Barry Allen version of the Flash, and I don't know if one can really outdo the entire DC Universe fighting a bunch of ring wielding zombies. But Johns soldiered on, continuing work on Green Lantern while also collaborating with Tomasi on Brightest Day which tangentially crossed over with all of the Green Lantern titles--each of them revealing the big bad at the center of what seems to be Johns last major arc on the book.

Perhaps by this time in Johns run on the book, I am as sick of reading it as Johns was of writing it. In some ways, Johns finishing this run is a boon for both Bedard (Green Lantern Corps) and Tomasi (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors) as they seem to carry the action well throughout this crossover. However, the major parts still seem to end up in the pages of Johns Green Lantern. This makes some small bit of sense given that the last issue of the collection reveals the fate of Hal Jordan in relation to all of this (and in fact Green Lantern vol. 4 was cancelled with that issue) but still, I've always felt that Johns' collaborators were always beholden to his vision, and given that he was the Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics when this collection was originally published, it's likely that Bedard and Tomasi didn't have much of a choice, since he was effectively their boss. But apart from a thinly veiled reason to get your favorite Green Lanterns to wield different colored rings (there is a plot device that takes the green rings out of commission) and some frankly cool stuff concerning Sinestro, who I feel has been the true star of Johns' run, the whole collection feels like Johns is ready to be done with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.

There is a reason why creative teams come and go in the comics world. The creative teams behind some of my favorite arcs often need to channel their creative energy into other characters. It's hard to believe that a writer would want to do something other than write a character like Batman once they get that chance, but when you reach the top of the mountain, you aren't going to stay there. You'll have to eventually climb down and find another challenge. For Johns in relation to Green Lantern that challenge was The Flash and Flashpoint. Maybe that was for the best after over five years on Green Lantern.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Blackest Night" brought forth the War of Light, an accumulation of year's worth of GL build-up and lore to the epitome of summer block-buster qualities, and re-established Hal Jordan as a top-tier character right next to Batman and Superman. To think that after such an event could be followed up, but in a very different vein called "Brightest Day", an entire DC wide event that was about re-building everything lost from Blackest Night. And for the most part, it was quite engaging. But where many others were rebuilding what they lost, another problem arose in the world of the GL's. Another threat was on the horizon that could lead into another great universal disaster. And this time, it isn't about fighting a universe of dead characters...it's about fighting every living fellow lantern and ideology they...and Hal Jordan stand for.

GREEN LANTERN: WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS collect issues GREEN LANTERN #63-67, GREEN LANTERN CORPS #58-60, and GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #8-10. WOTGL opens up directly after Green Lantern: Brightest Day where we left off with Krona, the renegade guardian, who had acquired all of The Entities of the various 7 lantern corps and disappears into deep space, with Hal Jordan and each representative of there respected corps (Sinestro, Carol Ferris, Atrocitus, Saint Walker, Indigo-1, and Larfleeze) following right behind. The group goes to the Lost Sector planet of Ryut to find Krona's lair, and find many questions regarding Krona and the Guardians past, and even find The Book of the Black (the book from Blackest Night). The book manages to trap all of the lanterns inside, except Hal and the lanterns power rings, which Hal saves for later. During this time, the Guardians are fed up with years of Hal's disobedience and send a group of GL's after Hal to arrest him. After this, Krona shows up in front of the Guardians and infects each guardian with an Entity spirit, and puts the embodiment of Fear Parallax back in the main GL power battery, making every single being who wears a GL ring under Krona's control. All except those that have been already been exposed to Parallax can resist it for a short period of time though, which includes Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Kilowag, and Ganthet to save the day. OH. And did I mention the guys can't use there GL rings for fear of being controlled by Krona? Yeah, the stakes just blew up!

If you're worried about collecting the other volumes GREEN LANTERN CORPS (Green Lantern Corps: The Weaponer) and GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, Vol. 1) that lead up to WOTGL, then don't worry, there not necessary. To help you catch up with what happened; GL Corps simply explains where Kyle and Ganthet went. While GL:EW explains what Kilowag and Guy were doing (though it somewhat sets up WOTGL). But again, there not necessary, but they do help with having prior experience leading up to the event. Though I strongly suggest reading GREEN LANTERN: BRIGHTEST DAY, because other then being a really enjoyable book, it sets up everything in WOTGL and it really makes the title that much more significant in scope and understanding.

Getting back to WOTGL, I won't give away any more info regarding what happens next, because there is a lot of stuff going on this book, all of which is pretty exciting to watch unfold. Ever wonder what really lead to the Manhunters to make them go crazy? What about seeing the first power ring? Even hearing the origin of the GL Oath perhaps? A quick glimpse of Larfleeze when he was a young being? Or what about Indigo-1 knowing Abin Sur when she wasn't so "compassionate"? Yes, there are some fun questions and answers to be found in this book, and there are plenty of other twists and fandom that happen in the story.

This book easily rank's just has high as the other titles from Geoff Johns work on GL since he started (And not to dismiss Peter Tomasi and Tony Bedard's writing on this book either. They too have written some great GL material). In many ways, it's also has nods to each of those titles, furthering the GL lore. But what makes this so good is the action! If you loved Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, then your going to love this. It actually borrows from both of those titles (and Green Lantern: Rebirth) and WOTGL plays out like Sinestro War and BL combined together and came out like this...but with a lot more emphasis on the color spectrum this time around. Again, I don't want to give things away, but you're probably thinking: "How are these guys going to take on an entire GL corps, six-Entity based guardians, and an all-powerful and knowing rouge guardian?!" Yeah you got to see it to believe what happens. The sheer magnitude of the title trumps everything before it. GL: Rebirth saw Hal and friends fight off Parallax by themselves. Sinestro Corps War saw two armies fight each other to the death. Blackest Night saw a world-wide zombie attack against the few living fractions fighting to stay alive. WOTGL see's a small group of guys fighting just about everybody with what little resources they have. It's one fun under-dog story that is well worth seeing how it plays out.

Now if there was any flaws in the title I could think of, it'd have to be just two things come to mind. One is the "Catch em' all" effect in the title. I can't really explain it too much because it would give away some major plot twist, but some might not like this and some might really enjoy this. You know how I mentioned Hal didn't get trapped in The Book of the Black AND all of the other power rings were picked up by Hal? You'll see. It's a fandom decision that is plot heavy in story, but some might not like this plot device. It might feel like it's a cheap way to carry the story. I didn't feel this way though, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm just giving people a heads up.

The other problem, and this might sound weird, but it might make you feel "lantern'd out". Since Johns took over the reigns of Hal Jordan in 2004, he's been on a roller-coaster ride ever since. And since Rebirth took 5 years of build-up to get to Blackest Night, fans hung on for the ride. Then Brightest Day sort of leaned off the action and took a small, slower pace of recover for fans. GL:BD still had action in it, but it was cool down period in general. Then comes WOTGL, where we get thrown right back into the heavy action from before. This flow might wear readers out from years of continuous action. If you have been following Johns GL run, he still uses a familiar pattern that does seem predictable by now with a rinse-repeat effect, so don't expect any new surprises in how the book flows. But I totally enjoyed the book, but again, there might be people out there who might feel tired of all that stuff.

--SIDE NOTE--: This has nothing to do with the review of the book itself, but this might help anyone who is currently reading the New 52 comics of GL, which takes place right after this book ends. I know many people who just picked up the current comics of GL and have never read any previous GL material, and might be interested in looking into the previous material to help them with catch-up in the GL lore. This book is difficult to consider to new readers, because GL and Batman never had a reboot in New 52, so nothing starts from scratch, and it all carries over for story. WOTGL is an excellent book that leads into the New 52 for Hal Jordan...but if you're a new reader and want to learn more about GL lore and how Hal got to where he currently is, if you pick this book up, you'll be doing a lot of back-tracking that goes up 6 years worth GL material to get you caught up. Or some time on Wikipedia can help you out as well. As GL fan, I feel its well-worth picking up all of Geoff Johns material on GL (if you're into it). Besides, if you decide to stay on GL from here on out, you'll probably going to have to back-track at some point down the line to further understand whats going on. Just keep that in mind and expect it. If you don't want to exhaust your self in a lot of material, then don't pick this book up and just enjoy Hal's DC 52 starting point currently. Hope this helps. -------

GREEN LANTERN: WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS is a fun, excellent read. It's got many little twist, a lot of action, plenty of reading material for a great price (Amazon pricing is a steal for this book), and it's the last book of Hal Jordan before the New DC 52. Its well worth checking it out on many things that leads into those events. This is a must have for GL fans, and I recommend it to new readers as well (just be prepared to do some catching up material).

[Ben Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last Green Lantern collection before the New 52 reboot. This book started off really good, quick drop in from Brightest Day, with big high stakes for Hal. Krona infects the Guardians with The Entities of Light, puts Parallax back in the Central Battery on Oa, and since Krona can control the entities via him being part of the Light Spectrum for so long, he turns the whole GL Corp into his mindless slaves, minus our 6 heroes.

Hal and the boys are pulling out all contingencies and taking huge risks to save the Corp. Being forced to wield different Light rings to fight their friends creates great action and great moral development for Hal, Guy, John and Kyle.

Mogo getting killed by John was a surprise considering how integral he is to the Corps, but works effectively with progressing character development and the plot.

The end fight between Krona and Hal is atrocious however. The dialogue is a classic “you can’t defeat me I’m a god” that was used two books ago already, and is very short, considering Krona gets a few good shots on Hal and Sinestro before Hal kills Krona.

The way it happens to me feels very cheap. No special weapon, no outsmarting the enemy, it’s just Hal beaming Krona through the heart and killing him. Very lackluster.

Sinestro is a Green Lantern now, even though he doesn’t want it, and the Guardians freak out and fire Hal even though he just saved their asses. I get it has to set up Green Lantern for The New 52 but the ending feels rushed and mostly emotionless

[Will Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough culmination to everything that's happened to the Green Lantern comics so far. The situation's dire, the stakes are high, and I wouldn't say anybody is written out of character given the intense amount of pressure on everyone, but I still found myself on autopilot for half the book. The main culprit I think is all the recap dialogue at the beginning of each issue. This story is *huge* and takes place across 3 different books by different writers. I understand the necessity (not every series was writing with trade paperbacks in mind in the early 2000s), but it got old having to go over everything that's happened every time we jump to a different issue. It's still good, it's just not great, which is why I don't think I can go higher than 3 stars.