Green Lantern, Volume 6: The Life Equation

Green Lantern (2011)

by Robert Venditti (Writer), Billy Tan (Artist), Bill Tan (Artist)

On a higher plane of existence, the incredible beings known as the New Gods have waged an eternal war against the cosmic tyrant called Darkseid. Now their quest to break the deadlock and defeat their nemesis has led them to the power rings of the Lanterns. They mean to seize the rings, reforge the emotional spectrum, and unlock the Life Equation—a weapon capable of reshaping reality itself.
And if the Green Lanterns must be sacrificed, so be it.
Hal Jordan may be the commander of the Green Lantern Corps—our universe’s first line of defense—but he is only human. What hope does a mortal have against an army of gods?
Writer Robert Venditti (The Flash) and artist Billy Tan (New Avengers) pit the DC Universe’s mightiest, most mind-blowing being against one another in Green Lantern, Volume 6: The Life Equation.

Collecting: Green Lantern 35-40, Annual 3

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

184 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2015

About the author

Robert Venditti is a New York Times bestselling author of more than three hundred comic books and graphic novels. Some of his works include the monthly comic book series Justice League, Superman ’78, Hawkman, and Green Lantern for DC Comics, X-O Manowar, Armor Hunters, and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior for Valiant Entertainment, and the graphic novel Six Days, inspired by the story of his uncle’s participation in D-Day. He has also adapted Rick Riordan’s global bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus novels, as well as Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia and Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz. His graphic novel The Surrogates was adapted into a feature film by Touchstone Pictures, and his work on The Flash was the basis for season three of the CW television series.

Venditti lives in Atlanta, where he both writes and serves as a storytelling consultant for some of the most recognizable entertainment brands in the world.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume did a few things better than the last one.
One of those things was simply not being quite so loooong and rambley. Also, there's a point in this one when Sinestro points out to Hal that his greatest strength is his unpredictability. And he's lost his edge, because he's trying to be a bureaucrat*, instead of just his usually leap first-look later kind of self.
Yay, Sinsetro! Couldn't have said it better myself!
*Hal is now the leader of the GL corps. - Astonishing Anne

Another thing I thought was nice? This one has little pages explaining the huge hunks of missing information, due to the nature of these crossover events. Otherwise, this volume would have been indecipherable.
So...Thanks!
And even better idea would be to stop have so many crossovers.



Highfather showed up at the end of the last volume, and that storyline is the core of this one. The New Gods have come to our universe to get the Life Equation, and finally have the means to defeat Darkseid. Of course, in order to do that they need to wreck everything on this end.



In order to stop them, Hal has to team up with some really questionable individuals. But desperate times and all that nonsense...



Big Battles! Big Betrayals! Big Secrets Revealed!
Whatever. It wasn't awful.
Here's the thing, though. I just don't like the direction that this title has taken. In fact, the Red Lanterns are the only interesting bunch in the entire group.
Guy Gardner is now officially the coolest Lantern out there.
It's the truth!
I mean, Carol Ferris is Kyle's girlfriend now, for God's sake!
Did you just hear what I said?
What the hell?! Do you not see he's wearing a Lego mask, Carol?!



Why are you kissing him?! Do you not remember what happened to his last girlfriend?
Wait! Carol! Noooooooo! Don't open the...



It has cliffhangery sort of ending to this one, with Hal taking off and doing something crazy. It's enough to make me want to find out what's going to happen next...I guess. Maybe. I can't really decide right now.

Get this review and more at:

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book are the Green Lantern issues of the Godhead crossover with the other Lantern books. You're best off reading that graphic novel instead. The last half of the book deals with the issue that the Lanterns have lost the trust of citizens throughout the universe. At this point, Hal gets this dumb idea to take the blame for every bad thing the Lanterns have done over the last several years. I'm not a big fan of Vendetti's writing.

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Hal Jordan story (almost Geoff Johns good)! I read this volume in just two sittings because I kept wanting to know what came next! High points include GL asking for Black Hands help in defeating a foe (leading to a sad encounter from the past for Lantern) a great one off with Hal, Barry, and Guy trying to hang out and have a relaxing day off, and a great cliff hanger to set up the next volume.

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The GLC are fighting against the New Gods. The New Gods seek to harness the life equation and are snagging up the various power rings. Then even take Mogo's, the GL planet, ring. Hal Jordan teams up with Sinsetro and Black Hand to fight them. Then it ends with Hal on Earth getting into bar fights and then leaving the GLC for some reason.
C
Cool synopsis right? Well didn't want to spoil this one. Is it amazing? Nope. Is it good? Yep. The core story arc is good. The art varies from quite good to meh, depending on the artist. A good GL story, though not one that will really stand out for any reason. Recommended for GL fans.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Thankful that this had a synopsis of events missed from the halfway between volume, because apparently a lot happened in between volumes 5 and 6.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC's collection of crossovers astounds me no end. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it really makes no sense at all how they collect multiple issue crossovers. At least in this volume they put some recap material between issues, since between an issue of Green Lantern are four issues of other titles before coming back to Green Lantern, although the pacing of the event means you're likely not missing much.

The thing that really irks me about this trade is that the Godhead one-shot that actually launches the story isn't collected here. Granted, it's not in any of the other trades either (except the complete collection trade) but considering GL and New Guardians are really the only series you need to read to understand Godhead in general, you'd think it'd at least be here. But I digress, and sigh deeply.

Also collected here are the final three issues of Green Lantern before Convergence, which are some housekeeping issues between major storylines. The first has Hal head back to Earth for some R&R for the first time in ages, whilst the second shows how recent events have tarred the GLC'S reputation, and the final issue sets up the new status quo. These three issues are the most cohesive of the volume since they actually flow into each other.

This volume suffers from having 4/5s of its story missing, so take that as you will. If you're getting this expecting Godhead, you'll be disappointed, but it does promise some interesting times for the future, and the art's pretty great.

[Will Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

DC loves to have huge crossovers that span 4 titles and then collects just the specific title's issues in a trade that don't make any sense to read together because it's missing three other issues for the story. So they do that in this one with The Life Equation/New Gods: Godhead. I've read the crossover so I know the story, but people who just get the Green Lantern title will be utterly confused. It's poorly constructed. If you're going to have a crossover of 4 titles' issues 27-30, then just have one more HC or trade of Godhead: Aftermath that collects 31-34 of the titles instead of being stupid.

Anyway, the other half of the book that wasn't a piece of a crossover was very boring and pretty dumb on Hal Jordan's part. He visits Earth and hangs out with Guy for a boring issue then the Guardians call him and say "You've done a good job leading the Corps" and he responds by...whining about how he's put them in danger and leaves the corps...it's very dumb.

Overall, I would rate this volume: a dumb

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was actually a vast improvement over the previous installment of the book series. My only gripe, is that the Guardians can defeat the Anti-Monitor, so why can't they handle Darkseid or High Father? It seems more like forcing characters to fit the story rather than the other way around.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing on this one (except for the ending. That was a bit contrived) but the problem here is that this volume leaves gaps in the story because it doesn't collect every issue of the event, so expect a lot of jumping around and confusion.

[Jeremy DeBottis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not into this.

It's almost as though there have been so many huge Green Lantern stories for such a long period of time that every time they try and up the ante and that it finally came crashing down.

Premise. The New Gods want to take one of every power ring to help come up with an equation to beat Darkseid? I think. I don't really remember. I finished this about two weeks ago. Apparently it has no staying power.

So, in classic HERO form the New Gods just go and forcefully take them, and then the other heroes, the Green Lanterns, try and fight back and lose. A couple of things from this. Remember when power rings were the most powerful weapon in the universe? Well, not only has their importance been diluted by every crayon in the Crayola box of 64 getting their own emotional attachment, but now they can't even stop no faced soldiers from killing the wearers. Being a nonhuman Green Lantern has officially become the most deadly job in the universe. If you're from any other sector than 2814 just make sure you have good life insurance before you accept the ring. Or just say no. Say that unlike the unemployed, family deserting, collection of guys from earth that protect it by never being there, you are going to use your exceptional will power to get a good job, and live a good life taking care of your family. Otherwise, take the ring, fly behind Hal Jordan, and get killed in the background void of space. Cool life.

Yay ranting.

Now back to the story. The Green Lanterns get their teeth kicked in. So they surprisingly turn to their Frenemies to help them win, because that's what they always do. "Oh no, my burnt sienna crayon was cracked. Is there a yellow or black one in the box?"

While Hal is off going through his contact list seeing who can help the rest of the Lanterns are captured off the page. All of them. The Blues, the Reds, and the rest. All caught and useless. This isn't shown, but explained in a little blurb between chapters, and is an example of an issue I have found with plenty of DC books recently. They crossover so much that the stories end up being radically stretched out with some parts being really thin or just useless, and giving the stories a rushed feel.

Finally Hal shows up with the right color crayon to help beat the New Gods. There's a big battle, that includes the never too cliche "conversation between different sides about how one hasn't really thought their actions through." It's so exciting! I feel like maybe if one of the lanterns used their ring to illustrate a butt and said, "New Gods, you're acting like one of these," the whole story could've been wrapped up in like two pages.

And then just to leave on an incredible cliffhanger one of the impossible to defeat villains that the lanterns recently defeated comes back for more. I bet he's even more impossibler to beat this time!

It does have real fun art as any book with New Gods or Lanterns and space usually does. There's plenty of epic battle scenes and such so it's worth a look for that. And, although I left out any mention of it, the manner in which the aftermath is handled does set things up for a real interesting change in the status quo that I look forward to seeing. So for this volume, maybe just skip over some of the dialogue. You'll get the gist skimming through.

[Michael Church · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This mostly sucked. The Life Equation storyline was difficult to follow considering it was part of a crossover, but still nothing that was missed seemed that important. The New Gods were uninteresting in the way they were used and the conflict mostly meaningless. I am glad that the resolution was for Highfather to realize he sounded just like Darkseid, but it doesn't make it any less bothersome. I'm starting to think that I just can't like the New Gods. I haven't liked them in anything I've read. There's a ridiculous power imbalance and no real reason for things to change the way they do. Just frustrating and I had a hard time caring about the story.

It's kind of what I've noticed about GL lately. It became what I've seen described as a "Dragon Ball Z series" where it only knows how to escalate. Every threat has to be bigger than the last, but it gets to a point that it all seems ridiculous.

Then they try to go back to some sort of status quo, but it doesn't quite work. The off issue, where Hal goes back to Earth, is one of the worst written things I've slogged through in a while. It seems Venditti has no concept of who any of these characters are except in the vaguest, most passing way. Guy, Barry, Carol, hell even Hal, are sketches. Hollow outlines of who they should be, going through the motions of this story to try and make some point. And that ending with Carol? What bullshit. Then back to Oa for an attempt at some radical change because there's a soft reboot in the air.

Oh and don't forget the art. Billy Tan draws everyone like they should be playing Wolverine in some cosplay competition. Even characters of varying heights standing next to each other all look like they are supposed to be 5'3". Even that doesn't look objectively good. Come to think of it, it's a little less Wolverine and a little more Danny DeVito.

Here's hoping the next iteration has a little more that readers can connect with and care about.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dang fantastic.

World: The art is good, it's expressive and gives it a down to earth feeling to it, the line work could be a bit tighter but overall a pretty book to look at. The world building here is also very solid and supports the story well. The look at the fallout and the galaxy as a whole at the moment is good and gives weight to the character and the consequences.

Story: I really like down time issues, they allow readers to breath and have a little calm. I feel that sometimes comic books are missing the slice of life one shots that are so common in manga. This is an example of it being used right. Sure there are things brewing in the background but also this is about a character and also giving readers a chance to get use to the new status quo, it's good. The pacing is done well, the tone is done wonderfully and it also hooks readers to keep reading.

Characters: Hal has not had a lot of time to develop in a while, he's the same impulsive person that he is and we've not had a lot to look at except his childhood stuff. The little conversation with Carol outside the bar is a nice little snippet of character development. Yes, saying he's not really found himself seems kind of a stretch for a character that has been through this much but I buy it, what is Hal Jordan without the ring, it's an interesting thing to look at and something they did look at at start of the New52 but was very quickly side tracked. The rest of the cast was also good with these new Templar Guardians very much different from the past ones and even though they had a lot of page time in New Guardians were not really fleshed out, we got a glimpse of them here and it was nice.

A nice wrap up to Godhead and a character driven arc, I like it!

Onward to the next book!

*review for issues 38-40, other issue reviews found in Godhead review*

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes! I finally made it to the Godhead story arc. This volume doesn't have the complete story arc due to this being a Green Lantern crossover event. So that fact weakens this novel a bit. But we still get all the excitement of what happens when you pit the Lanterns against the powerful New Gods. There are alot of great moments in this book especially between Orion and Hal Jordon. Both heroes can be hot headed and this really makes this book fun. The Green Lantern series is probably the best cosmic comic around next to star wars and guardians of the galaxy. I really wish the new Gods had a series. There is so much we do not know about the NEw 52 version of the new Gods. I am looking forward to reading the Forever people series. The Godhead arc is probably one of the best Green Lantern arcs to date and that is saying much especially in this post Geoff Green Lantern era. The Godhead hardback collection will probably be much better. But this is really a fun book.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
The first half of this Volume was issues from the Green Lantern/New Gods crossover. I want to read the entire crossover, but I think the best issues were probably here. Seeing the power of Black Hand again reminded me of how much I love the Blackest Night story. A truly shocking display of death power here though! My jaw dropped.
The second half features two stories. The first, Hal takes a vacation to earth and interacts with Guy, Barry Allen, and Carol. A good "down" issue. The second is merely prep for what will occur next. Hal with such a powerful weapon can only mean that "Convergence" is coming next.
Overall, an ok volume. Not great, not bad. Recommend.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lwią część tego tomu mogliście już przeczytać tak jak ja, w evencie o nazwie "Godhead". Zastanawiało mnie tylko czy nastąpi tu coś co zazwyczaj towarzyszy takiemu rozczłonkowaniu historii na kilka innych tytułów - nielogiczny chaos. I zaskakująco całość spina się na tyle dobrze, że szósty tom można sobie przeczytać w oderwaniu od tego eventu i wiele się nie straci. Co więcej, tutaj mamy chyba najważniejsze wydarzenia, bo Hal ze swoim Korpusem Latarni staje naprzeciw Nowym Bogom, widzi ich liczebność i moc rażenia, w efekcie czego postanawia zawrzeć moralnie trudne sojusze. Dzieje się tu wiele i jest to świetnie nakreślone, przepełnione akcją. Ale...

Czy jest w ogóle jest sens kupowania tego tytuł dla bodajże dwóch lub trzech zeszytów unikalnych tylko dla tej serii? Tu jestem rozdarty. Leave to zeszyt nastawiony na złapanie oddechu. Hal rusza na Ziemię, gdzie spotyka Guy oraz Flasha i oddają się grze w bilard/popijaniu piwerka. Całkiem przyjemna historyjka, ale trzęsienie Ziemi przed nami...

Strażnicy proszą o odbudowanie zaufania do Korpusu. Będzie się to wiązało z pewnymi dosyć radykalnymi czynami. W tym wystąpienie przeciwko swoim i kradzież rękawicy Crona (tak, DC też musi mieć swoją Rękawicę...). Fajny koncept, stawiający wiele pytań o przyszłość serii.

Przy omawianym tomie pracowało aż trzech rysowników: Tan, Portela oraz McDaniel. Zdecydowanie ten pierwszy Pan (Tan) może się najbardziej podobać, zwłaszcza, że zadbał o całkiem fajne detale. Reszta okazuje się rzemieślnikami, którzy nie wybijają się niczym szczególnym.

Brać? Jak jesteś fanem postaci? Tak. Jak nie, to raczej ta akurat pozycja Cię nie przekona. Ma całkiem fajne momenty i czyta się to przyjemnie, ale gdy jest się już szczęśliwym posiadaczem "Godhead" to traci to sens finansowy...

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC Comics editorial does its best to make readers not want to buy this book as its random parts of a huge crossover with the other Lantern books. The Godhead story, which might be good, is told in chunks here and does nothing for readers. Bits and pieces that barely go together. They do give you some synopsis pages but why even collect this in this way? What came after though was much better. Hal being human and dealing with his feelings for Carol and his feelings in general. That was done extremely well. The book also showcases where the title is heading next and that is also suspect. There was some highs here (very spoilery) and some lows (head scratching decisions by the editors) but it was enjoyable enough to recommend.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story but I found it very odd that this was the first interaction between the Green Lanterns and the New Gods, not even a mention of them in their records. The book was fun past this point that was bothering me for some reason. The publishers however can't seem to decide when to publish the whole story or split the plot between the other Green Lantern titles (Red Lanterns and New Guardians), in this case, this is the split publication. Aspects of the story are missing but what is presented in this volume does suffice to give a sufficient tale for the reader. I'd recommend the full volume, however. Grade: B+ for what is given

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhw event is great.

The story of Hal on shore leave is good, Barry wasn't great in it. Touching moment with Carol and Hal.
Hal being told by the guardians he has faced adversity well as leader was a great subversion, but then going rogue I didn't like but it's a very Hal thing to do. It makes me uncomfortable which could lead to a good story.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should have just tossed the three issues that were not in the Green Lantern/New Gods gn in there too. If I had paid for both books instead of getting them from the library, I would have not been happy.

[Jonas Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the previous, but man, it feels like the DC storyline is always taking a few steps in the right direction then misdirection. I like how it's getting back to more of Jordan's roots though.

[Ajesh George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories and amazing artwork work by Billy Tan ! . The space war fight scenes and action sequences are brilliantly done!. The first few stories are on the Life Equation based and are great . Also there are couple more stories towards the end , that are decent enough without much action.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this was in the Godhead collection, but there were 3 comics after that that were included in this volume. The Godhead stuff was great, the rest was just kind of aftermath and then setup for the next plot arch.

[Delta-Charlie2739 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to care about the New Gods stuff since I’m not a big fan of them due to not knowing much about them. The only thing here that bumped this vol to a 3 was the Hal-Carol issue, it was so damn good.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid volume that was actually enjoyable and with a story that felt more linear than the previous volume.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from some good Hal/Sinestro stuff this was kind of a drag.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great World Building, Renegades, Alliances, Daring Do, Heroics, Galactic Action and Adventure! :D Crisp Hive Five! :D

[Faze · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Not too good not too bad. Took a long time to finish this cuz needed to finish the newgods in between. The ending makes me excited for the next volume.

[Korel · Rating 3 out of 5]

All my homies love Kilowog

[Batusi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and cosmic volume that rebuilds some of the goodwill that the previous volume squandered.

New forces attempt to seize the emotional spectrum and unlock the Life Equation, forcing Hal and the Corps into a massive confrontation with Hal ultimately considering what he must sacrifice to rebuild the Corps' reputation.

Due to the crossovers, the story can feel slightly uneven at times, but the big cosmic battles, strong character moments, and setup make this one a very satisfying volume.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, aside from the usual complaints about DC and their stupid organisation of crossovers. This time the major storyline finishes in the middle of the book, great job guys.