Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol. 3

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns: Omnibus

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Doug Mahnke (Illustrator)

Once dead, twelve heroes and villains have been resurrected by a white light expelled deep within the center of the earth. Called a miracle by many and a sign of the apocalypse by others, the reasons behind their rebirth remain a mystery.

Now, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang and Zoom must discover the mysterious reason behind their return and uncover the secret that binds them all.

Collects GREEN LANERN #53-60, GREEN LANTERN: LARFLEEZE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL #1, GREEN LANTERN (2011) #1-20, GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1, GREEN LANTERN CORPS #58-60, and GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #8-10.

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

1104 pages, Hardcover

First published May 22, 2013

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

[The Lion's Share · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is the whole of Geoff's run done.

I must say after blackest night and brightest day which were terrible, I thought it was going to go further downhill which was a shame after the Sinestro wars.

This last volume is brilliant. I think any volume with Sinestro in is good, he's one of those rare villiains like The Joker, Dr. Doom or Thanos where you can put him in any situation and watch his character thrive and dominate the story. His unique link to the different emotions in the spectrum make him an even more interesting character when he is confronted by the first lantern. On top of that his relationship with Hal Jordan is fantastic. Hal on his own is nowhere near as fun without facing against Sinestro. It's like Batman without the Joker.

In these volumes we also get to see more depth to the other tribes/lanterns and we see deeper into their psyche and why they became the lantern holders for their chosen colour. Then we get to see what a bunch of arseholes the guardians are, which basically proves Sinestro's point all along. What a clever clogs.

The End is satisfying enough and a nice end to Geoff's run. He really knocked it out the park by creating such a massive and intricate universe for the Lanterns. I really wish they would turn it into a run of long feature length animated movies, damn that would make me happy.

Well done Geoffrey.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collects the end of Johns' incredible run on Green Lantern and, unfortunately, it falls just a touch short of the previous two volumes' greatness.

The problem is that he just came off of a huge event like Blackest Night to jump right into several more huge events, and all of these events started feeling really similar. All of the different corps have to work together, there are zombies and/or mindless automatons attacking, Black Hand is back, etc. etc. etc. Some of the issues were mostly filler, as well. If two characters met after being apart for a long time (or met for the first time), then you can be certain that they will get into an issue-long pointless fist fight for no reason before coming to terms and working together. Hal Jordan finds Guy Gardner somewhere? "punch punch punch". John Stewart and Kyle Rayner meet up? "punch punch punch". The Justice League meets the new Green Lantern? "punch punch punch". You could seriously skip all of the issues like that and be missing nothing.

Besides that, though, this is still a pretty great volume. Heck, it is worth it just for the ending alone because Johns throws everything and the kitchen sink into a MASSIVE battle with all of the corps vs. (basically) god. After this, Johns also does a sentimental ending where he shows the future of all of the main characters (which is pretty pointless, because many of these futures are impossible or extremely unlikely now because of other writers changing things after his run. It was still really sweet though and it shows how much the Green Lantern universe means to him).

So, over all, this is a less than perfect-but still really good-ending to one of the most incredible and consistently great runs in comic book history, not to mention the fact that Johns singlehandedly redeemed Hal Jordan from being a washed up joke and created an extremely complex and satisfying mythology that is still going strong today.

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the weakest of the three volumes for me. It was okay, but the first two were so much better. I was hoping to see Kyle become the white lantern, but I guess that happens in another run. Was cool seeing Simon Baz’s introduction.

[Fluffyroundabout · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best comic book run I've ever read. Green lantern went from meaning nothing to me to being in my top three favourite superheroes of all time due to this run and I will continue to read green lantern and anything to do with green lantern. Fantastic ending, sad it's over but I can always read it again! (Which I will do sometime)

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is the end.

I started first collection years ago and finally got to the end of Johns run. First let me say the guy truly did make Green Lantern a much bigger more expansive world after this. A lot of writers will have a hard time matching up to it all.

But this volume focuses on the end of the pre-new52 era and the start of the new 52 era. So basically brightest day and also Senistro becoming a green lantern again while finishing up with the wrath of the first lanthern. I reviewed each volume individually so if want all my view points for each arc can read them there.

I think Johns does a solid job finishing his run. A highlight being his final issue with a time skip to give closure to a lot of characters. Of course things will change but it worked well here. I also really dug the evolution of Senistro here and what he had become. Hal moved from my least favorite Lantern to 5th place, so not bad. (Sorry Kyle, Jessica, Simon, and Guy are all better human Lanterns) but the storylines themselves are pretty solid in this last collection.

While not as magical and bombastic as Senistro war in the first omnibus or as dark and gory as Blackest night in the second omnibus collection, we do end on a accumulation of all things green lantern with the first lantern. Probably the biggest threat John has ever made.

I think each Omnibus is very much worth reading. Johns did a outstanding job. A 4.5 out of 5.

[Bruno Carriço · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the closing... feels like: Don't ever need to read GL again in my life. :)

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can divide this book up into halves: the first being the aftermath of the previous volume where the Lanterns have to deal with the Entities. While this was certainly a good story I didn't feel it lived up to the previous one. It went to the well one too many times, creating this additional layer of entities to deal with, then there was the gimmick of how "let's see how many different color rings each person can wear?" The plot wraps up just how you would expect those with only a couple new elements added to the status quo.

The second part had some interesting ideas in it. Part of it has more back and forth between Jordan and Sinestro and their respect/hate relationship with each other. Clearly they have history and that dynamic is very intriguing. Johns does a an excellent job of defining just who Sinestro is and what drives him. The other part is bringing in a new lantern for Earth, whose background was fairly topical (mainly for that time period and still is now) because he's from the middle east and is accused of being a terrorist. This brings about another layer to the old story of redemption. One small thing to this second part: there's a point where the story just jumps and clearly there was another chapter or issue somewhere. Perhaps it wasn't included because Johns didn't write it but the disruption in the story is very evident and it will take a minute to adjust and figure out what happened, but then you can move on.

Overall I was very pleased with Johns' run on Green Lantern. I finally feel like I understand the character and have some stories I can point to that I like. Personally I think GL works best in the grand, epic space operas that you find in these runs (especially V2), with my favorite being the creation of the emotional spectrum.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ended Geoff Johns almost 10 year run on Green Lantern. Great ending, great book , great run ! it took alot of skill to re invent Hal Jordan and green lantern in general, but Johns did it. A must read for every superhero lover out there.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this final volume collecting Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern run. It felt like a mixed bag, to be honest. I thought it did have some excellent character development; that was probably the best part of the story especially the relationship between Hal Jordan and Sinestro. The artwork was really hit-and-miss for me; most of it I did not like although I did love the “uniforms” that the four Terran Green Lanterns wore after they took on different power rings in order to combat the brain-washed Green Lantern Corps. While there is a lot that happens in this volume (just like in the previous two), the flow of the narrative is not as smooth as it could be; it seems to jump around at points, as if elements of the story were not included (because the omnibus was collecting the works of Geoff Johns and not completing the story arcs contained inside). I cannot say ALL of the story arcs were “predictable,” there were a few times where I was surprised at the direction the author went. The author did a nice job wrapping things up at the end of his run; the “ending” is very bittersweet.

The author comments that by the time his “run” had ended, he had written over one hundred Green Lantern stories. He did a great job “re-writing” the Green Lantern mythos by expanding it and adding new casts of characters and storylines. It is pretty clear he had an idea on the direction he wanted to go and how he wanted to put his own touch on the Green Lanterns. He had some interesting takes on some “classic” characters, and I did appreciate the “explanations” given as to why various characters survived Hal Jordan’s being Parallax for a time (granted, these explanations take place in Volume One of these compilations).

There were some elements of the narrative I thought were weak and broke it up a bit. I cannot say I cared for the direction he took in terms of the Guardians on OA. They went from being emotionless jerks to crazy whackos by the end of the run. For beings who were billions of years old, it is clear they never learned from their mistakes. I guess that makes then “somewhat insane” as they kept trying to do the same thing over and over (control emotional energy) and constantly failing to do so. I have not read any of the “current” Green Lantern series, so I do not know who the “new” Guardians are as Sinestro had killed all but two of them at the end of volume 5 (unless they are composed of the ones who were trapped inside that “prison cell” with the First Lantern floating in space).

Also, despite their consistently making horrifically bad mistakes and errors in judgment, they were the ultimate hypocrites as they constantly judged Hal Jordan and condemned him for his actions (before and especially after Parallax). It was one of their members who reprogrammed the Manhunters to exterminate an entire sector of the galaxy, leaving behind Atrocitus and four other former members of his planet as survivors merely to prove a point to the other Guardians. Their efforts to control emotion caused the events of “Blackest Night” to occur, and some would say they gave in to fear by “reprogramming” the Green rings to have a “lethal force” option (that, apparently, had not been available to the Green Lanterns before). They then try to use the First Lantern to take over the Galaxy so that they (the Guardians) are in complete control of every sentient being. Whatever.

There was an “incident” that happened between Kyle Raynor and John Stewart where they supposedly “spoke the truth in anger” at each other, spouting off and insulting each other while fighting. It was a weird moment, since it had been said they worked the best together out of all the Lanterns. It really felt like “something was missing” in terms of the story for this to have happened. In addition, after it happens, it is apparently promptly forgotten? Maybe the two of them “patch things up” in some other story not written by Johns, but it was a really weird moment that felt completely out of place in the over-all storyline. Maybe if John had admitted it was the infected rings that were making them spout off like they did, that would have been on thing. But he claimed they were being honest with each other, from deep down inside of them and speaking what they had kept hidden from each other (my take on what John said, not word-for-word quoting him).

Also, Mogo. He was killed by John Stewart, but then he reappears in the battle against the First Lantern. Not only that, but he has most of the other Lantern Corps on his surface to assist in the fight. So what happened? Was Mogo revived in one of the other Green Lantern titles that were being printed during the same time? It was really jarring to see him there, floating in space above OA like he was, considering he had been killed “not too long ago” by John Stewart.

Finally: what happened to Cowgirl? She was introduced as a potential “love interest” for Hal Jordan and then, poof! She was gone! What happened to her? Where did she go? Was she killed? Is she still alive? Did she bail on Hal for somebody else a bit more “stable” and “down-to-earth”? She was around for most of the first volume and some of the second; where did she go during this third omnibus? It was just “weird” how they built this character up and then she is never seen or heard from again. Not only that, but Hal completely forgets about her! What’s up with that? First he cannot get her out of his mind; she constantly competes with Carol in his mind and attention. Then he forgets she even exists? That did not seem very realistic to me, to be honest. But, whatever.

Just an observation, but in some ways, Hal Jordan’s “dying” to try to find a way to “fix things” and to “escape” kind-of reminded me of Thor’s dying at the end of Thor’s second series (Thor allows the Asgardians to die a “final death” so that they might be freed from the cycle of birth-death-rebirth of Ragnarok, which would make their “final death” actually “mean something,” before he himself dies and is reborn in the third series/run).

So what did I like about the final story arcs in Johns’run? (lot of spoilers following, so read this next section at your own risk; sorry it's so long!) I thought the “fact” that all of the Lantern Corps had “entities” (like Ion for the Green Corps) and Parallax (for the Yellow Corps) was a “good idea” and made for an interesting study. This part of the run also reveals the presence of a “mystery” Guardian who seeks to collect all of the entities for a nefarious purpose. In addition to capturing all of the entities, he also captured the Guardians at OA and added them to his plans to conquer the galaxy. Hal had to work with members of the other six Lantern Corps to try to either retrieve/capture the entities or free/capture them from the “mad/bad” Guardian. In the process, the other six Lanterns accompanying Hal were sucked into a powerful “Black Book” and “captured (in a sense); their rings were left behind and Hal took them with him as he went to look for additional help before being arrested by a Green Lantern task force.

In addition, Parallax was reinserted back into the “main” battery at OA, allowing the yellow impurity to infect most of the Green Lantern Corp and brainwash them into returning to OA. John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Raynor, and Kilowog would all remaine free of the impurity’s mind-control (as did Hal Jordan). With Ganthet’s help, the four Terran Lanterns, Kilowog, and the other colored Lanterns worked together to free the entities and the Guardians from the “mad guardian’s” mind-control. Kilowog would be captured and tortured; Ganthet would be beaten down to allow the four Terrans time to “escape.” In order to ensure they would remain free from the impurity now infecting the Green rings, Hal Jordan gave the other three Terrans the option to choose which ring they would wear. Gardner took red (rage), Raynor took blue (hope), Stewart took indigo (compassion), and Jordan took yellow (fear). They would split into two teams: Gardner and Jordan remained on OA to complete what they felt was the “greater mission” while Raynor and Stewart went to try to free Mogo from the influence of the yellow impurity. This was when I had the “greatest shock” to my system: John Stewart absorbs some residual infection from Blackest Night to become a blended “Black-Indigo” Lantern right before he kills Mogo! I did not see that coming, at all! Hal and Guy would be captured, but eventually freed by John and Kyle (via the death and destruction of Mogo). The four use their colored rings to free Parallax, which allows Hal to free the captured Lanterns from the Black Book of Death (or whatever it is a Book of). Sinestro subsequently kills Krona (revealed to be the “mad” Guardian who has taken control of the other Guardians). After Krona is killed and the other Guardians freed, Hal is discharged from the Green Lantern Corps and dismissed, forcefully returned to Earth.

This part of the story was “funny” to me, as John Stewart killed Mogo but suffered no consequences for his decision. Hal was stripped of his rank and ring because he killed a Guardian (Krona, who was clearly a villain at this point and had enslaved the other Guardians) and because he worked with members of the other Lantern Corps. Even Mogo’s death was put on Hal’s shoulders. It was crazy! I think it was also a good indication the Guardians and their “mental health/stability” were only going to get worse from here-on out. They were unable to defeat Krona and defend themselves from Krona and Krona’s machinations, yet they condemned the man who set them free? Idiots.

I also thought it was funny how angry Hal got with Guy when he found out Guy Gardner was hiding things from him and doing things behind Hal’s back. Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black, there! Guy calls Hal on Hal’s hypocrisy, and Hal admits he was doing the same thing he accused Guy of doing (some kind of backhanded poetic justice, there, if you ask me!).

We also find out it was Krona who reprogrammed the Manhunters to kill every sentient being in sector 666 in order to ‘make a point’ to his fellow Guardians about their inability to control emotions.

I did like how Hal had trouble readjusting to life on Earth after he lost his ring. It was really poetic in the sense that he no longer knew how to live without it. In the early part of this volume, he kept getting asked over and over “when was the last time you took the ring off, Hal?” and he answered he would not take it off until his mission/job was over. Which was kind-of interesting, as in the first two omnibuses he was portrayed as taking the ring off on a regular basis. So I would say this part of the arc had “the best” character development in it in terms of Hal Jordan’s development as a character.

I also liked how Guy Gardner was feeling some “despair” over Mogo’s death, because it was Mogo who restored Guy Gardner to his “human form” and removed the “red” impurity from his system after the events of “Blackest Night;” Mogo would also restore Gardner’s heart to him as the “red” impurity was removed. With Mogo now dead, he did not see how he could be “saved” from having turned into a Red Lantern. Kyle was still wearing the Blue ring and was able to remove the “red” impurity and restore Guy Gardner’s humanity to Guy before giving up the Blue ring and becoming a Green Lantern again.

The Larfleeze Christmas Special was pretty funny, to me. I enjoyed reading it. His comments about how he did not like the “Christmas Spirit” so much after he gave all of his “things” away as gifts made me laugh. I do not remember when Luthor commented to Larfleeze about how Terrans wanted “land,” but Larfleeze’s reaction to Luthor’s “revelation” was both funny and typical of Larfleeze (“Land? What is ‘land’? I want some!”).

I also thought it was interesting how, after the Orange Ring had been removed when the Black Book absorbed him into its pages, he did not want the Orange Ring back and momentarily begged for it to be kept away from him. Obviously the ring sought out a person who had great potential for avarice and it did not give Larfleeze a chance to reject the ring’s “advances” as the very next panel showed him turned back into his greedy self.

I think the “best” part of this collection built upon and expanded the relationship between Sinestro and Hal Jordan. The two have had a complicated relationship over the years: that of “mentor” and “student” who once respected each other gone bad, in a sense. After Hal is returned to Earth, Sinestro discovers his Yellow Corps has turned Korugar into a “prison planet” of sorts (the inhabitants are slaves to the Yellow Corps) and Sinestro knows he will need help to free his planet. Who does he turn to? Hal Jordan. Just prior to Krona being killed, Sinestro was sought out by a Green ring and re-instated back into the Green Lantern Corps. So he gives Hal a green ring to allow Hal to accompany Sinestro and to assist Sinestro in freeing Korugar. Hal refuses at first, but Sinestro makes him an offer he cannot refuse. Hal assists Sinestro in freeing Korugar and is returned to Earth with a deactivated ring, as per his bargain with Sinestro.

Sinestro kills Mongol in this art, which was also pretty hard-core. Because Sinestro was the one who provided all of the yellow rings given to “his” corps, he has implanted a “fail-safe” device/code in it that prevents any of the other yellow lanterns from being able to use their ring to kill Sinestro. Sinestro reveals this by using Mongol’s yellow ring to kill Mongol. When the primary Yellow Battery is infected with whatever Sinestro and Hal use to shut it down, the surviving members of the Sinestro Corps are rendered unconscious and inert.

Sinestro goes on to discover that the Guardians have gone crazy and intend to kill the Green Lantern Corps, replacing it with their “Third Army.” Knowing he cannot do this on his own, Sinestro again recruits Hal to assist him, making Hal another offer Hal cannot refuse. Through a series of adventures, the two discover the ‘hidden history’ of the Indigo Tribe and Sinestro momentarily becomes an Indigo Lantern. Hal manages to convince the Indigo Tribe to release Sinestro so they can save the galaxy/universe from the machinations of the (now mad) Guardians. They two are killed by Black Hand; before they “finish dying” they both force their rings to merge into one with conflicting messages asking for help. This is when the ring seeks out Simon Baz and he becomes the fifth Terran Green Lantern. Simon Baz ends up being “captured” (quasi-killed) by Black Hand; he discovers Hal and Sinestro trapped in some “dimensional pocket of death” and is then freed with Sinestro because of Sinestro’s strength of will. The “mad Guardians” have freed the “First Lantern” to use his power to create their “Third Army,” this plan ultimately fails (although it is kind-of a “joke” as the “Third Army” has conquered over half of the known galaxy before it is stopped; where were the Justice League or the other “extra-terrestrial super-powered heroes” during this take-over? It clearly had no “lasting effect” on the galaxy/universe, let alone Earth!) as the First Lantern “takes over” and enslaves the Guardians. Hal “commits suicide” in order “to try something different” to be able to defeat Black Hand AND the First Lantern.

We discover “the Hand” that Krona saw during the creation of this “version” of the DC Universe was indeed the sole survivor of the death of the prior universe. He had many powers and abilities, but after he was accepted by the Guardians and inducted into their “fellowship” the survivor used his powers for “evil” and exterminated as much life as he could before the Guardians captured him and enslaved him. Some of the surviving Guardians remained locked in a ‘prison cell’ of sorts to ensure the First Lantern never regained his freedom.

Hal escapes from the Black Book with a host of Black Lanterns at his beck and call. The other Lantern Corps join in to defeat the First Lantern. Sinestro allows Parallax to merge with him so he has the power and ability to fight back as well. Ultimately, though, the First Lantern is drained of every emotional energy he has ever absorbed so that he returns to his initial “human state/from” and after he is made weak and helpless, Nekron kills him. That is when the Yellow Lanterns attack; Hal realizes they are just a distraction to prevent anyone from stopping Sinestro’s killing of the Guardians. Sinestro does leave one Guardian for Atrocitus to kill as justice/revenge for what happened to sector 666 and the annihilation of Atrocitus’s planet/people/family. It was pretty crazy.

Also, there is a “shot” that shows Hal Jordan in all of his incarnations of the different Lanterns, so that was pretty interesting to see.

The “very end,” the last issue, of Johns’ run was the best, though. It reveals that Sinestro did not kill ALL of the “mad” Guardians at OA. He allowed Ganthet to survive and kept it hidden from everybody. Instead, Sinestro takes Ganthet to Larfleeze’s planet and demands Larfleeze bring Sayd to him. In exchange for Larfleeze being given one of the “greatest secrets possible” (that Ganthet and Sayd survived) to keep, Sayd is released from Larfleeze’s “ownership” on the condition that Ganthet and Sayd leave and never return to interfere with the galaxy/universe at large ever again. Sinestro knew what it was like to lose everything, and he did not want to see others suffer that same loss. It was some pretty awesome character development for Sinestro, in my opinion.

It also reveals ���what happens next” in terms of “their future” of the four Terran Lanterns. That was pretty cool to see. I liked that Hal and Carol decided to start a “new” life together and that they used their power rings as “wedding rings” for when they were married. That was pretty cool to see, that the two of them were able to live ‘happily ever after’ at the end of it all. It really felt like you did not have to read any more Green Lantern stories after this one, that it wrapped everything up “nice and neat” with a bow on top.

I also liked the panels where Hal asks Sinestro if they were ever friends. Sinestro’s response was “beautiful”: “That’s the tragedy of all this, Jordan. Hal. We’ll always be friends.” And then he leaves. It was SO bittersweet! The look on Jordan’s face! I loved it! One of the best lines in the book, if not the series! (That, and how earlier Hal Jordan reveals to Sinestro Hal has never stopped hoping for the best for Sinestro, that Sinestro would one day return to being the great man he used to be before his fall from grace).

Despite my mixed feelings with this compilation, I am going to give it three stars. I was going to give it just two, but what I did like/enjoy far outweighed what I felt were the “weakest” parts of the story It does have some excellent character development in it; it does have some occasionally good artwork. While the narrative is not as smoothly flowing as it could be, it was still entertaining (overall). I am glad that I finished this series by reading this final collection of Geoff John’s run.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This final 1k Page volume of Johns run is really good.

My main criticism is that the editing choices seem odd to me. Maybe it’s the fault of the medium, but what they chose to include and exclude in this volume was confusing.

For instance:

The War of the Green Lanterns storyline included all the issues in the crossover event, probably because Johns did co-wrote all of them.

But then the Rise of the Third Army and the Wrath of the First Lantern storylines excluded most of each crossover event. For a while I was reading them and getting confused like I was missing something. That’s because I was, 600 pages to be precise, between those two stories.

I close one page with Simon Baz escaping and the next opening has him locked in the shadow prison in a pocket dimension, the third army dead, and the the First Lantern monologging the captured guardians. That’s a LOT to not include.

I get that this is all likely due to the crossover being a team effort and those other 24 issues weren’t written by Johns but collaborative. And I get there isn’t an easy solution. But as presenting the “end” to his run, it was pretty confusing, and I had to get the other two separate collections of those stories to get the other 600 pages.

P.S. another 24 issues of Brightest Day storyline spin out of the blackest night/war of the green lanterns, also separate. I’m not sure that could’ve been included in a collection like this, but there’s zero indication or primer explaining anything (or even trying to sell it to you), which I don’t think is too much to ask for in an omnibus volume. This is what often makes comics inaccessible to people, in my opinion. Same goes for the first volume of this omnibus series that starts with Green Lantern Rebirth, which just throws you into a giant retcon story that requires decades of continuity foreknowledge.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We'll always be friends."
What a series.
While the books does lose some spark, imo, you can't help but still appreciate how great the entire run is. There are some weaker stories here, but by no means are any trash. This was still great.

Hal Jordan's character arc is one of the best I've seen in any fictional character with these past couple Omnis and the way it wraps up in the end is just wonderful, especially with that epilogue type of ending written. Sinestro, man...not only is he the perfect villain, he truly has a lot of depth. You can see it from the first Omni, but here he shines so much. It's hard to say things without spoiling, but Sinestro of all people almost made me cry at the end.
There was a surprisingly good amount of focus on the other corps, which really helped build interest in them as I would argue that they were the most interesting throughout this final omnibus. The world building never stopped in this book, but it was never overbearing in my opinion. Geoff Johns made something absolutely special with this run.

While some weaker events hold this volume back from getting 5 stars from me, I can still say that this was a fantastic read and one of my favorites.

[Jameson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous volume but still very very good. Provided an excellent end to the Green Lantern story that John’s created starting with rebirth. I highly recommend this as it is easily one of my favorite comic books I have ever read. I hope it gets a worthwhile adaptation one of these days.

[Thezachespinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What. A. Saga.

and

What. An. Ending.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reality most of this book as a 4/5. However, it gets bumped up for: Simon Baz (who I didn’t realize was created by Johns), how impressive Johns’ run is as a whole, and for the ending.

[Relstuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending chapter of one of the best modern Superhero runs by one author.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Secrets don’t taste as good as ratwaffle cheese.”

Hard for anything I write here to not be overshadowed by the last issue, which is a perfect wrap-up to Johns' nine years of writing Green Lantern comics. I have complex feelings about this third act, but I leave this book so satisfied because of the ending that I honestly find it hard to complain much. There's nothing I can say to do justice to this run that the half-dozen pages of laudatory congratulations Johns' peers afford him at the end of the final issue don't already cover - it's an epic masterpiece, no doubt.

But as a standalone work, Vol. 3 leaves a little to be desired. The first stretch covers the ongoings around Brightest Day and must be read in conjunction with Green Lantern Corps and Emerald Warriors for you to really appreciate the War of the Green Lanterns plotline that it leads to. And then when the universe gets rebooted in the New 52 (but frankly, not that much changes in the mainline Green Lantern title), you have to pick up GLC, New Guardians, and Red Lanterns and follow along with each of those titles alongside Johns' GL run to appreciate the climax and culmination of almost a decade of storytelling. The Goodreads reviews complaining about pieces missing really bum me out - because yes, if you just read New 52 GL #1-20, as collected here, you're missing out on so, so much. So when I write about this here, I'm writing about the run as a whole - which includes those other ongoing books and the contributions made by Peter Tomasi, Tony Bedard, Peter Milligan, and the artists, colorists, and letterers who worked on all those titles, as well.

I love Sinestro in this act so much - it's astounding how well fleshed-out he is at this point and how invested I am in him. I am pretty disappointed that many of my favorite Corps members (Soranik Natu, Arisia, Sodam Yat and others) are almost completely absent from the New 52 titles (they show up towards the end, but only in the background). Such excellent character work here throughout, although the Red Lanterns title never really won me over (how many times do we need to revisit Atrocitus' backstory???), and I still think John Stewart is the least interesting Earth Lantern by a mile. Love White Lanternkyle, love Glomulus (who is "not Larfleeze"), love Guy Gardner and all his ups and downs.

The entire arc is about emotion, right? Johns' story is about the emotional spectrum. And the Guardians’ refusal to acknowledge and embrace emotions - which is ultimately their downfall. I’ve spent so long thinking “how can anyone see the Guardians as anyone other than villains?” And of course, things turned out how they turned out. I couldn't see it any other way, frankly. And of course, that ending. Green Lantern #20 might be the best single issue of any comic I’ve read - I can’t imagine a more perfect ending and a better way to wrap up these characters and their stories, especially because it left so much fertile soil for the universe to grow beyond this iconic run.

What a journey!!! I'm so glad I approached it with such a completists' mindset because it allowed me to really spend a month basking in this storytelling - even though it took me thousands and thousands of pages to get through it. I'm so satisfied with Green Lantern after those issue #20s that I feel like I might just be done. I might be satiated for the rest of my life. It's that good.

For posterity - I read the contents of this omnibus alongside the contents of: The original Green Lantern Corps runs' Vol. 7 and Vol. 8 TPBs; the Emerald Warriors TPB; the Brightest Day omnibus; the War of the Green Lanterns Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 TPBs; and then a bunch of New 52 TPBs - GLC Vol. 1 and Vol. 2; New Guardians Vol. 1 and Vol. 2; Red Lanterns Vol. 1 and Vol. 2; and then the "Rise of the Third Army" and "Wrath of the Third Lantern" books that cover all four series together at once.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a shaky start, Johns' third massive tome in this trilogy became a fitting end to this epic cosmic saga that I first began in Lockdown 1.0 last year.

When I finished the second omnibus of this run and took a much-needed breather from the immense chaos of Blackest Night (in a good way) I didn't think I needed this continuation. It felt like I had just read the culmination of this tale, so it took me several months to pick this back up. And when I eventually did, it didn't start very well.

However, after around 400 pages or so (maybe 50-100 pages in novel years) things really started picking up and the story took shape. I love the lore, the mythology, the ridiculous sci-fi fantasy rules and details, and I even liked Hal Jordan in this one. Even though I spent two books not caring about our titular main character, this really bookends his arc and gives a nice full-circle feel to all of it. It feels like a genuine trilogy that can be read as a standalone saga, not many of those knocking around the Big Two comics world. I did notice some occasions where I'd missed a minor detail in the companion series such as GL Corps - which I didn't pick back up after Blackest Night - but I love that those stories are still there for me and I'm excited to read them. This book could very well have pissed me off by forcing me to read other titles to understand the story, but it was all handled expertly. GL Corps was actually a big reason I loved this series, some of the "secondary" characters were my favourites; Soranik Natu, Kyle Raynor, Simon Baz... Utterly compelling characters.

Bit, they all seem to pale in comparison to Sinestro. Quite possibly the best character in the entire saga, he's definitely the one with the most defined arc. His interactions with Hal are akin to the Batman-Joker duopoly. Hal kinda needs Sinestro to be compelling, but it isn't quite vice versa. I love that they went the direction I wanted them to go with the dickish Guardians. That was an interesting spin on the genre stereotypes and reminded me a little of how fucked up the Jedi are in Star Wars when you really think about it.
Overall it had a supremely satisfying final chapter, bookending the series and the world with an emotionally resonant ending, while still leaving some plot threads dangling (Simon, Jessica Cruz, Kyle the White Lantern) for future stories.
But I'm not sure I want to read them yet.

I wanna sit on this for a while. I've come a long way with this series and it feels too satisfying to fuck with it all too hastily.

[Kyle13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unpopular opinion but this is my favourite of the 3. I think after the first two volumes johns has finally done what he wanted/needed to do in terms of rebirth and blackest night. But after that he had a clean slate and was free to now actually give some great character work. Sinestro and Hal are now ‘buddy cops’ again all the while going on ventures that still match the high stakes we’ve had during the entire run. But speaking of sinestro this guy is such a great character, he’s Hal’s opposite and that’s why they click so well together when they’re on panels together (last scene ‘were we friends?’ Was peak). The slight problem with lanterns was that normally we can just solve problems by using ‘more emotion’ which johns plays with in more creative ways creating more entreating solutions to problems Hal and the GLC face. Overall the character work is much better in this shown in arcs like the death zone, korugar and the war of the GL.

[Sebastien · Rating 3 out of 5]

At last, finished. The three omnibuses (omnibusii?) one after the other were rather long and, as is often the case with superheroes comics, a tad repetitive, but Geoff Johns really did remarkable work with Green Lantern. He brought in a ton of new concepts to an aging world. This third book was not as interesting as the second (which covered Blackest Night, probably one of the most important event of the Green Lantern universe). However, the concept of the Third Army, the return of Krona and the First Lantern were all pretty interesting arcs on their own. All in all, those three books are must reads for any fans of the GL universe. Here's hoping they find a way to resurrect this universe in the DCEU.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the beginning to the end, Geoff Johns is not only able to create great stories with characters he loves but can add to the mythos of an established character that only enhances the character rather than breaks it down, a trope that is overplayed in today's stories. This entire omnibus is able to keep the reader's attention while continuously raising the stakes for the characters in a natural way without downplaying the previous arcs. I highly recommend the entire run to any reader who is looking for a fun epic! Grade: A

[Omnibuster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great end to a fantastic run although I feel like the last half of this Omni has gaps that I’m assuming are filled in other books. For example, Kyle being the White Lantern, what were the rest of the corps doing when they finally showed up on OA, how B’dg got into the teleported to Black Hans, etc? Or perhaps we’re just supposed to shrug our shoulders and go with it.

It really seems Brightest Day was not crucial to John’s run especially after reading a synopsis of that event.

[Arjun Jagad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of Geoff John's run on Green Lantern, War of the Green Lantern Corps, and the introduction of Simon Baz. Although the weakest of the three volumes, I thought it was still phenomenal. Sinestro and Hal's dynamic is as good as every and it had me hooked throughout the whole book. There is some beautiful artwork as well, such a satisfying end as well. I wish we could see this lantern universe more.

[TheMadReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy shit am I glad to be done with this atrocity. Can’t wait to put it away and never touch it again. Absolute hot garbage, dreadful and dense. This entire Johns run is simply overrated and overhyped. Blackest night sucked big donkey D and the Lantern war was a straight snooze fest. GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

Art is great.

Take care, don’t you dare.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good but easily the weakest of the three omnibus.
Mahnke as the main artist is fine, not sure if it's the inking or the pencils that im not a fan of in some issues, as there are a lot of inkers even in the same issue.
Heart-warming last issue. This book does need excerpts from other series added inbetween issues as the reading experience isn't great.

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall story is amazing, but this omnibus only details Hal Jordan’s adventure as green lantern. It’s missing other aspects of the story involving the other lanterns. They will just show up out of no where referencing things you haven’t read, it’s a little disappointing with a book this size.

[Tristan D · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10

My least favourite of these omnis. I really disliked the first story arc and struggled to get hooked into the book. I think anything following up Blackest Night was gonna have trouble though.

Once Sinestro became a Green Lantern again the book hooked me as much the others. A great ending too!

[Joshua K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those once in a generation comic runs that when you finish you, you don’t feel like you have to read any other run featuring the character. Johns and company tackle every mountain and I feel like they say everything that can be said about Hal Jordan. Amazing.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion to a defining run of the Green Lantern saga that gave Hal Jordan and company new life while fighting death itself

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guardians gone rogue. New Lantern.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing from beginning to end.