Lantern City, Vol. 3

Lantern City #9-12

by Trevor Crafts, Mairghread Scott, Carlos Magno (Illustrations)

No one said changing Lantern City would be easy.

Sander Jorve gave up everything to change Lantern his family, his home, even his identity. Now, with a ruthless force of outlaws rising from the Underground, an emperor gone mad, and a desperate army from beyond the Wall converging on the city, Sander will have to choose a side . . . if he can remember what he’s fighting for. The epic saga of Lantern City concludes here. Created by Trevor Crafts and co-created by Bruce Boxleitner and Matthew Daley, written by Daley and Mairghread Scott ( Transformers , Toil and Trouble ), and illustrated by Carlos Magno ( Planet of the Apes , RoboCop ), Lantern City explores what it takes to change a person’s place in the world, all set in an original, sprawling steampunk universe.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Steampunk, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending wasn't as strong as I would have liked but overall a fantastic journey of trials and revolution in a setting out of Jules Verne. I'd love to see more.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe the bittersweet half-open ending was not a real bang, but I really enjoyed the ride.
And being this series part of a greater cross-media project, I think it was just perfect for this trilogy.
Reading about this vibrant original steampunk dystopic universe was something like Star Wars written by Jules Verne, I'm really going to miss for good this comic book series.

[Relstuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't end as strong as I hoped. The door is left open for future stories but the major plot lines are all taken care of.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent finale given that this comic series is (was?) meant to be part of a multimedia franchise, but otherwise pretty lukewarm. The plotting itself was satisfying, but as with previous volumes, the story needed a little more time to breathe. More setup, more buildup, better pacing in general. Several characters go through changes with very little setup at all, alliances are struck up in a few speech bubbles, scenes change too abruptly, wonky dialogue, and an overall sense that this script was adapted from a more descriptive medium like prose. Given more pages or issues, I feel like this could easily have been a stellar series as the material for something amazing is all there. It just needed to breathe, to take in the atmosphere, and to actually take the time to develop the characters and plot as they were meant to. I have no doubt that this is an amazing story, but the execution as a comic was just a little short of great. That said, I think this is still a very solid series overall and would recommend it if you're in the mood for some steampunk. I'd probably rate the whole series an 8, including the prose short story.

[Chel Gan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the whole series, but this ending has left too many unanswered points. What happened to the lantern Killian was on about? Was it even real? Would it have worked? Did he keep a second prototype somewhere? What the hick is he plotting now???
How do the fortache fit in the new city? How is Rennie even okay after his own mother pointed a gun at his head, and after everything he's been through? How is the new government any different when it's the same people in the council anyways? Who is Sylrana Modavis really? Will she even make a good "mother to lantern city"?
Terna & Jom deserved backstories. Let's face it, we probably won't get sequels or prequels, and this whole thing has been a wild but brief ride. I kinda wish there was more, but I'm not so sure I'd love it if there was more.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is no home anymore. Just surviving."

I'm torn about not giving this 3.5 stars because I like the sentiment at the end...but it felt like it took a long time to get there and could have been stronger. There was a lot of buildup to this big battle and then Sander just has them put down their guns. And the tension between Sander and his wife - and how she was willing to threaten their child - isn't addressed. The ending of Sander living this half-life and having to remind himself that it's better than it was and that it was a win was great - but it was totally overshadowed and the message felt lost in the rush to end it. And the whole concept of there being a way to transport to other worlds is brought up and then totally thrown away.

Overall the ending felt a bit rushed and wasn't what I was hoping for. It's an intriguing series, but none one of my favorites.

[Yoshiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

POPKULTUROWY KOCIOŁEK:
Trzeci tom serii to zarazem kontynuacja pełnej zwrotów akcji, intryg i moralnych dylematów historii, jak i jej zakończenie. Album składa się z czterech zeszytów (części 9-10), w których widzimy ogromne poświęcenie głównego bohatera dla mieszkańców Miasta Latarni. Wydaje się ono nie mieć granic, jednak konsekwencje jego działań zaczynają wykraczać poza jakąkolwiek kontrolę.

Jednym z największych atutów tej części jest dalsze intensywne pogłębianie złożonych charakterów postaci. Dotyczy to zwłaszcza Sandera, który, choć wciąż jest idealistą, przechodzi znaczną ewolucję, zmuszony do podejmowania trudnych wyborów. Pozostali bohaterowie również zyskują na głębi, ukazując pełną paletę ludzkich emocji – od strachu i nienawiści po nadzieję i odwagę.

Nie brakuje tu również wielowarstwowej, złożonej fabuły, która jest zarówno zaletą, jak i wadą komiksu. Autorzy żonglują tu wieloma wątkami, prowadząc czytelnika przez labirynt politycznych intryg, dynamicznych scen, emocji i zmagań z własną przeszłością. Treści te momentami potrafią być jednak na tyle skomplikowane, że można się w nich pogubić. Jest kilka momentów, w których można wręcz odnieść wrażenie, że sami twórcy trochę się gubią w scenariuszu.

Pewną drobną wadą trzeciego tomu jest również dosyć szybka narracja. Mniej więcej od połowy tomiku, historia szybko mnie w stronę swojego wielkiego finału, który jest odpowiednio intensywny, ale też mocno otwarty. Jeśli więc ktoś liczy, że pozna zakończenia wszystkich wątków, będzie rozczarowany. Autorzy pozostawiają sobie tutaj bowiem dość szeroko otwarte „drzwi” (albo wręcz wielką bramę) do ewentualnej dalszej kontynuacji....

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/miast...

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sander is concerned about Killian's deal with the fortache. By helping Killian defeat Pont, the fortache hope to lead better lives in the city. Sander knows this is going to put a strain on the city's already limited resources. Worse, the weapons Killian supplies them with are outdated and he only promised them ammo when they get to the city limits. The fortache are unaware of the challange to come because they are more in touch with nature (think Native Americans, while Latern City people are more like US colonists). Sander believes they will need his guidance if Killian betrays them, but for now must play the faithful servant.

The city has succumbed to chaos. Pont's troops are fighting the city guards and have taken control of power, food and water facilities. Sander's plan is to liberate modern weapons by the time the fortache reach the city, then fight both Pont and Killian.

During the chaotic battle, Sander finds his family standing with Pont. His wife threatens to kill her own son if Sander doesn't step aside. Sander still shoots Pont, who by this point sounds just like Killian to Sander's ears. He reaches out to both sides to put aside their weapons and focus on true freedom. He advocates for unity, not division, like a real leader should.

At this point Killian steps in and orders the fortache to kill Pon't men. Nobody listens to him. Sander lets him live. His rejoins his council members who still hope to retain control of the city, but this time with the wellbeing of the citizens in mind. The city soon begins to thrive. The only thing Sander has lost is the respect of his wife. He just has to remind himself: 'we won'.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conclusion of the Lantern City series is collected in this edition. Sander grows into his assumed identity and role, but there are those who know his secret and use it to their own advantage. War breaks out and truths are revealed. Things aren't what they seem, both for the good and bad.

The artwork is great, the story concludes in a fitting manner and overall the series was an interesting piece of storytelling!

[Rachel Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending feels too convenient. :( But I really enjoyed reading this so I'm not too upset. I am not however, really very interested in knowing what else happens as it kinda hit a "finished" note on this volume.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the story arc concludes, we find out that there's a world beyond the fortified city (and perhaps even beyond the beyond...). I don't want to give anything away.

This was not only a well-written series, but visually stunning as well.

[The Smoog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a little conflicted on this one. While most of the story was great, the ending kind of fell a little flat, with everything seemingly falling into place a little too neatly. The journey was awesome though, and some of the artwork on display was breathtakingly epic.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good volume.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Messy revolution that is kept in check. A better life for all after a lot of pain. Sander is one really lucky guy.

[Kirsten Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Kind of disappointed in the ending ngl but I enjoyed the story as a whole. This would be a fantastic TV series.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ties up all the lose ends but leaves the door open for more later if they want. I like the way they ended things but everything just felt a bit rushed. It feels like they had bigger plan for this series.