Green Lantern In Brightest Day: Tales of The Green Lantern Corps

Green Lantern

by Geoff Johns (Editor), Alan Moore, John Broome

Written by John Broome, Alan Moore, Ron Marz and others Art by Gil Kane, Dave Gibbons and others Cover by Jim Lee & Scott Williams Acclaimed GREEN LANTERN writer Geoff Johns selects and provides commentary on his favorite tales of the Emerald Guardian, or

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2008

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

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lot to be enjoyed here, but it is imperative that you go into this collection with the right attitude. I remember purchasing this graphic novel some years ago and being disappointed. Why? I hadn’t done my homework, and I thought it was a current Green Lantern Corps series. This belief was obviously enforced by the fact that Geoff Johns’ name appears on the cover (he was writing Green Lantern at the time, after reviving the series with Green Lantern: Rebirth).

In fact, Johns didn’t write any of the stories here. He just selected them. This collection is similar to Green Lantern: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, but each issue is accompanied by an introduction where Johns explains the inclusion of the specific story. It’s probably fair to say that the emphasis is on historical or iconic value. For example: The first Sinestro appearance, the first Guy Gardner appearance, the secret origin of the Guardians of the Universe, Mogo’s first appearance, the issue where John Stewart’s identity is revealed to the world… and so forth.

The early work here by Gil Kane was groundbreaking. If people are rating this poorly because of the retro art, then they just don’t get comics. And let’s face it; comics were different in the 60s, not quite as edgy and perhaps just a bit hokey. But this is the Green Lantern Corps we’re talking about… a science (space opera) based series that was never known for restraint.

The two Alan Moore stories included here are also collected in DC Universe by Alan Moore. It’s no surprise that they’re printed as part of this collection because they’re great, but I’m not sure why John’s chose “Tygers” to close his collection with. It’s totally out of sequence (the rest of the book seems to follow an internal chronology) and it’s also a somewhat uneasy story that will have you coming away from this collection a bit unsettled. For my money, it would have been better to include it earlier in this book.

Some of the early works collected here will also be available in the Showcase Presents series (Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Vol. 1), but they’re printed in colour here. If you’re a follower of the Green Lantern Corps, you need this collection. Johns’ notes on each story are fascinating, and give some insight into the direction the series has taken in recent years. It also shows how the early Green Lantern stories influenced Crisis on Infinite Earths.

I’m going to give this two ratings. For non Green Lantern Fans – 3.5 stars. For Green Lantern fans who know a bit of the history – 5 stars. It left me wanting more.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really doesn't have anything to do with Brightest Night, or even really with Darkest Night. It's a series of past stories starring the Green Lanterns, including at least one story with each of the Earth Lanterns. Johns selected the comics and gives an introduction to each. The idea being to give readers new to the Green Lantern mythology an introduction. Like Infinite Crisis Companion before it. The stories range from 1961 to 1994. It's a pretty good selection of stories, actually, including some really good ones (like Alan Moore's Mogo tale) and some really important ones (like John Stewart going public with his identity). They aren't all winners. There's a pre-Crisis Alan Scott/Hal Jordan team up that does absolutely nothing for me. Even the most uninitiated readers wouldn't need this to get a handle on all the Lanterns for Blackest Night, so it's really not necessary. If you can get it from the library and have an interest in the history of these characters but don't want to invest the time in going through some Archives.

[Eric Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of greatest hits, according to Geoff Johns. They are taken from the silver and bronze ages of the Green Lantern mythos, and help prepare the reader for his epic GL saga.

I learned a lot of interesting tidbits from Geoff Johns' forwards, and I loved going through some of the older more innocent silver age tales into the incredible bronze age stuff, with Alan Moore's two featured issues being the obvious highlights. Also, shoutout to the introduction of Laira by Ruben Diaz and Travis Charist. That issue was awesome.

[Abhishek Dafria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Lantern: In Brightest Day is a compilation, selected by Geoff Johns, of various comics of other artists and writers who have worked on creating this vast world of the Green Lanterns. This comic is more about the Green Lantern corps and the universe they guard, rather than tales of the more popular Green Lantern of Earth, Hal Jordan. The first comic is though of Hal Jordan taking on one of the biggest challenges to the Corps, Sinestro. But as more works are presented, we are introduced to many of the other Green Lanterns including Alan Scott, John Stewart, Mogo, and many more. There is one interesting comic where even Superman is called before the Guardians of the Universe, the ones who command the Green Lantern Corps!

The reason why Green Lantern: In Brightest Day is a thoroughly enjoyable read, largely germinates from the intelligent selections of Geoff Johns who himself is a collaborator to the Green Lantern storyline and understands the mythos of the Corps quite well. Apart from the comics themselves, the brief background that Johns has provided before each tale adds further to the grandeur of the story and makes reading it all the more fun. The stories in themselves, not only illustrate the strength of will power which is required more than anything for a Green Lantern to succeed, but also show the vast reach of the Corps across many planets, and at least made me feel quite puny in the grander scheme of things. Overall, I had fun reading this, as the concept of Green Lanterns grew on me with each story. I hope you do too!

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting selection of Green Lantern stories picked by Geoff Johns. This book has stories about all four Earth lanterns, which was cool, as well as some stories about other Corps Members. My favorite is probably still Alan Moore's story about Mogo. You can tell Johns picked some stories in regard to his Blackest Night.

What annoyed me a little was that parts of the book were poorly put together - Todd Klein (awesome as he is) was credited for a lot more stories than the one he wrote. It might have been nice if someone had looked over the whole thing once before printing. But since the actual artists were also mentioned, it's not that big a deal.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite comic books ! I’m a super Green Lantern fan.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

John's curating his favorite Green Lantern tales and those that influenced him.

[David Matheny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Green Lantern memory lane book narrated by Geoff Johns

[Quinn Levandoski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is kind of a tough one for me to score. On one hand, this is an absolutely perfect way to get into Green Lantern. It was the first GL book I ever read, and it really does a great job of introducing not only the major players in the corps like Hal, the Guardians, John, etc, but it also introduces the bigger concepts of how the corps work and what they're all about. As an introductory read it gets 4 stars, because a few of the stories don't really seem to contribute much (the John Stewart story, for instance, is a bit confusing without more background as to why Hal is being weird, and it just cuts of in the middle of a sub-arc).

On the other hand, from a pure entertainment perspective, I give it 2 stars. Some of the older GL stories, while partially enjoyable for their importance to canon, are just boring stories. I understand Guy Gardner is cool, for example, but his story is terrible. The entire conflict he's in is settled in one panel by him saying he just convinced everyone to stop fighting. I realize that's just kind of how comics were then, but it's tough to read compared to the relatively in depth plots and characters of other books. That being said, there are some awesome stories too. The last story about Abin Sur is my favorite by far.

I highly recommend this to people looking to either get into GL, or those looking to see the birth of classic characters and concepts. If you're simply looking for a good story or interesting characters, however, there are better books to choose.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns selects his favorite back issue tales for this volume of the Green Lantern Corps. A typical Silver Age space encounter between Hal Jordan and Sinestro opens the tome. A two-part story follows, featuring Alan Scott and Hal Jordan taking on the latest scheme from renegade Guardian Krona. An alien machine on Oa gives Hal the chance to see what Guy Gardner would have been like as the first Green Lantern of Earth, while the Guardians surreptitiously convince Superman to allow humanity to face its own choices and consequences. John Stewart battles Sonar is his first foray as the GLC member of Sector 2814; Kyle Rayner designs his new costume after his first public brawl as a ring-slinger. Warrior Lantern Laira returns home to battle her warmongering father, and readers learn why the GL known as Mogo does not socialize. Other tales highlight a fallen ring's ability to jumpstart a planetary evolution, how retirement can be a blessing and curse for an elderly Lantern, and how one robot's contempt for his race's Lantern causes even bigger problems once it wields a ring. Even Abin Sur gets into the mix, as his conversations with the Five Inversions heralds his eventual death. While the assortment has its ups and downs - especially with the classic antics of the Silver Age - the tales offer the history behind Johns's current Lantern run. Fans of the Corps at any era should explore these classic stories.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of my Green Lantern knowledge comes from The Super Friends, so for me this was a great collection of stories. It introduced a lot of characters and shed some light on the Green Lantern universe. This is the perfect place to start if you are looking to get into Green Lantern comics.

Even though it was meant to be a Batman episode, I couldn't help but talk Green Lantern when interviewing Steve Englehart for the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints various Green Lantern stories. Geoff Johns selects stories that influenced his current Green Lantern tales and illustrates the Green Lantern's abilities. The stories are hit and miss. Some are good; some are average. He makes some interesting choices, and some obvious choices. I almost wish he had just created a "Green Lanterns' firsts" collection where it was entirely first appearances and occurances of Green Lantern abilities.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comics Veteran, Geoff Johns, selects a handful of the most important issues from Green Lantern history to set the stage for the current storyline, "The Blackest Night." This is an excellent introduction to the mythos of the Green Lantern Corps. Highly recommended for folks who did not read Green Lantern growing up - or folks who just can't get enough of the Corps.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

En su mayoría estos relatos no me volaron la cabeza, pero los capítulos de este tomo escritos por Moore y Marz me gustaron tanto que vale la pena nivelar para arriba. Después quizás me explaye con más porqués.

[Carl Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see where some of Geoff Johns' favorite characters come from... other parts are less surprising (hello again Alan Moore!). To bad we couldn't have a whole book of obscure/previously-uncollected material.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many stories always want to read it more than once and so many Green Lanterns it is amazing.

[Youseph Tanha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about the DC Universe from this book. Stuff I didn't know before. Like that the Guardians can over see Superman.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://librarianaut.com/2011/05/21/bo...

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colección de historias imprescindibles para entender el mundo de Green Lantern

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading for Green Lantern fans.

[Poonam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is collection of short stories about different green lanterns Abin Sur, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Moga, Kyle. 2 of the stories in this collection are by Alan Moore.

[Linda Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old classic stories, the origin and history and stories of the various green lanterns, good for a classic comics fan.

[Dubzor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to what the GL mythos has to offer. For the longest time all I had to go on was the Timm productions of the characters. Finally, I sought this out and find myself craving more.

[Anurag · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read collection!
This book introduces to the most of he Green Lanterns through various stories.
And as it is written by Alan Moore, each one is full of content.