It’s been a few months since the last Green Lantern crossover, so of course DC needed to throw another one at us. This month brought us “Lights Out”, a five-issue arc permeating through the pages of all of the Green Lantern books, culminating in Green Lantern Annual Number Two. A lot of questions were asked, but how many were answered?
POSITIVES
Trouble in paradise.
Enough has changed in “Lights Out” so that the reader doesn’t feel cheated, but there weren’t any cheap, grandiose moves to sell books that will quickly be undone either. Relic is a great new villain because he makes the Lanterns question themselves, their motivations, and if their way of life is right. Kyle Rayner—the White Lantern—and the seven emotional entities find themselves siding with Relic’s cause, just with different means to those ends.
The Kyle-Carol-Hal love triangle is one worth exploring more as time passes in the Lantern books. It clearly has been building over the course of the entire New 52, but the moment where those emotions are really exposed was great. The moment was almost as great as the romance between John Stewart and Guy Gardner. How cute was it when John punched Guy for not telling him he was a Red Lantern?
Many would argue that Mogo is a fairly weak Lantern, character wise. Mogo’s new role, however, is perfect. He will still remain a vital part of the Green Lantern Corps, but his role will be more subdued. At least now the Corps has a mobile headquarters.
Sean Chen’s pencils were impressive and Andrew Dalhouse’s colors only made them better.
NEGATIVES
Maybe he should’ve tried some other colors…
Relic didn’t do a very good job of collecting emotional light energy. No wonder he needed Kyle to break the wall. Why didn’t he drain any indigo light? What about the orange light of avarice? Crossovers that drag on too long can feel like nothing more than cash grabs “Lights Out” was very quick, but almost to the point of feeling rushed. This really says something, as Red Lanterns didn’t seem to fit at all and felt quite forced.
VERDICT
4/5
The issue ended with a pretty decent little bow, but all of the books have plenty of places to go. This is how all modern Annuals should read.
