COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Green Lantern Corps: Alpha War
By The Masked Medic
Ok. So we’re not going to talk about what my personal feelings about Warner Brothers are today after their article about creating a new Superman film. So we’ll just stick to DC and their comics. I was looking forward to returning to Green Lantern Corps because it focused on the two Earth Lanterns that I knew very little about. The first novel ‘Fearsome’ set up the series well, let’s see what the next one had in store for me.
‘Alpha War’ starts with John, Guy and the rest of the Green Lanterns returning to Oa with the Yellow Lantern battery. However, any chance of relaxing is out of the question when the Alpha Lanterns, a subgroup of the Green Lanterns who are tasked with monitoring the actions of the Corps themselves, set about to arrest John Stewart for murder. Despite the protests of those around him, John willingly gives himself up for trial. Guy, outraged decided to investigate how this happened and also why John is refusing to fight. Deciding to take things into his own hands, Guy and a group of other Lanterns loyal to John, break him out of prison, leading a massive battle between the group and the Alpha Lanterns. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Guardians are hatching up a new plot. The novel then gives us a backstory for Guy and how he became a Green Lantern, fighting off a villain named Xar to earn his colours. Coming back to the present and we see Guy being given a special role within the Corps by the Guardians. He is told to protect an envoy of politicians and accompany them to Oa. However, when he is told that his first nemesis Xar has broken out of the Green Lantern prison on Oa, he is torn between staying with the diplomatic party and heading off to Earth to protect his family who may be in danger. How will the Guardians react to Guy’s decision? And just how long will it be before anyone realizes what is going on?
Okay, so straight off the bat, I think that this novel had really good pacing. It never feels like it’s moving too quickly and the flashback issue in the middle almost grounds the pace well. I think that was important because the overall plot was perhaps not the most exciting plot on the surface. That being said, it does pick up as the novel progresses and it keeps your attention. One of the aspects I particularly appreciated was that even though it is clearly about the whole Corps, the novel effectively focused on Guy and still feel like a ‘team’ book!
The artwork was good, and although the style wasn’t quite my favourite, I can appreciate the talent required to pull off landscapes with a whole bunch of characters fighting it out. Some of the scenes with the Alpha Lanterns and the Green Lanterns fighting were impressive. One cover stood out for me; of course, it was going to be the one done by Ivan Reis. Overall, this was a decent novel with good character development. It surprised me in that respect!
Favourite Panel:
Sorry, John’s last meal would be a curry? I rate him majorly now! Hahaha!
Favourite Character:
This one is tough because this series has a few main characters, but surprisingly in this novel, I’d choose Guy. You get a real in-depth look at his personality!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★★½
Character Development: ★★★★
Artwork: ★★★½
Enjoyability: ★★★½
Re-readability: ★★½
Level: Intermediate