With the recent news that DC is undergoing a massive upheaval, now is a better time than ever to jump on and start reading. The DCU is now being rebooted completely so new interconnected films, TV shows and games are on the way, but there has also been another semi-restart on the comics. Many fans are looking forward to more stories about the Green Lanterns, which made me remember this series, so it was time to return to the Red Lanterns!
‘Blood Brothers’ actually starts on Earth with Guy Gardner. Guy who has been kicked out of the Green Lanterns is approached by Hal Jordan who is now in charge of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal, admits that currently, their biggest problem is the Red Lanterns, whom they know will be willing to strike whilst the Green Lantern Corps are vulnerable. He asks Guy to join them and go undercover as a spy. Guy is hesitant at first, but decides to go to Ysmault, the home of the Red Lanterns in order to join. Atrocitus, the leader of the Red Lanterns isn’t fooled and refuses. Guy and Atrocitus then duke it out in which Guy is able to seemingly kill Atrocitus and take his ring. This completely throws off the Red Lanterns who are unsure what to do. They finally coalesce as a group and decide to do what they were created for, fight injustice with rage. They attack the ship of a pirate named Barg who has been causing trouble in the sector. Guy realizes that the rage is starting to affect him and asks Hal to pull him out, but when Hal says not yet, Guy goes full Red. He decides that he’s not going to go back and when the Green Lanterns turn up for help, he states that the Red Lanterns will only help if they get a sector to themselves. The threat in question is a being named Relic who has been stealing the lantern energies from all the different Corps. For some reason, it hasn’t affected the Red Lanterns yet. Guy and the rest of the Red Lanterns join in defeating Relic. When they get back they decide to start carrying out missions in their newly owned sector. Can Guy keep the Reds in check and actually forge them into something good? And what is Dex-Starr up to with the body of Atrocitus?
I think that I was starting to find the Red Lantern novels dimming in their shine (no pun intended). Although the first novel introduced us to Rankorr, the first human Red Lantern, the story was beginning to bore me. This novel, however, completely turns that on its head. Having a main character like Guy Gardner join the Red Lanterns and lead them was pretty good. I think it’s the most exciting story I’ve ever read with Guy. There is also a ton of character development with the Red Lanterns, and they’re slowly going from being a bunch of angry idiots into nuanced characters that readers can connect with for the first time. Atrocitus vs Guy was a little shorter than I expected but I’m sure there’s a rematch coming soon!
The artwork was pretty average, there were some bits where it was good, but other parts where I wasn’t completely enthralled by it. The covers were a little better and this one above just perfectly sums up this novel. Overall, this novel actually took the story to a new place and if it continues improving like this, it’s going to be a decent series!
Favourite Panel:
Um… haven’t I seen this before in an Avengers film? Haha!
Favourite Character:
I’m not going to lie, but Guy Gardner does make a good Red Lantern!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★★½
Character Development: ★★★★
Artwork: ★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★
Re-readability: ★★½
Level: Intermediate