COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Red Lanterns: The Second Prophecy
By The Masked Medic
As I’ve now been reading comic books for what is 10 years and reviewing them for the last three, I’m finding that I’m getting deeper and deeper into certain series. A lot of these series, I most likely would never have thought about picking up, but in my journey of education, I have expanded my horizons to the most unlikely places *cough* Marvel *cough*. One of these series has been “Red Lanterns”, the story of Atrocitus of Ryutt and his band of rage-filled maniacs! The last novel had been a little subpar in my eyes, so it was time to see if it could be redeemed!
‘The Second Prophecy’ starts with an introductory issue that tells the story of how Atrocitus came to be the Leader of the Red Lanterns. The novel then continues with the Red Lanterns hearing the call of a rage-filled alien on a distant planet. In an attempt to recruit her, the Red Lanterns find themselves under attack by a mysterious threat known only as “The Third Army”. As Atrocitus attempts to find out why this new enemy is impervious to the majority of their attacks, he discovers that this army is the latest creation of the Guardians of Oa. Atrocitus then divides jobs to his corps on Ysmault, including telling Rankorr to get revenge on the man who wronged him. Consequently, Atrocitus heads back to his home world of Ryutt to resurrect the first creation of the Guardians; The Manhunters. Taking control of them he heads off on a mission to capture “The Great Heart”, a device that contains all the emotions of the Guardians. However, there he is stopped by Volthoom, The First Lantern, who wishes to have the device to claim vengeance on the Guardians himself. The novel then has one issue from the Green Lantern series in which all the Corps join to fight Volthoom. The novel ends which the Red Lanterns back on Ysmault, Atrocitus, Bleez and Rankorr having fought off their demons ready to get to work.
Okay, so first thing, first, this novel is very long. Unfortunately, because it doesn’t just have one connecting storyline it did start to feel a little tedious and boring. There were so many complicated plots and sub-plots that I think it would be fairly difficult for most readers to understand what was happening unless they were well versed in Green Lantern lore. Over the course of the last two novels, I have started to feel that Atrocitus is a largely boring character, or has become so because his backstory was fairly interesting. At the same time, because the novel rarely focuses on what the other Red Lanterns are doing, with the exception of Rankorr, it makes me feel that they should have called this series “Atrocitus and those other guys”. Either way, it’s starting to become a series that I’m reading for the sake of it, rather than because I’m enjoying it!
And finally, we move on to the aspect of the novel that I thought lacked the most; the artwork. I was seriously not a fan of the artwork, especially in some of those earlier issues! This also reflected in many of the covers, which again I thought were subpar. The only cover that I liked, ended up above! Overall, this series is now starting to lack in excitement, and personally, I think it would take a seriously good novel to change how I feel about ‘Red Lanterns’
Favourite Panel:
I do love alternative reality visions, and Atrocitus seeing that he’d end up as a dictator if not for the Manhunters was surreal!
Favourite Character:
The longer this series goes on, the less I like any of these characters. That being said, I still believe that Rankorr has the most potential as a Red Lantern!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★½
Character Development: ★★★½
Artwork: ★★
Enjoyability: ★★
Re-readability: ★½
Level: Advanced