DCU Comic Book Reviews

FINAL CRISIS: RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS

Prologue: Blood Feud

December 2008

Written by Grant Morrison

Pencils by Matthew Clark

Inks by Norm Rapmund, Rob Hunter, Don Ho

Covers by Matthew Clark and Rodolfo Migliari

Synopsis

In Space, the red power battery is born from the anger and blood of Atrocitus.  In Coast City, Hal Jordan receives the news that Sinestro is about to be executed.  In Space, Ash finds a piece of the Anti-Monitor’s husk.  The scarred Guardian tells him to find the corpse.  On Oa, Jordan visits Sinestro to ask a question, but instead Sinestro asks if his execution is right.  Jordan believes it is.  Elsewhere, the Red Lanterns decide to attack and kill Sinestro to feed their rage.  Later, the Green Lanterns are taking Sinestro to Korugar for the execution when they are attacked by the Yellow Lanterns and then by the Red Lanterns.  In the battle, Jordan is hit by the fire of the red lanterns.  His power ring starts to overload.  Then, Saint Walker of the Blue Lanterns appear and tells Jordan if they are to survive the Blackest night, they need Sinestro alive. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue features a small furry cute little housecat (with its red ring on its tail) spewing acid blood to kill a member of the Sinestro Corps.  How cool is that?

This was an excellent, wonderful prologue to Blackest Night.  My only real nitpick is the fact that this book doesn’t tie into Final Crisis at all and even the forced attempt to put it within that story’s timelines (between the events of issues one and two) doesn’t work either.  Really, this is more or less just a continuation of the current Green Lantern series (and continues in the next issue of that title).  So, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it lumped together with that title when it comes time to put it in a trade collection.  This issue picks up all of the threads from the main series, building on the Secret Origin story as well as continuing the events from the Sinestro Corps War story as well.  But nothing, really, from Final Crisis.  But, then who really cares?  I am not sure what DC was thinking when they slapped the Final Crisis tag on it, other than to perhaps to con people into buying this issue who might not normally buy it, but then…well, okay, I have the answer.  Now I know why. 

Anyway, as I said this was a wonderful comic.  The only part that didn’t quite work for me was Jordan’s attitude towards the death of Sinestro.  Maybe it says more about me and my thoughts on the death penalty than Johns’ writing, but I couldn’t quite get why Jordan was so uncertain about the whole thing.  It didn’t feel right.  I don’t know, maybe it didn’t work because of the context of the rest of the issue, which is really just blood and guts.  Literally, blood, as the Red Lanterns spew blood in order to kill their opponents.  It seems like a weird concept, but Shane Davis makes it work well enough that it was not gross or anything. 

What question did Jordan want to ask Sinestro? 

On page 5, bottom right panel, John Stewart asks if Hal is sitting down.  Hal tells him, “no,” except in the panel to the left he is shown to be sitting down.  You lying to your partner, Hal?

Johns is getting even more work out of his rhyming dictionary with the oath of the Red Lanterns.  And he is going to have to do more of these to complete the full color spectrum for all of the different Lantern Corps.  One of these days I am going to put a page together with all of the oaths in one place. 

 

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