DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #2

Death Trail

September 2006

Written by Dave Gibbons

Pencils by Patrick Gleason

Inks by Prentis Rollins

Cover by Patrick Gleason & Prentis Rollins

Synopsis

In Deep Space, Soranik Natu and Guy Gardner are returning to Betrassus after getting a distress call from Natu’s partner, Myrrt.  When they reach the planet, they find Prince Ragnar under siege once more.  Myrrt has been killed.  On Mogo, Vath Sarn takes a few minutes for some soul searching.  On Betrassus, Guy Gardner follows a radiation trail from a spaceship that might lead them to the killer.  Reluctantly, he allows Prince Ragnar to go with him.  They find a pilot, but Ragnar kills him before Gardner can get any answers.  Meanwhile, Natu performs an autopsy on Myrrt and learns that her partner had been drugged with a substance designed to induce fear which would cause his power not to work properly.  After sending Myrrt’s body back to Oa, she heads into the city to find the chemist responsible.  When she finds him, he tosses the potion at her, asking her if her ring will protect her.  Elsewhere, Gardner gets a distress call from Natu and rushes off to help her.  Later, at the funeral fro Rangar’s brother, Gardner arrives and tells them there is another death to be mourned:  Natu is dead.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I refuse to believe that Natu is dead.  Even if I thought based on this issue that she was dead, I don’t think I would be willing to believe it.  For whatever reason, I really like her and I hope she not only remains with the corps, but stays a fixture in this series.  However, the way this issue ended, I suspect that her “death” is really a ruse to set up the killer to identify himself or herself.  This is a classic tactic of murder mysteries, which Gibbons seems to be crafting in this story.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  I just could not help but notice how some of the characters stand out as potential suspects.  For example, the sister continues to needle her brother about his fascination with the Corps, suggesting she is attempting to wrest power for herself.  Thus, she leads the corps to her planet as part of her scheme.  Also notice how the brother killed the only viable lead suggesting that he is the killer and is covering his tracks.  Plus, the brother is shown attacking Guy on the cover to next month’s issue, but that may be a red herring as well.  In addition to all this, we have Natu using her medical to determine the cause of Myrrt’s death and the going alone to investigate further.  I think this particular action is part of Mystery 101.   In another story this might be dull and uninteresting or worse, predictable and boring, but set against the backdrop of a different world and the Corps and it becomes interesting.  This is a mystery, but set against the backdrop of the galaxy and really isn’t that what the Corps is really about:  police officers of the galaxy.

 

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