DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #30

Sins Of The Star Sapphire, Part 2:  Empty Handed Heart

January 2009

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Patrick Gleason

Inks by Rebecca Buchman

Cover by Patrick Gleason

Synopsis

In Space Sector 1067, two Green Lanterns have been killed and their baby stolen by Kryb of the Sinestro Corps.  On Zamaron, the Guardians along with Guy Gardner, Arisia, and Sodam Yat are greeted by Queen Aga’Po.  In Sector 1111, Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu respond to a distress signal.  The call came from two Green Lanterns, who were married and had children.  On Zamaron, the Guardians express concern over the growing power of the Star Sapphire Corps.  The Guardians believe the Zamarons are acting naïve if they think love can save the Universe.  The Zamarons believe that the problem is the Guardians are suppressing their emotions.  Just then, Gardner finds a room with Sinestro Corps members.  The Zamorans claim they are trying to fill the hole in their hearts.  In Sector 1111, Kyle Rayner and others find Kryb and destroy it.  On Oa, the Guardians are concerned.  They enact the third law:  relationship between members of the corps is forbidden.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was a very good issue; Tomasi has a good grasp of characterizations and a great ear for dialogue.  Tomasi manages to make a little bit of sense in the arguments for both the green and violet/pink sides, so that it is obvious that there is no clear-cut right and wrong.  To me, that is good writing.  I hate it when a writer fails to make one side or another a viable alternative.  Tomasi delivers on both side and crafts a very good issue because of it.  Good stuff. 

Frankly, I am not certain how the Sapphire Corps is supposed to save the universe.  If they are lovers, not fighters, they wouldn’t last long in war.  But I guess that’s just me.  I am, however, willing to believe the Zamarons have a plan, especially one that could threaten the Guardians.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Blackest Night. 

I am also uncertain about the deal with the Sinestro Corps and trying to fill the hold in their hearts.  To me, it looks and acts like a little bit of brainwashing.  It seems like the Zamarons are trying to remove fear from them and instill love.  It sounds sinister.  I like the idea of the Violet Corps and the character from last week made sense in terms of recruitment.  I also like the wink and a nod the queen gave to Sodam Yat and Arisia (as well as Guy Gardner) and their relationship with each other (or Ice).  But the manner in which the Sinestro Corps are being transformed by love doesn’t sit well with me. 

The new law is lost on me, mostly because I wasn’t aware there was a lot of fraternizing within the Green Lantern Corps.  For whatever reason, I wouldn’t have suspected corps members to be marrying each other.  Indeed, if the Corps is supposed to be “police in space,” then I would expect the Guardians to have some kind of rule already in place to avoid romance in the workplace.  Most real-life police corps have a non-fraternizing law, unless they are part of different areas.  I just kinda assumed that this would be the same as well for the Green Lantern Corps.  Although we have been shown differently with some of the babies stolen by Kryb, the new law really didn’t have much of an impact.