DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN #42

Agent Orange, Part Four

August 2009

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Philip Tan and Eddy Barrows

Inks by Jonathon Glapion and Ruy Jose

Covers by Philip Tan and Eddy Barrows

Synopsis

On Okaara, Orange Lantern Larfleeze cuts off the arm of Hal Jordan to take the Blue Power ring, but it turns out to be an illusion to give taste of Larfleeze hoped for.  Elsewhere, Yrra (aka Fatality) tells John Stewart she has forgiven herself for what happened to Xanshi and John needs to do the same.  Meanwhile, Jordan fights Larfleeze.  Jordan distracts Larfleeze and grabs the Orange Lantern.  Jordan claims it is his.  Larfleeze takes it back and claims it is his.  Larfleeze uses the battery to increase his power.  Now, the Blue ring asks Jordan what he hopes for.  Jordan hopes what they are done with the Larfleeze the ring stops asking him that question.  The ring senses sincerity in the request, drains the power from Larfleeze to end the fight, and with Jordan’s request fulfilled, disengages and starts searching for a replacement.  With the blue ring gone, Larfleeze stops fighting.  He threatens the Guardians, but they tell them it is not necessary.  The Guardians make another deal with Larfleeze, to give him what he wants if leaves them alone.  What he wants is to know where the blue ring has gone…. In Sector 666, Green Lanterns Ash and Saarek find the corpse of the Anti-Monitor inside a black power battery.  Saarek touches the battery and awakens the creature resting underneath.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was another solid issue, as Johns continues to set the stage for the upcoming “Blackest Night” mini-series.  And I think this is an important thing to remember.  Johns is not writing a story so much as writing background information to deepen and enrich “Blackest Night.”  Like the “Rage Of The Red Lanterns” story, “Agent Orange” is not structured as a story with a beginning and an end, but more of a beginning and a middle so that the end can come, in some fashion, during “Blackest Night.”  Mind you, I am not complaining.  I know what’s coming and I accept that Johns has a continuing story that is unfolding.  I know that whatever happens on Odym will unfold later.  Or whatever happens in Sector 666 will become clearer in the next month. 

The entire thing with the blue ring and Jordan’s “sincere” request is a fantastic moment.  You can tell Jordan really meant what he said, I just don’t think he realized the impact of what he was saying.  At that point he was more concerned with Larfleeze that removing the blue ring.  I think we all expected the blue ring to become some sort of deus ex machina ending to “Blackest Night” (I hope the dead stay dead, or something like that), so to see such a simple request end Jordan’s reign as a Blue Lantern was strange. 

I also like the deal the Guardians made with Larfleeze.  Seems like they both get exactly what they want.  The Guardians get a little revenge against Ganthet and Sayd and Larfleeze gets the chance to possess once more a blue ring.  Although I have to wonder, if someone like Larfleeze is so full of greed, actually going out into the universe would be counterproductive because everything he sees he’d want to have.  There was virtually nothing in the cavern

At this point, Jordan has been a member of the Green Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Yellow Lanterns, Blue Lanterns and now the Orange Lanterns.  That would leave pink, indigo, and black.  I get the feeling that Jordan at some point will become all of the different lanterns, which actually may lead to the ending of “Blackest Night.”  The war of light will be resolved by the only person who has actually wielded all of the colors.  It makes sense.  Moreover, I like the way Johns has slowly set this up, with Jordan “getting” the rings slowly over the course of several months (rather than rushing through in the first couple of issues in the main main-series). 

I am uncertain what Johns is trying to do with John Stewart.  The scene with Fatality feels out of place with the rest of the issue and indeed with most of the event currently happening in the Green Lantern mythos.  Normally, with the couple of pages we have seen in the past couple of months, this would suggest Johns is setting up a future story and I don’t doubt that Johns is setting something up.  What concerns me is that I am not sure how this will play out with the upcoming “Blackest Night” story.  It doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the story.  What does Xanshi and forgiveness have to do with the dead coming back?  Granted, Fatality did mention Xanshi’s role in the war of light, but it still seems disconnected from the main events, somehow. 

On Page 2, the third panel on the top, it looks as if the last two sentences of Jordan’s dialogue in the word balloon (“It was a…a mirage?!? Bah!”) actually belong to Larfleeze. 

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