DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN #45

Love Hurts

October 2009

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Doug Mahnke

Inks by Christian Alamy, Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen

Covers by Doug Mahnke and Francis Manapul

Synopsis

In Space Sector 1313, John Stewart watches as Xanshi rises from the dead to become a Black Lantern.  On Zamaron, members of the Sinestro Group attempt to rescue their comrades who have been captured by the Star Sapphire.  Elsewhere, Queen Aga'po realizes that Carol Ferris has develop a resistance to the power ring.  Carol can use its power without being totally consumed by its love.  Carol will be the perfect host for the Violet entity, the Predator.  Meanwhile, Sinestro encounters Carol Ferris.  On Ysmault, Green Lanterns attempt to retrieve the dead body of Laira, but are confront by Red Lanterns.  Suddenly, black power rings swarm the area and both groups are confronted by Black Lanterns, including Laira.  On Zamaron, Sinestro tells her she is a slave to her love for Hal Jordan.  Carol denies this.  She also says even Sinestro has love in his heart and encases him in crystal.  Sinestro has a vision of his lost love, Abin Sur’s sister Arin Sur, but Sinestro breaks free of the crystal.  He can’t waste time.  He needs to deal with Mongul.  Around the universe, all of the various crops are confronted by Black Lanterns.  On Oa, Scar confirms all of the light crops will soon be extinguished, including the Indigo Tribe, once its bears shines its light.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This has got to be one of the most fascinating train wrecks I have seen in a long time.  And I say that will all of the joy and love that I have for Blackest Night as well as this title.  What Johns is putting together is fantastic and I can’t get enough of the War of Light and the return of the dead.  And this issue is just more of the same brilliance.  But as I was reading, I realized how many characters and how much plot Johns has stuffed into this book.  There are several stories weaving in and out of the book, with some like Stewart and Xanshi occupying only a few pages each issue and others, like Carol Ferris and the Star Sapphire front and center.  And yet, both of these are still ancillary plot points to the main story of "Blackest Night."  Once could even argue it is secondary to the story of frenimies Hal Jordan and Sinestro, which is still playing out since the “Sinestro War” a while ago.  What I find amazing about all of this is that Johns is somehow able to make it all work.  It may not flow like a normal story.  It feels more like someone checking in on various things, catching a glimpse of things here and there, before moving onto the next part.  Yet, all of those small look-ins are captivating, leading to what seems like bigger and more shocking twists and turns in the story, making you wanting more but not feeling like you got less than what you need. 

Some of the scenes I liked included the formation of the Black Lantern Xanshi (which seems like a natural to fight Mogo), Laira becoming a Black Lantern just as the Green Lanterns are trying to return her, and all of the black rings finding Larfleeze’s victims.  I actually smiled at the scene.  For some reason I pictured Black Lanterns fighting orange constructs that look exactly like them. 

The core of this issue is the confrontation of Carol and Sinestro as they both vie for the love of Hal Jordan.  Or at least that’s the way it felt to me.  I just got a kick out of it because he are two people who seemingly define their lives based on what someone else is doing.    

The revelation of Sinestro’s love kinda smacked in the head, not because of who she is (although that was a little surprising) but rather because I should’ve realized:  if Sinestro is Soranik Natu’s father, of course, there needs to be a mother.  So, naturally, the question becomes:  Is Arin Sur Soranik’s mother?  And what did Abin Sur think of his sister dating Sinestro?  Actually, he might’ve been proud, Abin died before Sinestro went bad.  But, when did Arin Sur leave the picture?

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