Comic Book Review: Green Lantern Corps #47

Book Information

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Art by Patrick Gleeson

Inked by Rebecca Buchman

Colored by Randy Mayor

Lettered by Steve Wands

My All-Inspiring Opinion

Blackest Night is over.  Everything is destroyed.  The Corps must now rebuild itself from the bottom up.  Gardner, Rayner and a handful of other Lanterns take a stand against the Guardians and their newly established Book of Oa laws.  Vath wakes up with a pair of foreign legs, and Kilowog makes a life altering decision that could have a huge effect on the future of the Corps.   Tomasi brings in all the stops as he bids farewell to a comic book series that has been defined by his unremarkable ability to tell engrossing and angst driven tales.

In the past few months, this title has been quite focused on the one plot and not contaminated with a plethora of multi-purpose stories.  That has been my only major criticism about Tomasi’s work on the GL Corps as my brain always bounced around in the 22 paged comic from one plot to the next on a monthly basis.  This always took me for a loop and I was constantly going back rereading certain parts of each monthly installment due to my lost and confused state of mind.  With #47, Tomasi reverts back to that multi-plot style, but aligns each story as one cohesive unit.

This is an issue all about rebuilding relationships, renewing one’s faith, and making choices to help better your life as a whole.  Every character finds themselves in situations where they must come to terms with their inner demons, forcing them to make choices which they may or may not like.  Vath is hit hardest with this concept as he wakes up to a set of new legs which once belonged to his friend, Isamot.  After a brutal debate session between the two, they come to terms with each other and recognize that they can only work through everything that has happen to them as a team.  The sacrifice Isamot makes for Vath is a symbol of the reconstruction all the Lanterns must endure in order to survive the coming years.

Likewise, many of the title’s character are taking stances against the guardians that have not been taken before.  However, this wasn’t just some honorable attempt by Rayner and Gardner to give them license to date fellow coworkers; it was a lecture, teaching the Guardians that the Corps they have been in charge of for so long will be changing with or without Guardian approval.  Rayner’s bit of public oratory was a testament to the heart and soul of the galactic police force and that denying a Lantern the ability to love will ultimately ruin the Corps forever.  His inspiring speech branched out into the stubborn heart of Salaak, who gave the Guardians the ultimate third degree.  Nothing could have declared what the future of the Corps will be like more than that moment.  The Guardians are going to have to make a lot of changes, or they can kiss their jobs goodbye.

Pat Gleeson has a knack for instilling emotionally driven visuals, always keeping each character in line with their personalities and character traits.  Gardner always has that “tougher than shit” look while Rayner has that assertive yet humble demeanor, always hoping people will listen to reason.  The detail in this issue is amazingly well done and truly hit right on the mark.

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion

This could not have been a better way of biding Tomasi farewell from the Green Lantern Corps title.  Much like when Geoff Johns left the Justice Society of America, and certainly what it will feel like when Gail Simone is finally done with Wonder Woman, we can only hope that the new writer can make the title just as exciting.

Ratings

Writing: 10

Themes: 10

Art: 10

Incentive Point: 3

Overall: 10 out of 10