Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Jurgens
Art: Marco Santucci
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
The Green Lanterns find themselves outgunned, outmatched and in over their heads when the Corps rings begin to malfunction. As the Guardians of the Universe and Hal Jordan begin to search for answers, the Ravagers of Olys continue their relentless assault in “EVIL’S MIGHT” part three!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Events have been moving quickly with the storyline that got underway in the fiftieth issue and it’s been very action-packed in a fun and enjoyable way. While we’re not getting much in the way of details of what’s going on, what we do get has built the uncertainty well and put us in a position where you can understand the growing anxiety and concerns of the Corps. The downside is that we’ve had three or four artists so far, this issue with Marco Santucci coming on board for it. With as busy as the pages are with space battles, I can understand that it’s going to strain a regular artist but I really do wish we had more consistency with it. Thankfully, the team that we’ve had have all been fairly similar in a lot of ways so it’s held up well enough and Santucci is definitely far more than capable of working an issue like this.
The bulk of the issue is all about the fighting with a tease at the very end that we’ll know the true enemy behind everything next time. What we get here is the growing conflict over Mogo where the small group that’s there are getting a better handle on it even if the scale is off the charts with what the enemy is throwing at them. With communications jammed and even the Guardians unable to contact anyone, it gets pretty dire over the course of it. But it’s welcome to see Guy doing what he does best in leading and organizing as he puts a solid plan together and is able to pass on the reveal that it’s the Ravagers behind this. They were involved in a story ages ago that Jordan had to deal with so they’re a known quantity that’s been dealt with before. The difference this time is Eon and whoever may be pulling the strings for all of this, so the uncertainty still remains.
The complications are what prove to be interesting to me, such as how Thaava is trying to figure out if John Stewart can be saved with what happened in his conversion. We also get Simon disobeying orders in the main fight but it’s more that his ring is manipulating him, something we saw with Jessica a lot before in how it’s not passing on real information and seeding fear that’s now sending him on a rogue mission to Earth. I’m really curious to see how all that plays out. I’m also glad that after a lackluster encounter recently before the creative team shifted, we get a page with Hal taking a break on an alien world just breathing for a few minutes before he gets caught up in all of this. I do like that he’s able to step in and just take control of the situation, organizing and moving forward to deal with everything while not coming across as a cocky asshole. It’s not an easy type of character to write and too many end up just make him insufferable.
In Summary:
Green Lanterns has been zipping right along since the fiftieth issue and I’m enjoying it a lot. Dan Jurgens knows how to work some solid stories and keep the pace moving with good action while seeding the bigger things. Add in in the character quirks and subplots is what makes it even better, as he continues to do here. As we’re three installments into this story now it’s definitely time for some true reveals, so I’m hopeful that things get more meaningful with the next installment. This is a solid read and one that looks great as Santucci captures the characters well and on-model while delivering pretty exciting space-based fights with all sorts of creatures and ships involved. Definitely a good artist to keep in rotation for this series at the least.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via DC Universe
Release Date: August 1st, 2018
MSRP: $3.99