Done but not yet finished.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Jesus Saiz
Colors: Jesus Saiz
What They Say:
This may be the last chance for John Stewart and the rest of the lost Lanterns to return home…but there are still plenty of obstacles in their way!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Green Lantern: Lost Army has been a frustrating series in so many ways, particularly with the final two issues of its run. Having been interested in the ideas behind it at the start but not having the right foundation for it as it didn’t connect to what events launched it, the book quickly began to feel drawn out and uninteresting with what it wanted to do by the middle of this abbreviated six issue run. And then just when I intend to avoid the final two issues they end up being the better parts of the run as a whole. Not great, but not bad. The ieas that it wants to play with are interesting, but as we’ve learned from other attempts at this kind of storytelling the idea of putting a group of characters far away from the rest of the mainline DC Universe or their familiar environs rarely works.
With Stewart and the others having now found their way to Mogo there’s this sense of hope that they have to cling to, along with finding a number of other Green Lanterns. The problem is that Mogo is being attacked by a large array of Lightsmiths from all ends of the spectrum and they’re using some pretty intense tactics on him to essentially terraform him. There’s so many unknowns or less than clear aspects to the Lightsmiths that it might as well be magic what they’re doing or their intent since there’s no real dialogue to be had. All we know is that with the spectrum fading away in this dying universe they’re resorting to some pretty cruel tactics to try and survive. As is noted as the fight reaches a critical phase, they’re beginning to turn pretty feral.
But the interesting part is in seeing how Mogo becomes transformed into a Lantern capable of working all the spectrum and utilizing the Battery for it as well it seems. There’s an almost comical cartoon moment when the lights shine out and various Green Lanterns end up changing to other colors and abilities in the spectrum and even Guy loses his red, thank goodness. But as interesting as it is it’s all done in brief because they have to wrap things up for this series, which means Salaak discovers a way to get back by going to a rift at the Source Wall. This is always a powerful place to visit and Saiz illustrates it wonderfully, and he’s done fantastic work in these past two issues alone with the range of characters and color involved. But the story is where it just ticks me off almost because, as a reader not reading any other books in this particular subset, we get this moment where Stewart looks through the rift and sees why it’s all happened like it has. There’s zero context for someone like me and it simply does not make me want to read anything else going on. That’s been a fundamental failure for this book with me and it’s just compounded here at the end even as it provides for some interesting moments.
In Summary:
Though Green Lantern: Lost Army draws to a close here, this particular story is getting continued in January with Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion. I already feel like a fool for being interested in it after the way this series has messed with me, but DC Comics is at least looking to put some different talent on it and hopefully figure out a way to make it engaging. That book is being written by Tom Taylor with artwork from Ethan Van Sciver so my interest level is sadly raised more. This year has been a frustrating one with my experience with Cullen Bunn’s works as I find that I like the concepts he wants to work with yet the execution is almost uniformly disastrous on the books I’ve picked up. I’m a long time fan of the Green Lantern world and looked at this standalone series as a way to re-engage with it after being away the past decade. I’m not heading into the mainline books at all, but I’ll check out the next series in hopes that it can pull this together better.
Grade: B-
Series Grade: C-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 18th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
