“Broken Wings”
Creative Staff:
Story: Morgan Hampton, Jeremy Adams
Art: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert
Colors: Arif Prianto
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
The Lanterns return to Thanagar, decimated in the aftermath of the Civil Corps! But this time John Stewart and company are fighting with Hawkwoman by their side. Meanwhile, the mystery of the fractal lanterns deepens, as Atrocitus seeks revenge for the theft of his powers! So why is the answer seemingly within the remains of the shattered Thanagar?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a lot of Green Lantern reading over the years, one book I’ve always enjoyed is when we get a Green Lantern Corps series since it allows the exploration of an interesting cast of characters that are generally more space-based than Earth-focused. This series has regular Green Lantern writer Jeremy Adams working with Morgan Hampton on it which should ease some continuity issues as well. The artwork has some familiar names with Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert working on it while the ever-talented Arif Prianto brings it to life with the color design. A little more continuity mixes in as well with Dave Sharpe on the lettering so it has a good cohesive feeling with the ongoing main book as well.
The opening installment of this series was fairly chaotic as it was trying to introduce some of its overall premise with the loss of the Batteries, a slew of characters in general since it’s about the Corps, and focusing on John Stewart as its kind of central figure. There was a lot going on and it was something that felt all over the place. So this issue feels far more focused and engaging here as it sticks to one story and lets it expand and unfold well. With the fallout from all that’s happened, we get John leading a small team to check out what’s happening on Thanagar after it was devastated in the war. Shayer as Hawkgirl is joining them and it’s a tough situation for her to take in having been elsewhere when everything went down. The reality is that the planet is a hot mess that looks near impossible to put back together in any reasonable normal kind of way. But it’s also a location that’s easy to exploit for certain types of people.
What we get is large ship that’s connected to the planet and two teams that split up to check out what’s going on. The reality is certainly intriguing with Atrocitus bringing a crew there of former Red Lanterns in order to try and find Nth metal to use. What they discover on the planet is something that you’d only find with half of it ripped away, but there are some disturbing things going on within the ship as well as Atrocitus has his rage fueling him even without the ring. It plays out well, even as it tries to nudge in the relationship between John and Shayera, while teasing out some bigger issues with what Atrocitus is doing. The awkward but expected part is that Sorrow ends up showing up here and he’s like that wave of sadness and self-doubt that infects everything – except for one person, which is great to see but still tragic in how it’s understood. Poor Kilowog has been through so much…
In Summary:
While I enjoyed the opening issue enough even with all of its chaos, this second issue just works a lot better as it’s more focused and clearer in what it’s trying to do. The mission to Thanagar touches on some good stuff, such as how Razer is coping with being a Green Lantern now, dealing with a bunch of former Red Lanterns, and the fallout of Thanagar itself and what some sharp sentients see as a chance of a lifetime. In a longer form work this would just be a heist series focused on this event and it’d dig into some neat ideas. But what we get is pretty standard Corps material and it works well to let various characters shine and showcase themselves while dealing with the threats at hand. And with it more focused, the artwork feels more focused as well as it’s not as busy trying to capture so many things that the first issue did. It definitely gives me more hope for the long run with it.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: March 12th, 2025
MSRP: $3.99
