The Green Lantern event "Godhead" just wrapped up and it's changed quite a bit in the Green Lantern universe. What happened though? We decided to take a look at the finale of this epic arc GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #3 as Highfather and the New Gods, who now have the Life Equation prepare for war against all of the lanterns in order to prepare for their eventual battle with Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips.
Warning: There are spoilers for the end of Godhead here. Tons of spoilers.
GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #3 was written by Robert Venditti, with Billy Tan doing pencils, Mark Irwin w/Marc Deering & Livesay on ink, and Alex Sinclair doing colors.
Black Hand Reanimated the Creatures Trapped in the Source Wall
In order to increase their chances of winning the battle against the New Gods, Hal Jordan enlisted the help of the one ring holder not involved in this battle, Black Hand, the keeper of the black ring. Black Hand can reanimate the dead and make them into his personal army. He finds that he can not only touch the Source Wall without being trapped in it, but he can also bring them back to life under his command. He frees them all to battle under the Black Lantern Corps banner.
This is a pretty big deal, since the Source Wall was at one time the edge of the universe and while Kyle Rayner broke through it before, no one has escaped it, let alone touch it and survived.
Relic is Back
Black Hand's powers of reanimating beings trapped in the Source Wall doesn't last. While they serve him for a short time, all the beings he reanimated actually come back to life, and one of those beings is Relic, the being from the previous universe who told the lanterns that they were draining the emotional spectrum from the universe, which will ultimately end it. He discovers something is wrong with the Source Wall. We'll get back to that.
It seems Relic's focus is on the Source Wall now and not the Lanterns. Kyle replenished the emotional spectrum, so it seems this cosmic detective may have bigger things to pay attention to. How long until the Lanterns come up against Relic again? Will he be friend or foe?
The Life Equation Never Left Kyle
In a long time tradition in Green Lantern books, the Guardians lied to Kyle Rayner, again. He thinks that Highfather stole the White Lantern powers, AKA Life Equation, from him by taking his ring. However, Kyle and Carol learn that the Life Equation is actually a part of Kyle and not something that can be ripped from him alone. Kyle still has the ability to be the White Lantern.
At moments like this, you wonder why anyone wearing a power ring would trust any of those Guardians or why they'd wait this long to tell Kyle about it. However, this is a HUGE turning point in the story because...
Highfather Realizes He's Become Darkseid
The whole point of getting the Life Equation was so Highfather could bring an end to the tyrannical reign of his brother Darkseid, who controls the Anti-Life Equation. After a long battle, Kyle knocks some sense into him by letting him know that this obsession has made him into his brother. Highfather quickly realizes that the Lanterns are the protectors they claim to be, even though the battle on New Genesis almost destroyed everything.
It's almost too little too late for Highfather and the New Gods. They let the war come to them and thought they could win it. Things went too far. The New Gods pompous attitude almost let New Genesis be destroyed. It's "almost" because...
Hal Saves New Genesis
While Highfather stands down and realizes the error of his ways, many lanterns decide to get out of town, as New Genesis falls to the ground, and if that happens, everyone in the city will die. Hal stays back to help out and with a little bit of help from Saint Walker, a super-charged green ring is all Hal needs to save the city and put it back on the ground with minimal damage.
This is a big moment in the issue. Even though the New Gods have been nothing short of terrible to the lanterns, Hal still values life over his pride and ego, which is actually a pretty big step for him. Most importantly, saving the city will lead to better relations in the future with the New Gods. Who knows? Maybe they'll need to team up in the future.
Hal's Totally Cool With Kyle and Carol
Kyle is a pretty awesome guy and great boyfriend for Carol Ferris, However, fans were worried that Kyle and Hal would come to blows over it. Luckily, Hal seems pretty cool with them dating and the two shake hands over it. Hal has bigger things to worry about anyway, like getting everything back to normal.
This was a great moment in the issue. It was such a minor thing, Kyle and Carol together, but it's something in the back of every fan's mind since they first hooked up. "How is Hal going to react to this?" It feels like both characters grew up a lot during this event.
Mogo is Back
Mogo has had a real rough run in the New 52: it's been blown up, put back together, and gotten it's ring taken away, essentially making it a dead planet. Fans were not happy to see Mogo get the shaft again. Luckily, Mogo gets its ring back at the end of this arc and the Lanterns finally have their home base/friend back again.
Things seem to be getting back to normal, and Mogo getting its ring back to pretty much close out the arc is a nice way to wrap things up for Godhead. Fans may wonder if not having its ring on the planet has any other effects on Mogo. We may have to wait and find out, since we don't get too much here.
Something Has Breached the Source Wall
Earlier, Relic mentioned something was wrong with the Source Wall. In the panel where Relic is floating in front of the wall (not the cropped one here), you notice a giant crack in it. To cap off the issue, a hand breaks through the Source Wall here. There's something seriously wrong with the wall. Whose hand is it? Does this all go back to Black Hand or is it something else?
With all the world's that are connected in the DCU, it may make fans wonder if in fact this hand is from somewhere other than New Genesis or Apokolips. We'll have to wait and see.
A lot happened in GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #3 and while this spoils a good chunk of the issue, a few other big things happen here as well. If you haven't, make sure to check out Godhead, which was a long but very good read. What did you guys think about the developments in this issue?