the_mighty_monarch's Green Lantern #17 - Wrath of the First Lantern, Part One: The Puppeteer review

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    The End Calls to the Beginning

    This cover is kind of apt as the kickoff for the big finale of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern saga, but it's a bit crowded. The combo pack cover has it better, as the lightning appearance of the ring energy on the regular cover just muddles things, and the unnecessary Arrow banner crunches things together even more.

    The prologue sequence is intriguing, especially for someone who's been following Geoff Johns' saga from the beginning. We thought we'd seen all there was to see from Krona's witnessing of the beginning of the universe, but the story wasn't over, there was more to tell. It helps tie things together more neatly with all the developments Krona brought in Brightest Day, and Atrocitus' current appearance on Maltus. It also opens up a huge can of worms on Volthoom's identity and backstory. Was he human at the start? Where did he come from? How did he become what he is today? Up until now I thought he was always the energy being he is now.The art for the prologue, however, isn't great. It's not bad, but it's just okay. Not Jurgens' best, and Volthoom's face looks INCREDIBLY odd.

    Luckily the rest of the interior art is just as excellent as I've come to expect from Doug Mahnke. I especially love the odd effects as Volthoom breaks down time, and the unnerving facial expressions he has. There's a few pages with different other inkers that look a bit off, but overall it's great.

    It's interesting that Baz feels like a puppet, when he's the only Green Lantern who's never had to bow to the orders of The Guardians. He is, however, new to this whole big cosmic game, and it's not hard to understand how he'd feel used, being thrust into the climax of this huge story years in the making. It does raise some concerns at the role of a major character introduced to close to the finale, as certainly we're meant to see him having a purpose, but he can't be allowed outshine the characters who have been part of this build for years or it'll upset us longtime readers. Geoff Johns is going to have to be EXTREMELY careful in how he balances Baz's importance in this story to keep him legitimized without stealing the spotlight.

    Volthoom is an interesting villain with powers on a wild scale, and a lot of this issue focuses on introducing him as a character. We get to explore the backstory of The Guardians and their lack of emotions, and Volthoom demonstrates the potential for VERY high level time manipulation. The effects are intriguing, but overall a lot of the scenes with Volthoom come across as a bit odd since his powers have yet to really be explained. He appears to have some kind of power emanating from the heart of the emotional spectrum, but what that means, and how it gives him time manipulation, have yet to be explained. Luckily he's prevented from being completely overpowered with limits imposed on his powers, needing to recharge after being imprisoned for so long. The manner in which he recharges is explored a bit, and sets the stage for the next few issues in this crossover in an interesting way.

    In Conclusion: 4/5

    Baz is developing his part in this battle, despite my concerns, and Hal Jordan is nearing his triumphant return to the forefront, but overall this issue falls a little flat without enough answers about Volthoom. I'm not saying we needed to know everything right away, but we just jumped right into Volthoom using his powers without much of an explanation of what they are. It was a little difficult to sort out his specific potential, and we're still not certain of all the details. Regardless, this was a satisfying beginning to the big finale.

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