Green Lantern Corps #14

This is definitely a powerful cover. You can just barely tell that's Guy Gardner beneath the myriad of Third Army hands reaching for his face, smothering him, desperate to pull him into the hive mind that is The Third Army. There's but a single flash of green from his ring, Guy's willpower can never be snuffed out.

While Green Lantern gives me concerns that Rise of the Third Army is treading a bit too much of the same ground as Blackest Night, it's Green Lantern Corps that restores my faith. It does a great job at establishing what makes this story so different from Blackest Night. The Third Army working as a hive mind makes them a far more unnerving foe, and the concept is handled extremely well. The Guardians looking through their stolen eyes, their ability to learn and not even need to transfer knowledge out to the entire Army because the connection is instantaneous, and their slow and steady approach to the universal conquest really really make them interesting. Blackest Night was a huge scale war with life on all fronts, but The Third Army is still hiding in mystery right in front of the Corps' eyes. We also know that they're not all-powerful, they couldn't keep up with Guy as he fled. Overall this issue has honestly been the best of the storyline thus far, establishing a lot more instead of just repeating the same drawn out tension with them in the corner of everyones eyes. I'm also guessing that The Guardians learned from The Keepers in order to make The Third Army capable of tearing through the constructs the way they did, justifying that arc.

Salaak and Kilowog make a shocking discovery, helping to demonstrate that this isn't just 'Green Lantern: Guy Gardner,' and secretly investigating The Guardians on a metaphorical scale model level of the way The Guardians are destroying the corps with the Third Army.

But of course I'm me, and what hit me the most this issue was Guy Gardner. To be fair, he did take a lot of the spotlight, but he really needed to this issue. His willpower is so impressive, he manages to hold his own better than his comrades against The Third Army, channeling it not only into energy, but a rousing determined call to the others to hold firm in their willpower. And he kept holding it as they all fell. That's hardcore. But it means nothing, because in the end he was tricked hard. And the emotional toll is intense, and falling into the Guardians' plans so perfectly. The last few pages of the issue gripped my heart. The tension made the conclusion obvious, but my brain kept fighting it, refusing to believe that it could happen. The final page was such a crushing blow as all the tension was squeezed out like a balloon, diffusing in the escape and leaving me emotionally drained for a minute.

In Conclusion: 5/5

Am I biased as a Guy Gardner fan? Probably. But this issue isn't just a nice Guy Gardner issue, it's a reminder of why I'm such a big Guy Garnder fan. This is one of those issues that can make Guy Gardner fans. I felt so much for the dude, he went through so much in this issue, from proving why he's at least Hal's equal, to a series of spiraling emotional blows that left him at rock bottom.