Green Lantern Corps 24: Lights Out, Part Two: Oa's Last Stand
The second installment of Light's Out is here and has made its way into the second of the five Green Lantern titles.
The issue begins with Oa appearing to deteriorate as Relic calls for the lanterns to succumb to his demands of a surrender. Naturally, though, Hal leads the lanterns into an assault against Relic, where no amount of constructs seem to be harming Relic. Instead, Relic easily whacks them away.
As Hal begins to brainstorm a way to regroup and commence another attack, what seems like an earthquake rips across Oa. With every lanterns' ring running on fumes, John conceives and spearheads a plan to distract Relic as a way to ensure Hal and the other lanterns' escape Meanwhile, Salaak initiates the planet's fail-safe system- a spaceship that actually turns out to be the Oan citadel! With the wounded lanterns safely rocketing into space, Hal convoys all but John's group of lanterns into the direction of retreat.
John and a group of new lanterns divert Relic's attention away from the the fleeting corps. Composing massive constructs, John and the rookies confront Relic in an attempt to instigate his heated temper of 'wanton reservoir draining', and it works. Relic recognizes this motion as an act of war and launches his explosive devices, slowing the initial advance of the group. As they continue the pursuit of Relic, who doesn't seem to sustain any lasting damage from their constructs, they learn that before the demise of his universe, Relic had studied the constructs of his time and is capable of absorbing and breaking light constructs. Adapting to this information, they begin a barrage of blows created from the surrounding wreckage. Finally, they'd found a way to injure Relic and delay any attention he was spending on Hal and the others, though this comes at a price, the death of Jruk. With the planet successfully evacuated of lanterns and prisoners, John and the rookies face an enraged Relic with seemingly no other means of escape.
That is, until Ergann, an elderly vagabond lantern, volunteers himself as a sacrificial distraction. Despite John's initial protests, Ergann allows himself to be captured and killed by Relic as his group retreats and the planet finally explodes. Guiding the rookies through open space, John heads for Nok, the home planet of Natromo and the Indigo Tribe, instead of joining Hal and the remaining corps.
An overall great issue, I have very few complaints, the first and last being the artwork. Bernard Chang does a nice job with the lines; nice but not fantastic. I find that the colorist, Marcelo Maiolo, though, does a less than stellar job with the colors in this. They appear dull and muted, not what you'd expect for such an exciting subject matter. The shadows, too, seem too striking and not subtle enough. It draws my eye in an unappealing way.
But as I said, this was a primarily interesting issue with no fundamental flaws. The action was exciting and exactly what I expected as the second part of this series.
