Alpha Bore
This isn't very good, but "1 star" ratings to me should be reserved for books that are just awful (since it won't let us give 0 stars as a real rating), so it squeaks out 1 star. As with much of the first collection, this second trade is rife with meaningless combat scenes and splashes and explosions and two-dimensional attempts at necessary three-dimensional effects. Perhaps the unfortunate hardcover binding is partially at fault, but the big "action" scenes are jumbled messes, giving us no reason to spend time looking at them. The story, likewise, is so full of cliche one is tempted to laugh, were it not for the unfortunate occurrences throughout the storyline to supporting characters we wanted to care more about. Gardner and Stewart are still unimpressive as lead characters, Gardner even more so as the "reformed trouble maker turned teacher's pet." Yes, it's all part of some master plan (since the whole storyline is just a buildup to the next storyline), but the emotional turning points are all forced and obvious and made even less enjoyable by the trite dialogue throughout.
The "villains" of this story are immediately introduced as jerks and miscreants, giving us no reason to believe they were ever credible in their appointed role or to empathize with their unsurprising demise. The climax continues the pattern of numbing fight scenes and stereotypical "good guy-turned bad guy-turned good guy" resolution. None of the emotional confrontations are given appropriate payoff when the truth is finally discovered, and then Tomasi kicks into high gear with his "destroying all the supporting characters" storyline and suddenly the Corps is up in arms and this and that and nothing seems credible, as if the Green Lantern Corps is entrusted with every power in the universe except common sense. This could have been something, but the absence of original storytelling or characterization really dragged this down into nothing special at all. Don't get me wrong; that doesn't make me happy.
