The Good
John Stewart. How long have we been waiting to see more of him in the spotlight? He's always been a great character but up until recently, it's been easy to forget why he was so great.
Van Jensen and Robert Venditti taking the entire GL Universe in an interesting direction. I'll admit I wondered how things would be after the big creative change but this sort of shake up is just what we need to head off in a new direction.
It could be argued that the GL Corps were always a bit too powerful. That could sometimes make it a little hard to swallow some of the difficulties they could have against certain foes. With the Guardians of the Universe out of the picture, we're seeing the Corps in a situation they haven't been in before. It's something I doubt many have ever thought what would happen to them if the Guardians were gone. With the stability of the rings in question along with their new fearful status, doing their job is going to be pretty tricky.
Jensen and Venditti further explore Stewart's role as he and a bunch of rookies have found themselves in a precarious situation. Seeing all these 'newbies' is fascinating and you can't help but want to see more, knowing that with their lack of experience, there's no telling how long they might be around. Of course there's more developments between John and Fatality as well. Hmmm...
If that wasn't enough, we get glorious art by Bernard Chang. It's always interesting seeing an artist come up with the looks of different alien species. Seeing the action scenes and different locales is great and Marcelo Maiolo's colors make Chang's art look that much slicker.
The Bad
As the story progresses and builds up, there's almost a sudden shift as the tables turn. This combined with the other characters, it can have a slightly hectic feel. Yes, this is a title focused on the entire Corps but it almost feels like too much is being thrown at us. It's not necessarily a totally bad thing as there are some interesting characters and a lot to see. The pacing could have been a little better.
We get an interesting cliffhanger but unfortunately we'll have to wait to see what's next as Villains Month takes over in September.
The Verdict
The times are (a) changing for the Green Lantern Corps. Van Jensen and Robert Venditti are paving the way for a new direction for the Corps. With the Guardians out of the picture, there is a lot up in the air and seeing how the old and new members handle it all is making this a fascinating read. Bernard Chang's art captures the feel of the 'universe' and he keeps up with all the aliens and locales with ease. The only problem is having so many different 'main characters' kind of makes the book feel a little bogged down. John Stewart's situation quickly changes and we get sprinkles of the other characters mixed in. I've always enjoyed this title but things have definitely amped up. This new direction is making a good series even better.