Never thought I’d see the day where a Godfather reference makes it into a Green Lantern comic. Today is that day and oh what a glorious day it is! Walk with me as we follow our sympathetic heroes on their quest to be heroic and see if anymore people get stabbed with glowing swords along the way. Spoilers be damned, we are moving forward!

First off, welcome back Shane Davis to drawing Green Lanterns. Sure, he’s only the cover artist but he helped make Atrocitus the guy he is today with his depiction during the “Rage of the Red Lanterns” arc. Secondly, someone needs to find German Peralta and handcuff him to his work area and never allow him to stop putting out such quality work. The entire art team deserves praise and mentions but its the emotion each character gives in this issue that makes me a Peralta champion. When Liseth talks her way into going into battle alongside our heroes and her mother, I can feel Regent’s slight disgust at herself and its written all over her face. They say that the devil is in the details, however here, its just quality in those details. Much appreciated quality.

“Damn the Green Lanterns!” as Simon and Jessica swoop in from the background like an eagle after its first prey of the day. Great moment. Almost chilling. Had we been given more time with Kesh Cur like the usual GL baddies, that moment may be just as memorable as seeing Ethan Van Sciver draw Sinestro with his hands behind his back and eyebrows cocked. This is where Seeley shines brightest. Giving each character a moment to shine, even in “villainy”. Where he dims is absolutely in his alien naming technique but who’s to complain when we had a teleporting lantern, deemed Lantern Porter. Alien names may seem like a nitpick, but those names constantly come up in an issue and will hopefully live on forever.

I’d also say that popping up at the shore is a little lame when you’re building tension with every page previous. It feels less like Dunkirk and more like Transformers. Explosions now, suspense later. A story like this needs to feel more grounded, like the Sword to the leg scene. I say that while fully understanding that this is a Green Lantern comic and both Simon and Jessica are superheroes and whatever Jess may say, throwing a giant green fist at things is pretty much standard practices here. I get it. But a balance can be made, it just wasn’t here.

 

Green Lanterns #38 earns a 3/5