The time has come for the curtain to close, as Lights Out draws to a it’s thrilling conclusion. It’s been an interesting ride for the first Green Lantern event in the post Geoff Johns era. Reactions have been mixed on this crossover, and the last two issues didn’t really help in progressing the momentum in a story that started with a bang. That being said though, it’s all about how you wrap up a story and nail the landing is what will ultimately define a story arc. So many stories start out with a bang to end on a sour note. Can Robert Venditti and guest artist Sean Chen avoid this easy trap? Well let’s open page one and find out shall we?
We open this particular issue with the remaining Green Lanterns along with The Red Lanterns, preparing for the final assault and Hal informs Guy of the lost of Oa, and the “demise” of his former partner John Stewart. It’s not really clear on why Hal decides to tell Guy right before the big clash since Reds become more uncontrollable. Hal most likely saw it as fitting motivation. Sean Chen’s art here is eerily close to Dale Eaglesham’s art style. Every character and back round has a nice texture feel to it, as if you could reach out and feel everything.
As Hal struggles to look for Kyle, our good friend Carol says she know’s where Kyle is and it’s not going to make Hal happy. Keeping with what’s been established, Carol can “feel” where Kyle and since she’s a Star Sapphire she of course is feeling love. The reaction Venditti has Hal act is pretty accurate when you learn that someone you loved is in love with someone else. Sean Chen’s acting for this small scene humanizes it, as Hal faces goes from shocked to anger and his body language says it all. Even Carol has some nice body acting due to Chen, with her not being able to face Hal or when she’s covering her face in shame or embarrassment. It’s nice and it grounds the Lanterns in a surreal situation.
We transition to Relic once again trying new methods to break into the Source Wall with no avail. The reader is treated to a beautiful one page slash of Relic and his immense scale overlooking the source wall. Chen’s detail is at it’s best here in both for Relic the source wall and even the individual Guardians. Venditti has Kyle continue to see that Relic is right about the Emotional Spectrum being a limited resource. Although here is where Venditti has Kyle try to convince Relic that reservoir might be else where and Relic figures that Kyle is the key to all.
Just before Kyle gets into even more trouble, Hal and company arrive like Calvary to stop Relic once and for all. Even though this double page spread is something that could be seen as plaid out and overused, it still someone encourages the reader to pump their fist for the good guys as they rally against all odds. Chen’s art brings it justice as the pages come off as dynamic, adding even more excitement. As the assault begins, we rejoin John Stewart as he recruits the Indigo tribe to help, and here the reader is given a small but good character moment for the rookie Lanterns.
The battle is rejoined as Chen’s art brings a nice flurry to the battle, meanwhile Venditti has Hal taking pot shots at Carol for her “feeling” about Kyle, and barks at Kyle for his babysitting skills. The reader can tell that tension is already brewing between these two and it’s going to be fun to see where this goes as the story progresses. Venditti has the four earth lanterns (with the help of Inidgo-1) take the fight to Relic up close and it’s awesome to see the Lanterns deal with a threat without the use of their ring. Venditti has the four of them attempt to push Relic into the source wall itself.
Kyle takes it upon himself to end this himself,as both he and Relic are now stuck in the source wall itself. Venditti gives Relic a solid conclusion and a bit of a tearful goodbye to a Relic of an old world. As the story concludes, Mogo becomes the base of operations for The Green Lantern Corps, The Red Lanterns go back to being by themselves, and Hal gives a typical speech of victory, with some Lanterns wary for the finite reservoir concept. Kyle is dead and now is under hidden due to the Guardians.
Overall this issue was pretty fun and a solid conclusion to an interesting story. The art from beginning is top notch and hopefully Sean Chen returns for future issues in one of the Green Lantern books. It’s going to be an fascinating time for our favorite Lanterns going forward.
Green Lantern Annual receives a 4/5