With “Uprising” one month away this week I take a gander at the last issue before the actual war begins it’s time for one more breather issue before the conflict can finally head to it’s apex. While we know the motivations driving the Khund and the rest of the forces against our emerald warriors, but what about the mysterious Durlans? Outside of simple generic they are evil plot what is there prime motivation for waging war on such a scale. Well as it turns out that is the focus of this issue on the brief history of the Durlans. So now the question is does this issue answer to much or to little to the Durlans side of events. Let’s open page one and find out.

Primal is the word I would describe the opening scene, as it depicts how the Durlans became the shape shifting race that we know and love. The art even helps by giving it a deceptive peaceful look until that moment where nature reveals it’s ugly head, thrusting them to their destiny. This scene helps establish their nature and teases their true forms. Perfect example of showing enough but not giving it all away.

The story shifts back to our current time as John Stewart has decided to lead a strike team to find the missing Durlans with the help of Von Daggle. Chris Batista takes over for part of this issue and his art can here comes off as standard superhero art. It’s not terrible as the storytelling is is consistent throughout but it lacks the charm that Chang had.

Jensen transitions to the run away Durlans and in a bit of a looney toons type scene where they complain about the hazards they go through only for them to encounter another hazard. It’s not clear whether humor was the intent of this scene but that’s how it came off as.

Van Jensen reveals a bit more with Durlans as he shows their true power. Sticking true to their nature we learn how they can cause wars over races. Van Jensen shows how much of threat they truly are. While this is simple exposition it doesn’t feel like, that’s most likely due to the unknown nature of the menace.

Resuming back to the looney toons bit, in a cool and hilarious double page spread of the Durlans encountering John’s strike team. The action sequence did it’s job nothing to fancy. Workman like is how I would sum it up, it’s not boring but sadly it won’t be something you’ll write home about.

Now that we know how the Durlans became a galactic terror, we officially know why they bear a grudge against the Green Lantern Corps. Turns out it’s not exactly a amazing idea to simply drop killers and other evil doers onto a peaceful planet of Durla. This action by the corps leads to the planet Durla being destroyed by one of the two factions.

So there we go, now we have why the Durlans hate the corps so much. It makes this more personal than it was before and it goes to show that the past can sometimes come back to bite you. Plus with the conclusion of the issue we it’s personal due to the Ancients themselves gearing up for war.

This issue did it’s job as it did show enough about the Durlans but it didn’t reveal to much of their back story. Scott Kolin’s art for the Durlan’s segment were nice and it worked well within the story presented. There were some nice character moments for John and Fatality, but now the real excitement can kick in with uprising next month!

Green Lantern Corps #30 earns a 3/5

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