After speculation of mine and other readers of how Lost Army’s plot lines actually fit within Edge of Oblivion’s larger plot line. Well according to Van Sciver himself this current mini series is in fact not a direct follow up to Lost Army. While I’m glad that Lost Army’s plot lines are being shelved since the overall story was below average, the fact that DC isn’t even going to mention it at all is pretty telling of how editorial is handling some of their projects. So with that being said now the comparisons can be dropped, so let’s move forward shall we?
With this issue of Edge, Tom Taylor cements the notion that Guy Gardner is the central focus of this story. I don’t have the longest history with Guy in Green Lantern books, but he’s always seemed to be the character to wear his emotions on his sleeves (he was a Red Lantern after all). Taylor seems to be on the same wavelength as the issue unfolds he uses Guy’s own emotion to convey the action’s within the plot to the reader. Even though I’ve made criticisms of team books having the focus on one character, the difference in this instance is that Guy isn’t the solo focus. Taylor makes an effort to not simply incorporate other members of the Corps, but give them some descent character moments.
It’s not perfect but seeing the conflict between Guy and Kilowog or John and Stel working together brings that warm sense of comradery without bogging down the pace of the action. Another point being is that Tom Taylor fully embraces the over the top action that can only happen within a sci-fi setting. It allows Van Sciver to play to his strength’s with epic splash pages of dimensional tears, along with giant xenomorph’s who want to sabotage the planet they live on.
Even though I’ve praised the elements that Taylor has implemented and it has made Edge of Oblivion a relatively enjoyable experience. The overall end goal is very basic, and hits the beats one would expect to hit. They are very well done and properly executed, but because I’ve seen story lines tread similar waters it’s difficult to not see where a writer is going with their story. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy what was on the page, but my own personal preferences would have wanted something a tad more nuanced. Granted this only issue two of a six and Taylor could easily be waiting till the next issue to change the complexion of the series. Only time will can tell.
Once again Ethan Van Sciver remains stunningly beautiful with his pages, as they remain the highlight of this and the previous issue. His expressive detail goes without saying, but while most comic readers will only see his art as nothing but splash pages with a call back to how comics were drawn back in the 1990’s. That’s seeing his art on a surface level and when you actually began to examine the details in not just his back rounds but also his storytelling. Perfect example being after two beloved Lantern’s are thrown into the void, and it’s simply three panels of Guy’s face and his descent into pure rage.
A solid issue from both Taylor and Van Sciver, hopefully issue three will kick the series into gear just in time for the second half of the series.
Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #2 earns a 3/5