Now that this new DCU has officially taken hold it’s been interesting to see how diverse the two main lantern titles are now. It’s also has to lead to confusion amongst the fans on where everything lines up continuity wise. I’ve never been the biggest stickler for continuity nonsense, however I do see their perspective. It’s clear that GL and Lost Army are connected in some fashion, but the obvious question is how? No one should be expecting immediate answers, that’s why we read the books on a monthly basis to begin with. It’ll all sort itself out before this
respective run is over.
With Bunn playing the mystery angle for remainder of the issue, leaving the overall plot much to be desired. So the focus instead falls on the group dynamic, which from my perspective Bunn excels at. To avoid confusion I don’t find the plot of Lost Army to be boring or bad, but as I’ve said before it’s an interesting plot with secrets yet to be shared. So to compensate for that in this issue at least Bunn focuses on how the team works as a unit.
As I stated in my review of the previous issue, Bunn has John’s and the supporting casts voices down. With the exception being two of the newer lanterns and of course Krona himself, but those are easily forgivable given the circumstances of their existence in this book. Each character is given their time to shine. While Guy and John take up most of the panel time in this issue, I enjoyed how they played off each in the quieter moments. For Bunn to be able to give his characters depth, and entertaining personalities, allowing readers to understand the perspective of their heroes. Granted not everyone in this given issue had their moment to shine, this is comics after all and you can only fit so much within twenty pages.
Most of this issue is centered around various battles which Jesus Saiz coordinates beautifully. It is by the numbers and very safe, nothing spectacular. Some might say the first half of this issue would fall in the slightly uninteresting category, and I would agree. It’s when Bunn begins to slowly peel away and eventually he clues us in on why the GL’s are lost. It’s a tough decision that Bunn faces with how much to show in order to retain readers for the longer haul, especially when you factor in how rapidly most consumers intake their leisure products.
Despite my glowing praise of Jesus Saiz’s art from the previous issue and while his excellent storytelling and superior line work remain consistent in this issue, looking at issue one and the issue at hand tipped me to a glaring problem in discussing Jesus Saiz’s art. His humanoid faces come looking more akin to a computerized imaged than the rest of his art work. Sadly the clash with the rest of the art surrounding his faces. I’m not sure if he drew the heads and facial features first then added layers onto the original artwork or it was all digitally created. Either way it doesn’t mesh well with his otherwise amazing artwork.
Lost Army was what would you expect with a second issue, some fun dialog and action sequences between the team. Moving the plot forward as well as actually giving a answer which leaves us with a pretty interesting cliffhanger. Finally thankfully Bunn did tone down the marine flashback to one page, since most of John’s marine skills can easily be demonstrated in current time. No need to beat a dead horse here.
Green Lantern: Lost Army #2 earns a 3/5
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