It’s been a depressing week for fans of certain DC comics as the axe came down hard. One of them being Lost Army which will end in exactly two issues, I haven’t exactly been the biggest fan of Lost Army like some others but I won’t deny that Cullen Bunn has laid down an intriguing foundation for a refreshing spin for the Green Lantern Corps to operate in. I honestly didn’t expect to write that the end is nigh for our heroes who happen to be stranded in another part of time and space. With only three issues remaining let’s see if Bunn can wrap up this short lived series in some fashion.
It’s difficult to distinguish whether or not that the recent cancellation affected me as I read this issue, after a while I came to the conclusion that it was a detriment to any possible joy of this particular chapter. I’ve gone back and forth on the flash back sequences for John Stewart as a marine, but for the most part I would consider them a waste of page real estate. This issue so far is the biggest crime when it comes to a flash back sequences. Instead of building up a relationship between team members (it’s there but it’s oh so sparse) Bunn treats us to four pages of a story that has no real bearing on the current plot at hand, unless this is how John Stewart gets a ring within this continuity.
Bunn has displayed Stewart’s marine tenacity during action sequences and inner dialog so it leaves me baffled as to why the inclusion of these sequences took precedent over world building or character relationships. One aspect that very few writers who have written Green Lantern very rarely play with them without their rings and so the Green Lantern translators. Seeing how the Green Lanterns communicate without their power rings was entertaining and is a prime example of the bond that they all share. I’m not going to nag on Saleek being able to speak english, but I did enjoy that he is described as sounding different due to his alien form. Simply seeing the Green Lanterns engaging each other over how to overcome a seemingly impossible situation is what many people read Green Lantern for. Not flash backs to something that I doubt will have a pay off.
Jesus Saiz was not on pencils for this issues but Javier Pina picks up the ball and runs with it. Pina’s style is similar to Saiz so there is a consistency from issue three to issue four, it’s not a one to one transition but at least the art style is similar enough. While I do harp on the flash back sequences, the coloring by Chris Sotomayor is mesmerizing to look at. The colors during these section have a slight washed out look, in which only the blood of the soldiers sticks out. It’s only odd because the rest of the book isn’t colored in a similar fashion, making the flash back sequence feel even more out of place, despite the craft that went into it.
Another issue of Green Lantern Lost Army, and now with only two more issues to go, I doubt readers will be given any sort of satisfactory conclusion.
Green Lantern: Lost Army #4 earns a 2/5