Oh hey look, another review on the same day! Well in case you didn’t realize it from the cover from Green Lantern this week, it also comes packaged along with this months issue of Red Lanterns! So that means 20 pages extra and it contains part two of Red Daughter of Krypton. So this will be the first official review for Red Lanterns that doesn’t involved a line wide crossover. So this will be an interesting adventure as this issue dives into the mythology that Charles Soule continues to build with the Red Lanterns.

In a slightly similar fashion to Green Lantern #28, Charles Soule drops the reader right into the action from what this reviewer can only assume continues from last months issue of Red Lanterns. The Red Lanterns are in conflict with this new Shadow Thief who has a phobia towards aliens. Charles Soule has a nice humor scene with Guy and Ice that feels like and slapstick inspired. Alessandro’s Vitti’s art here still contains that hard rough line he’s used before but his faces appear have more outlandish expressions, but it works given what Soule has written for said seen.

We join Atrocitus as it appears he is creating his own factions of Red Lanterns and has two of the other Red Lanterns under siege. Soule does a fine job of explaining the basic of why Atrocitus is in the position he’s in, as it flows naturally in the conversation. Vitti’s art is simply brimming with kinetic energy as he depicts the actions pages between Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns.

Guy and his Red Lantern allies managed to deal with The Shadow Thief in a way that it isn’t usual for a Red Lantern to deal with. Soule transitions to a emotional conversation between Guy and Ice where Ice effectively breaks up with Guy due to his current position. The way Vitti renders Guy post breakup just adds to the heartbreak you feel for this guy, the furrowed brow and his slump shoulders plus being spaced away from his two cohorts. It’s a nice artistic touch from Vitti.

The issue then catches up with Green Lantern #28 and adding to the mystery Guy has no idea and is determined to get to the bottom of this, and it turns out that Atrocitus created nine new rings. Soule and Vitti do a wonderful job of establishing the uneasy tension that these two groups is simply well done.

The issue wraps with Supergirl once again breaking out and causing havoc amongst the two corps. Vitti I believe does a better job of visually showing of the strength of Supergirl as she throws around the Red Lanterns like toilet paper. After bathing in blood Supergirl calms down but she doesn’t know what happened, and here Hal connects that Supergirl and Superman have to be related. Leaving Guy Gardner with a huge headache potentially on his hands.

This issue of Red Lanterns was a solid piece of work and while it does give the reader some amount of information onto what’s been going it, Soule doesn’t spoon feed any new readers which works for a stronger narrative. Vitti continues to be the perfect artist for this book with his harsh lines and cartoony facial expressions. However the conclusion of the issue feels lackluster and doesn’t really encourage people to want to stick with book unless they care about Red Lantern Supergirl. That’s a small nitpick though from an otherwise solid issue

Red Lanterns #28 receives a 3/5

Check out the review for Green Lantern #28 here!

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