Enter March Madness! Enter Martin Coccolo! A different artist comes along as we deal with the repercussions of the big battle against The Paling. Is that a good thing? Is the cover a reflection of the inside or better yet a reflection of all the things I do not enjoy about this series? So many questions to be answers in this month’s review of Sinestro! Lets start answering some shall we? Hit the jump!
Right off the back we are treated to a new view. Well, new-ish. We haven’t seen Martin Coccolo draw an issue of Sinestro since issue 8 when we were dealing with the Godhead story. This comes as a welcomed surprise. Coccolo isn’t as good as series regular artist Brad Walker. Or, I guess I should say that I don’t prefer him over Walker. Still, Coccolo comes correct throughout this issue despite not getting a whole to do outside of talking heads. The one “fight” scene with Mongul going on a rampage is quick and is raw and just gritty enough to feel like Mongul’s rage is just as rough as these pencils show. Blond is the colorist for this issue and he definitely compliments Coccolo’s pencils well. Its just unfortunate that the rest of the issue is just a bunch of people standing and or floating around.
This issue started out great. I was so excited for writer Cullen Bunn to dive into the head of Sinestro’s daughter, Soranik Natu, as she deals with this new responsibility. It was particularly intriguing to me because the character hasn’t even had a lot of time to deal with being Sinestro Corps member let alone the leader of said group! The first few pages had me going, but once Sinestro popped back into the frame with his own narration boxes I knew all hope was lost. My hopes that Soranik would shine bright for a single issue quickly faded and sadly, in the most mundane way possible.
This book is at its best when Sinestro is menacing, motivated and conniving. Maybe it makes me the asshole for wanting my smartass Sinestro to do his dirt in the background with some subtly because if this is the alternative, I am not pleased. I don’t want Sinestro grinning from ear to ear on every page. I know he’s evil, that’s why I’m reading the book. I know he’s smart, that’s why I’m reading the book. I want you to show me how smart he is with well thought out planning and action and as a comic book reader, give me something to look forward to. No one reading this book last month thought “Oh yeah, Sinestro giving Soranik control of his corps is definitely want needs to happen here and good on the character for recognizing that. This totally isn’t a plan by Sinestro whatsoever!” Not a single person. Well maybe Mr. Bunn thought differently because the many grins of Thaal Sinestro have led me to believe that his subtly must have been too subtle and now needs to be PAINFULLY obvious.
But I guess you would consider that a small gripe right? I did previously state that I definitely enjoyed the Mongul officially returning scene and that the art was good so what’s there to be upset about? Surely, I’m not still upset with the DCU cameos am I? Yes I am. Surely, I didn’t cringe with Bullen’s odd placement of Superman and Wonder Woman’s potential affection for Bekka? Yes I did. The problems with this issue were that of old and still very minor. However, if this was basketball (see how I eventually made my way back to March Madness?) and you have three turnovers in a game, that’s not the worst thing in the world but it looks particularly bad if you don’t do anything positive to make people forget about all your bad. That is the best possible basketball analogy you could hope for when comparing this issue. You’re welcome.
Sinestro #21 earns 2/5
