GREEN LANTERN CORPS #14

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Can you tell what the Guardian's are playing at? Is it a scheme involving a baying cat? Or maybe it's something absurd? Like cleaning up a turd. That's recently been dumped on a preying mat. No? OK then. Maybe these chaps might know. Writer:  Peter J. Tomasi; Artist: Fernando Pasarin; and Publisher: DC Comics in December 2012.

So what’s the STORY morning glory?

Honest to Oa; you've got to feel sorry for Guy Gardner in this adventure entitled 'Nothing Man'! Well, if it wasn't bad enough that his fellow Green Lanterns get slaughtered by the Third Army whilst on a mission in deep outer-space. Worst still, he isn't able to protect his family from the killer known as 'Xar', who's presently hot on there heals. 

• Granted, the Justice League does help Guy out with his 'family dilemma'. Moreover, Kilowog and Salaak also have a sneaking suspicion to what is really going on behind the scenes too.
• Nonetheless, if truth be told, Guy gets played like a harmonica from hell in this yarn; and is forced by the Guardians of the Universe to throw in the towel because of his previous actions.
• Ouch! Isn't that troubling news, dear reader? Troubling -- just like John Steward when he bumps into Fatality whilst trailing a fragment of Mogo in the beyond.

To be continued...

What is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Apart from the Kilowog and Salaak scene -- which I'll come to later -- there was only one other piece of dialogue that stood out from the crowd all in all. It was when Guy said to the Guardians...

'Guy Gardner, proud Lantern of 2814, hereby resigns from the Green Lantern Corps'.

Ouch! Let's hope it's not for too long, huh?

What was the BEST thing about this issue?

One of the best scenes in this issue; was the one where Kilowog and Salaak began to realize that something strange is going on with the Green Lantern Corps. For me, personally, I liked the fact that it wasn't one of the 'Earth GL's' who stumbled onto this conclusion. Inadvertently making this segment more surprising and intriguing to follow. 

What was the WORST thing about this issue?

Overall I really did like the majority of this issue. It was nice to read. Poignant in places. And intriguing in others too. 

But at I touch, I'd say that I wasn't too keen on the structure of this tale. Meandering back and forth from Guy's part of the story, to John's, to Salaak's, to the Guardians, to whomever.

Not a large-gripe though. A mini-gripe at best.

What was the most CREATIVE thing about this issue?

STORY: On a certain level the way in which the Guardians goaded Guy to resign his commission was very creative indeed. They set him up. Made sure he would lose. And then guided his hand to do 'the honorable thing' when he was at this lowest ebb.

Boy, what b*stards the Guardians are?

ART: As ever with Fernando's work, I did like the way he laid out his panels, and made things appear much grander and dynamic than they really are. Take that scene where the Third Army kills those Green Lanterns for instance. Fernando really gets into the nitty-gritty of this battle, choosing to 'get in close' with who is killed and how they are killed.

Smashing. Just like a Predator movie done right.

If you had to CAST TWO CHARACTERS in this comic book, who would they be and why?

KILOWOG: Still keeping in line with this comedically themed casting call month, I'd have to choose The Amazing Johnathan to play this big lumbering brute of an alien. Well, they both look like they can teach tricks.

SALAAK: If you squint, take a lot of drugs, and then look at Harry Shearer through a warped mirror, wouldn't you say that he'd pass off as this surly looking academic alien? No? Oh! Must be just me then.

If this issue had a MOVIE TAG LINE, what would it be?

Poor Guy Gardner. If It Wasn't Bad Enough That He's Has Ginger Hair, Worst Still...

If this issue were a MOVIE, an OBJECT, or a piece of MUSIC, what would that be and why? 

Conceptually this story is about a man who is tricked into quitting his own job, right? So why not compare it to something like the Hendy Winkler and Michael Keaton film, 'Night Shift' -- just without the hookers.

Well? Kind of?

FINAL thoughts...

Dear People Who Like the Colour Green.

Now I have reserved this space in my b*llshit so I can tell you my feelings towards this book. Well, you guys have a really great title on your hands. And you have the ability to intrigue us, month in, month out, by presenting a very green tinged merry-go-round of action and adventure.   

However, if I may, there is one thing I'd like to pull you up on. At times, your plot-lines do come across 'too forced' within the scheme of things -- not really seeming defined by character, but more by editorial edict.

Listen, I do not want to sound like a right ass here. But we all know that writers have to intertwine both story and personality into a tale, without it feeling too contrived as a conceit.

Don't fret, though. This is hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. Although quite a few of us Green Lantern fans might think otherwise.

Love, Light, and Peace -- The Reviewer

MARKS out of 10? 9.1