Green Lantern Corps #19 Review

Green Lantern Corps #19 is an epilogue to the Sinestro War story arc. As a general rule, I find epilogue issues to be rather boring. They are mostly filler issues as the writer takes a break and burns some time before kicking off the next major story arc. I doubt that we will get much of an interesting story in Green Lantern Corps #19. Let’s go ahead and do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: Prentis Rollins, Derek Fridolfs, Tom Nguyen, Drew Geraci, Dan Davis & Rebecca Buchman

Art Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Guy and Kyle using their power rings to light up the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The two Lanterns hang out on the top of the torch and talk about the war that they just won. Guy asks Kyle what it was like to be possessed by Parallax. Kyle responds that he can still remember the looks on the faces of the Lanterns that he killed. Guy reminds Kyle that it wasn’t him. Guy tells Kyle that he did a great job during the Sinestro War and that it is great to have his partner back. Kyle thanks Guy. Guy then takes off to rest and relax before the Guardians come calling for them.

We see Guy land in Times Square and approach Ice and give her a huge kiss. Ice says that she is having a tough time adjusting to be reincarnated. That she needs some time alone. Guy says that he will give her some time. That they will start over from the beginning with a first date one month from today at Times Square at eight o’clock. Guy then flies off.

We shift to Kilowog on Mogo having a nice picnic with his wife and two kids. We cut to Vath at a little bar having a drink to honor every single one of the Lanterns who died during the Sinestro War.

We slide over to Lantern Iolande back at home in her role as princess. Her ring alerts her to an assault at a nearby plaza. Before Iolande can fly off, her aid informs her that her planet has already sent a security force to address the situation. That Iolande has a duty to her people as their princess and needs to make her appearance before the Senate chamber.

We cut to Oa where Salaak is making more power rings. Salaak sends the newly minted rings off to Mogo for Lantern encryption signature. Salaak comments that far too many Lanterns died in this war. Four hundred and forty-two to be exact.

We see Natu in the medical bay on Oa attaching a device to a rookie Green Lantern’s severed arm. The device is powered by his ring, the central battery on Oa and his own willpower. The device creates a new arm for the rookie Lantern out of solid green energy. But, the rookie has to stay near Oa for the arm to not fade away. The rookie doesn’t care. He is thrilled that he can remain a full-fledge Lantern.

We hop back to New York City where Kyle is hanging out in a planetarium. Kyle has been offered the job as art director at the planetarium. Kyle thinks about how he needs to do what he loves to do.

We shift over to Guy in his apartment in New York deciding that he needs to move. He uses his power ring to launch a dart at the map of America to pick a new place to live.

We zip to Space Sector 2809 where a couple of Green Lanterns are attempting to stop a wounded Sinestro Corps member from making an escape. The Lanterns fail to stop him and the Sinestro Corps member warps out of the space sector.

We see the gravely injured Sinestro Corps member landing on the planet Debstam IV. The Sinestro Corps member is dying. He is approached by a figure in a cloak. The dying Sinestro Corps member recounts his tale of glory during the Sinestro War. The cloaked figure then snaps the dying Sinestro Corps member’s neck and says that it is time for the dying man to stop talking.

The cloaked figure then takes the yellow power ring. The cloak falls off and it is none other than Mongul. The yellow power rings says that Mongul has shown the ability to instill great fear. Mongul answers “Yes, I believe I have.” End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Green Lantern Corps #19 was an average at best read. The ending to this issue is the only scene that I found really exciting. As a matter of fact, the big bomb at the end was what earned this issue 5 Night Girls out of 10.

Of course, there were a couple of other aspects of this issue that I enjoyed. I thought Tomasi did a nice job with the beginning scene between Guy and Kyle. It was nice to see Guy letting up for at least a moment and giving some honest emotional support to Kyle with all that Kyle went through with the Sinestro War. And it was a nice touch having Guy making a point to call Kyle his partner. Guy busts Kyle’s balls often, so it was nice to see him showing Kyle that he respects him as a Lantern.

I also liked the scene with Vath drinking to the memory of every single fallen Green Lantern. It was a cool tough guy way to honor your fallen brothers-in-arms.

Overall, Tomasi does a good job impressing upon the reader the massive losses that the Green Lanterns sustained during this war. Over on Green Lantern, Johns concentrates on the positive side of winning the Sinestro War. So, it is necessary that Tomasi to show the losses that were sustained even though the Lanterns won the war.

Tomasi delivers an excellent ending to Green Lantern Corps #19. Mongul as a member of the Sinestro Corps is rather frightening. If there is a character who is a perfect match for the Sinestro Corps it would certainly be Mongul. Mongul with a yellow power ring should certainly be a recipe for a highly entertaining story.

The Bad: For the most part I found Green Lantern Corps #19 to be your typical epilogue issue: slow and boring. Other than the very end of this issue nothing at all happens in this issue. This issue read like pure filler. It was painfully obvious that Tomasi was just burning time until the next story arc is kicked off.

I also question the approach of basically wasting an entire issue with a dull epilogue when DC should be trying to capture new readers to this title who picked it up just for the Sinestro War tie-in issues. I am one of those readers. I am certainly on the fence about continuing to read this title.

Yeah, I think Mongul as a member of the Sinestro Corps is pretty neat, but I don’t know if that is enough to get me to keep getting this title. Tomasi pays plenty of attention to Guy in this issue. But, we don’t see John Stewart at all. Personally, I’d rather get more focus on John Stewart than on Kyle. I just find Kyle to be such a mopey sap.

The inking by committee on this issue really hurts the look of Green Lantern Corps #19. Honestly, having six inkers for one issue is completely and totally asinine. DC really dropped the ball with the horrible art that we have gotten on this title with the Sinestro War tie-in issues. To hook new readers into staying onto this title, it was important for DC to provide the reader with some quality artwork. DC certainly failed miserably in that endeavor.

Overall: Green Lantern #19 was your typical sluggish and dull epilogue issue. I think that DC really missed on a chance to turn plenty of new readers onto this title. An average issue like Green Lantern Corps #19 the minute the Sinestro War story arc is over might not make readers feel that it is worth sticking around on this title.

I have not decided if I’m going to keep buying this title. And I can’t recommend this title to anyone at this point. Maybe I’ll give Green Lantern Corps a couple of issues to hook me on its own merits and then make a final judgment call at that point.