Green Lantern Corps #35 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Rebecca Buchman
Colorist: Randy Mayor

Story – Emerald Eclipse

Review
It is hard to pin point when it happened but I have started enjoying Green Lantern Corps much more than its big brother title Green Lantern. But one of the things that I have come to realize is that my favorite titles I get each month are Ultimate Spider-Man, Captain America, and Daredevil. The big reason for these titles being my favorite is because while they have had one tie-in arc, Civil War for Cap and Ultimatum for USM, they have mostly stayed away from having to tie-in to the big events going on in their companies. Instead the beauty of USM, Cap, and DD is that each story arc is only used to build off of stories told during their run and also building to events that are contained to their own titles and not to some big crossover or big mini-series event that is company wide.

Now I think I am adding Green Lantern Corps to the list, because while it is building towards “Blackest Night” Tomasi is doing it in a way that is in context to the story he is telling. Tomasi isn’t looking to introduce a massive amount of characters like Johns has been concerned with over in Green Lantern. Going back to “Sinestro Corp Wars” it seems that every issue since the end of that big story arc all Green Lantern has become is one big prelude to “Blackest Night” as Johns has concerned himself with introducing all of the different Lantern Corps that the only Green Lantern Corp member that is being developed in the title has been Hal Jordan. But for GLC it seems to only be concerned with telling wild and crazy space stories, which should be the case when telling cosmic stories, and developing characters that are already known to fans.

And this “Emerald Eclipse” feels like it is a sequel to “Sinestro Corp Wars” as the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corp continue their war, with one Red Lantern Corp member thrown in. There was no holding back when it came the bloody violence Tomasi and Gleason give the reader. Gleason does an awesome job with the artwork with the help of his inker and colorist, Buchman and Mayor, to show that war is not for the weak at heart.

But maybe my favorite part of this whole issue was the introduction of the new Sinestro Corp member that is one huge snake that encircles Daxam. That was just a great visual to see that creature that just in its short appearance it has already become one of my favorite (visually) of all the Lantern Corps members.

Continuing with Daxam, it was cool to see the aftermath of Mongul and Arkillo’s battle as we see how the Mongul lead Sinestro Corps have taken over Daxam. You sure don’t want to be on Mongul’s bad side as Arkillo has been made to wear his tongue as a necklace due to him questioning Mongul’s rule of the Sinestro Corps. This helps to build the Mongul vs Sinestro batlle we should be getting in the future as that should be an epic clash between the two most powerful members of the Sinestro Corp members.

Up until the last issue I wasn’t a big fan of Sodam but within these past two issues Sodam has become a much better character as he has risen to become a leader. I liked how Tomasi showed that the Sodam’s dad is basically a leader of a cult with how he makes the Daxam people commit suicide instead helping to lead his people to fight and not back down just because an alien threat has taken over Daxam. With the speech Sodam gave to inspire his people to fight it should make the aftermath in Daxam and who will be in power in the planets government a very interesting sub-plot.

As for the ending of this issue there are several ways the last line from Sinestro can be taken. But my hope is that Soranik turns out to be Sinestro’s daugther as it should not only take the Sinestro and Soranik relationship into an interesting place, with the father being a former Green Lantern and the daughter being a current Green Lantern, but should make the Sinestro and Kyle Rayner rivalry into a greater level with Kyle is having a relationship with Soranik. This could actually put Kyle right up there with Hal as Sinestro’s greatest rival.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Tomasi continues to make Green Lantern Corps just as an important title as Green Lantern heading into “Blackest Night.” And Tomasi has actually made GLC much more enjoyable than GL.
Art: 8.6/10 – Gleason cartoon-style artwork is a great fit for GLC and I loved the new Sinestro Corp member design that we are introduced to in this issue.
Overall: 8.8/10 – Green Lantern Corps #35 was a great read and if you are a fan of sci-fi stories GLC is a great title to pick up as it has all the cosmic goodness that you expect from stories in space with some kick ass looking alien creatures.