DC All In has shaken up many aspects of the DC Universe. That is especially true for the Green Lantern franchise. There has been no greater shakeup than what we’ve seen go on with the Green Lantern Corps. They went into DC All In already dealing with their own crisis as the United Planets tried to eliminate them and control the Emotional Spectrum. While they overcame the United Planets plot the damage done to the Emotional Spectrum could not be undone.
With this new chaotic state of the Emotional Spectrum the universe needed protecting more than ever. And with that we have already seen the rise of a new Trinity rise up to help defend the galaxy. We got our look at the first adventure of this new Trinity in this week’s Green Lantern #20.
KYLE RAYNER LEADS NEW DCU TRINITY
Back in Green Lantern #19 it was shown that the GLC don’t have the numbers necessary to deal with the fractured Emotional Spectrum crisis. John Stewart, Jessica Cruz, Sinestro, and others are addressing the numbers currently in the middle of recruiting and training new Green Lanterns. But since that takes time Kyle Rayner decided to take things into his own hands by recruiting other non-Lantern allies to help deal with the cosmic crisis.
That is where the new team Kyle recruits Superboy Conner Kent and Odyssey the Time Bandit to form a new team. This new trio form an unexpected Trinity as each brings something different to the table. Further solidifying this new trio was taking inspiration from the Green Lantern animated series as they a ship similar to what Hal Jordan, Kilowog, and Razer used on the show. That includes hints that an AI-like being such as Aya could join their ranks in the future.
This brings us to Green Lantern #20 where we see the full chemistry of Kyle, Conner, and Odyssey on display. Right away the new Trinity took on the biggest adventure they could as they went to the Source Wall and, as Kyle put it, “Raiding the Promethean Temple!” This gave a chance for Kyle’s cosmic knowledge, Conner’s power, and Odyssey’s thief abilities to steal a New Genesis device to use in the future. Though unfortunate to them after a barely escaping the Promethean Temple alive they were confronted by Luciphage, the leader of the new Starbreaker Corps, and Sorrow.
While the groups first outing looks to be getting only more difficult we at least see the team chemistry for this new Trinity-esque group shining. Kyle, Conner, and Odyssey have a freshness to them as they balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses well.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS NATURAL EXPANSION
While Kyle Rayner has found himself his own team to lead there is still the question around the state of the Green Lantern Corps. Sure they have a strong core in Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kilowog, Jessica Cruz, Sinestro, and others but the Civil Corps War showed that isn’t enough. With Jessica being the new leader of the GLC one of the new initiatives she has to take on is growing their ranks.
With that we see a much more natural opening to introduce new Green Lanterns to the franchise. This hasn’t always been the case as we’ve seen DC Comics attempt to just simply replace Hal and others for a sales bump. Not this time. There is a clear story established with the fractured Emotional Spectrum that requires new Green Lanterns to be introduced.
To current franchise writers Jeremy Adams and Morgan Hampton’s credit they aren’t simply going back to the well of introducing new Earthlings to the fold. Showing the grander nature of the Fractured Spectrum direction the first notable new Green Lantern to join the ranks wasn’t from Earth. Rather it was Tamaranean.
This new Tamaranean introduced in Green Lantern Corps #1 named Vexar’u. During that issue as John Stewart, Sinestro, and Queen Blackfire battled a yellow construct made of fear Vexar’u showed she had the potential to overcome fear through her faith. This is something Sinestro identified and gave Vexar’u a Green Lantern ring to be the first of a new recruiting class.
Starting this new era of the Green Lanterns by introducing a Tamaranean is a strong tone setter. It shows that we won’t be seeing a reliance on yet more Earth-based Green Lanterns to be stars. The scope of this direction is much larger than that. New Green Lanterns from across the DC Universe are needed and Vexar’u of Tamaran exemplifies this.
Between the new recruits Lantern Corp recruits and bringing in powerful allies such as Superboy and Hawkwoman this new direction shows a lot of potential. A potential that is new and exciting.
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