Author: Dave Gibbons
Publisher: DC
My take: Have I mentioned I love Guy Gardner?
Spoiler-free synopsis: Two great stories centered on Guy. Well, being pretty mean to Guy actually. First he joins a questionable side-group of the Corps and second, he’s framed for murder.
And
Title: Green Lantern: Agent Orange
Author: Geoff Johns
Publisher: DC
My take: DC sure loves them some Hal Jordan.
Spoiler-free synopsis: In the leadup to Blackest Night, we’re being introduced to the other members of the emotional spectrum. Here we get Blue. We also get the titular orange. Which is AWESOME.
The Dark Side of Green
We start with Guy and a rookie GL named R’amey are sent to an icy world to deliver a message. They find the person they’re supposed to deliver it to. He is… less than pleased. Smacks them around. Kicks them out into the snow without their rings. The usual.
Gibbons seems to see Guy much the way I do. He’s an impulsive ass who’s assured of his own correctness in all things, but he’s not as petty and obnoxious as he’s often been written in the past. I suspect he’s grown some from the old stuff I read.
So when they return to the guy’s home to get their rings back, they’re recruited into a black ops arm of the GLC. And while I’m not completely sure if there is a lasting effect from this arc, but what follows is compelling and pretty brutal. We get a great look into the sort of person Guy is and what he stands for, but I found some of the action within the story completely gut-wrenching. The whole thing felt a little filler-ish, but darkly enjoyable.
While there is some other side-story stuff, I have fairly tunnel vision about things, and so I’m skipping to the second Guy-centric arc. In this, Guy is in charge of a pair of Green Lanterns doing some work in space. When they bug out on him and go relax at base, he finishes up then heads over to give them what-for, only to find them dead, brutally murdered. And of course, someone comes and finds Guy on the scene. When they try to take him in and take his ring, he runs so he can try to track down what caused their death – since all evidence points to him.
He tracks the trail to Mogo, where instead of helping or calming, the planet is giving people visions that deeply mess with them. And while it’s messing with Guy pretty good, guess who it also has?
Oh hell.
I *love* this book. It’s pretty cleanly written, the art is incredibly vibrant and best of all – Guy! Have I mentioned I love Guy?
Agent Orange
I think this book follows from Rage of the Red Lanterns, and while mostly this stands alone, parts of it are fairly confusing to someone like me who hadn’t read it. We start out with Hal Jordan wearing both a blue and green ring and complaining about it. Seriously, I don’t know how the ring ended up on his finger, but it seems to be the equivalent of giving a Sapphire one to Batman. WTF?
So, in the midst of listening to Hal hate on having to find something to hope for, we meet a completely awesome character – Larfleeze, the lone, greedy orange lantern.
The balance of the story is the weird pseudo-fight between Hal and Larfleeze (who wants that blue ring Hal hates so much) and then the deal that’s struck with the orange lantern to end the fight. Honestly, other than reconfirming that at least some of the little blue dudes are complete sadists with little regard for anyone or anything that’s not them, the end feels a little disappointing. Except for the moment he finally gets rid of his blue ring. That was... mildly amusing. :)
There’s also a side story between John Stewart and a Star Sapphire from a planet he destroyed at some point. There are actually some really nice moments in this, but it’s given far too little time IMO.
It’s a decent story, and it’s well written for what it was, but it feels like it’s just an extended exposition. If the writing on the orange lantern weren’t so wonderfully dynamic, I think I’d have regretted the purchase, but as it stands, it was entertaining enough in its way.
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