Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Green Lantern Corps: Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

"No Lantern Escapes The Alpha-Lanterns!" When a Green Lantern steps out-of-line, it's the Alpha-Lanterns that put them back in-line. Half terrestrial, half robot, unstoppable, logical, and cold....the Guardian's instruments of law and order. But an old enemy has re-emerged and taken control of the Alpha-Lanterns....and he's turning them against the Green Lantern Corps!   Can a select group of Green Lanterns stop this rising menace, or will the Green Lantern Corps be destroyed by the new Alpha-Lantern Armada?


This volume; the first written by either writers Tony Bedard or Sterling Gates, has tie-ins to Brightest Day....that said, it's a decent stand-alone volume following Green Lantern Corps members as they investigate strange disappearances and suspicious behavior from the Guardian's latest "upgrade"....The Alpha-Lanterns. The artwork for this story-arc was done by Ardian Syaf, with variant covers done by the former long-time GL Corps artist Patrick Gleason.

When Green Lantern Stel goes missing investigating a loss of communication on his home planet, the Guardians of the Universe dispatch Alpha-Lantern Boodikka to investigate along with GL John Stewart.  Meanwhile.....Ganthet resigns his position as Guardian and leader of the Blue Lanterns to become the Green Lantern of Sector 0, after making a secret agreement with GL Guy Gardner & Red Lantern Atrocitus.

After every Alpha-Lantern departs OA, Ganthet approaches Lanterns Kyle Raynor and Soranik Natu for help in locating them and finding out the reasons for their disappearances.  They track down John Stewart to find him near death at the hands of Cyborg-Superman.....who has used his powers to control technology to to bring the robot-planet Grenda and it's inhabitants into silence and submission....just as he has all the Alpha-Lanterns.  Ganthet confronts him, and Cyborg-Superman uses the lives of his fellow Lanterns and Alpha-Lanterns to force Ganthet to help remove the Lanterns embedded in the chests of the Alpha-Lanterns and Cyborg-Superman himself.

With Lantern Hannu's help, Lanterns Raynor, Stewart, and Natu convince the robot inhabitants of Grenda to rise up and overthrow their controller, Cyborg-Superman.  With the rallying cry, "For Stel" they attack the Lantern Citadel.....and with Boodikka's help they stop Cyborg-Superman's forced experiments.  Cyborg-Superman escapes death, though his body is destroyed.

With the Alpha-Lanterns rescued and thanks to Ganthet....feeling emotions again, Boodikka and Ganthet are inducted into the Green Lantern Honor Guard by the Guardians.

The back-up story by Sterling Gates focuses on Boodikka, how she became a Lantern and what she will do when she must return to Bellatrix to face those she once called "Sisters".  When the new Green Lantern of that sector does not respond to the Lantern requests to come to OA for training, they send Boodikka to investigate and bring the Lantern to OA.  She arrives to find that the new Lantern is.....Her Sister!  But her past has caught up with her, as her old friends have become enemies, feeling Boodikka abandoned them to answer the call of the Green Lantern Corps.

As she faces death at the hands of former friends, her sister saves her.....and they return to OA.  The Guardians decide that the two of them should work together for each other's betterment.

Overall a decent volume by Bedard, Gates, & Sayf..... though a far cry from the old team of Tomasi & Gleason. I've been critical of Bedard's writing in the past, but this body of work has given me a little confidence in him for the future.

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