Red Lanterns #11 & #12 (Review)

It is only beginning!!!!

The Red Lanterns are having issues.....split into two factions, separated in two directions, dying one-by-one from whatever and whomever has poisoned the Red Lanterns' Power Battery on their home planet Ysmault.....things are not looking good.

So, it's almost been a year for the Red Lanterns title.....a year of RAGE!!  Sales show them around the middle of the pack for DC titles, and last among the 4 Green Lantern Titles.....but at around 36k, sales are solid for this title, and it should continue for at least another year or two.  Peter Milligan is going strong, with no announced plans of going anywhere...and artist Miguel Sepulveda is showing his worth just a few issues in.  On to the reviews.....

Love and Hate begins with Green Lanterns (including Guy Gardner) arriving at Ysmault and discovering the shocking scene of the Red Lanterns' destroyed Power Battery, the planet tearing apart, and ghosts of dead, dead Red Lanterns.

The scene then shifts to Zamaron, home of the Star Sapphires, where Bleez and her faction of Red Lanterns have been captured by Fatality and the rest of the Star Sapphires.  Fatality believes their shared time against Invictus (see: Green Lantern New Guardians title, #'s 5-7) and their similar abused childhoods may be able to persuade Bleez to join their Females-Only Corps of Love.....Bleez is having none of that!...at first.  Bleez believes they are the ones seeking to destroy them, and after telling Fatality to "stick it", she shares her rage-filled blood with the Star Sapphire.

the "new & improved" Abysmus!

Meanwhile, Rankorr awakens to nothing.....literally.  Knocked unconscious during the initial battle with the Star Sapphires, he is lost and feeling all alone in the universe.

Atrocitus, Skallox, and our favorite cat-in-comics, Dex-Starr have traveled far and wide to track down Abysmus, whom Atrocitus believes is the one behind the poisoning of their Power Battery.  He pours out rageful vengeance and begins a Blood Prophecy to find his adversary......

Bleez & Fatality have a "cat fight", Rankorr finds an asteroid belt of dead Red Lanterns, & Atrocitus comes face-to-face with a "new" Abysmus!!  Changed by the Guardians of the Universe, they seek the death of Atrocitus!


In Nectar, Abysmus wants answers! Why was he created only to be buried? Why was he a disappointment to his "father" Atrocitus? And why does a cat keep pestering him? As the unconscious body of Dex-Starr falls to the ground, Atrocitus relives the memories of life before becoming a Red Lantern.....his family and race annihilated by the Manhunters....his pure rage rising from the ashes of a destroyed life!

Weak and dying, Atrocitus sends up a flare for help as Red Lanterns are dead or near death across the cosmos.....Rankorr sees the flare and arrives just in time to give Abysmus a construct of the death that he has caused by poisoning the Power Battery on Ysmault.  The distraction allows Atrocitus to gain the upper hand and rip out the "seed" he had planted of the Four Inversions so many years ago.....Abysmus' weakened state means dinner time for Dex-Starr!!!

Atrocitus and his group return to Ysmault to "heal" the Power Battery just in time, because the restored power enables Bleez to realize that purple isn't her color!  The Red Lanterns meet once again on Ysmault, and Atrocitus announces they are just beginning!!

An impressive issue, although I must criticize the "pulling a rabbit out of the hat" ending.  Wouldn't logic dictate that Atrocitus let all the Red Lanterns know to hunt down Abysmus because he had the "seed" of the Four Inversions within him?  Of course, logic and rage don't really work together all that well......Writer Peter Milligan's use of Dex-Starr as violent, comedic relief is wonderfully done, and has only added to my growing love for the Kitty of Rage!

Dex-Starr.....down, but never out!!!

So, One Year into DC's "New 52", I see Red Lanterns as one of the big winners! While several previously non-existing books (O.M.A.C., Hawk & Dove, Mister Terrific, etc.) were cancelled throughout the year, and several more are in danger of being cancelled because of low sales (Captain Atom, Firestorm, Resurrection Man, Stormwatch, etc.), Red Lanterns is going strong!  Could the story have been less "choppy" in parts?...sure.  Should there have been more rageful vengeance to compliment the story arc?...yeah.  But overall, I'm impressed with this title, and enjoy it more than any of the other Green Lantern titles.

CITIZEN'S GRADE (#11): O.K.
CITIZEN'S GRADE (#12): IMPRESSIVE.
CITIZEN'S GRADE (One Year Later): IMPRESSIVE.