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Summer isn't even here yet, and here come the comic "events". Marvel has the "Fear Itself" storyline going through various titles. Luckily I don't read much Marvel, so I won't be dealing with that one unless it happens to infect one of the titles I read. However, I read all the various Green Lantern titles and The Flash, so I will be fully immersed in the "War of the Green Lanterns" and "Flashpoint" storylines. I considered not getting too into "Flashpoint", but I am a sucker for seeing new takes on characters I like. Plus, sometimes the new take can actually be better than the established one. But, those who know me know my focus will be on "War of the Green Lanterns", as will be my finances.
The first two parts of "War of the Green Lanterns" are a mixed bag. The first part was in Green Lantern #64 and for me the story started out strong from the first page. However, I will say that I am very biased in this. You see, Geoff Johns has the same take on Hal's personality that I have had for a long time. Johns saw that the groundwork of Hal having "no fear" and his insubordination to the Guardians was part of his downfall. Now, the H.E.A.T. people never seemed to understand this, which is why they whined when Hal fell. The elements of Hal's personality that led to his fall were written for years through a variety of writers. For me, Hal's fall always made sense. Does that mean I liked it? No way. But it did make sense when you stopped at looked at it.
Now, by embracing that element of Hal's past Johns has created an even stronger character, because whether Hal likes it or not he is still on the path to redemption. Though the history of "secrets" that Johns has written since bringing back the character of Hal Jordan we can see that he was the perfect successor to Abin Sur. Abin was also a "flawed" Green Lantern. Johns took an obvious inconsistency in the concept of a Green Lantern and incorporated it into what would become "Blackest Night". That inconsistency being that Abin used a spaceship even though his ring was capable of interstellar travel. It's little things like that which allow Johns to create a much larger story that we see sometimes building, and the rewriting of history is minimal. Johns fills in the blanks we never even knew were there.
The war will be taking the current Green Lantern mythos to the next stage. It will be attempting to explain and expand some things that have never been touched on or appeared to had gone away. One of the things Johns does from the start is get the yellow impurity back into Oa's Central Power Battery. However, this doesn't just bring back the impurity. Something different happens this time and it has already caused major ramifications.
One of those ramifications takes place in Green Lantern Corps #58, but that's really all that issue offers, which is unfortunate. The issue is largely forgettable. In my opinion it's there to set up two things, the first being a serious injury and the other being putting a couple of Green Lanterns in a tough position. That might be more interesting if it wasn't exactly what happened in the last two story arcs of Green Lantern Corps. The second thing I believe it's setting up is the investment in which Green Lantern from Earth will no longer be a Green Lantern.
Will someone go to a new corps? Will someone die? I don't know. Considering that the Green Lanterns from Earth have already taken center stage for a while I don't see one of them dying, but I do see the possibility of one of them leaving the GLC. Hal isn't going to do it. I think he's done running from the responsibility of being a Green Lantern. Guy Gardner won't go willingly as he's simply too stubborn and just doesn't see the GLC functioning without him. That leaves John Stewart and Kyle Rayner. In my mind John seems the most likely candidate as he has been stuck in his own search for redemption, and it's been pushed pretty hard. Yet, that's why I think it will likely be Kyle who leaves the GLC.
The reasoning for Kyle leaving is much more subtle. The obvious thing people would look at would be some readers are still griping over Hal and Kyle. Some people just can't let it go. But, that's just not the way I've seen Geoff Johns' mind work. Kyle's points are that he has been the "torchbearer", he has wielded the power of Ion, he has been possessed by Parallax, he was the first to have fear as being part of a Green Lantern, and most importantly he has lost all the women he has cared about. Why is that last bit the most important? Because it's a price he has paid due to being a Green Lantern. Being a Green Lantern has brought Kyle much heartache, and it seems he is starting to worry the same will happen with Soranik Natu, his current girlfriend. Plus, there is the fact that Sinestro (who is Soranik's father) doesn't respect Kyle as a Green Lantern. He never has, and right now it appears he won't do so easily.
If Kyle moves on of his own accord he has the chance to change things. He has the opportunity to not be a Green Lantern and keep his girlfriend, and if his next step is one he is more obviously chosen for, he has the chance to gain the respect of Sinestro and no longer be affiliated with the corps that Sinestro hates. Also, Geoff Johns has dropped a hint that Kyle receiving the ring after Hal's fall was not as much of a chance encounter has Kyle, Sinestro, or the readers believe.
Hal is in the best position to stand at the front of what the Green Lantern Corps is going to become after the events of the "War of the Green Lanterns", and with John's planning and Guy's passion he'll be even better off. What role the Guardians will play I don't have much of a guess on. I'm thinking that as with the events of Millennium (the late 80s miniseries) I think the blue guys are due for a break again.
The war doesn't just have to be about sales. It can also be about setting up the concept of the Green Lantern Corps (or even all of corps) for something greater in the DC Universe. As it stands now, ever since Hal returned the Green Lantern titles have been about…well, Hal's return. Not always obviously, but that's been what it comes back to. The war has the potential to let us start seeing Hal's life, and stop trying to understand Hal's return. The war may be the thing that the Lantern's didn't even know they were missing, a necessary recharge.
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