Review by Frank Plowright
The history of early 21st century Green Lantern stories is one of constantly crossing over between different titles. It feels as if the opening chapters are disjointed, it’s because they are. They’re but three stopovers in a seventeen chapter story best appreciated in its entirety as Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead. So why bother including them here? Why not just include material not available elsewhere and have a cheaper collection? Whoops, answered my own question there.
There’s no introduction to the Godhood chapters, and although a sense of something massive and an implacable enemy is conveyed, there’s little sense to be derived from material in each case separated by three missing chapters. It’s nicely drawn by Bernard Chang, though, with Marcelo Mailo’s colour choices as interesting as they were in Uprising.
Van Jensen gets to write his own story over the remaining three chapters and settles on a planet over-run by organised crime, where the authorities are either complicit or powerless to intervene. The light in the darkness is that it’s Feska’s home planet, so when some locals appeal for help, a small squad of Green Lanterns accompany her home. In the tradition of such stories, though, the Green Lanterns expecting an easy win are confronted with a problem far more ingrained than anticipated. It’s not just a matter of clearing out the crooks and flying home.
It builds to an interesting conclusion of John Stewart having to conceive an alternate solution to a problem he’s failed before with devastating consequences, and a philosophical point cutting to the heart of intelligent life. Alongside that plot Jensen also has Von Daggle still searching for his fellow undercover operative, still deeply embedded. Chang’s pages look better than the digital work of Mirko Colak.
On its own, the final story is very readable with a point to make, but coupled with three chapters of blood and thunder making little sense, this isn’t a recommendable collection.
