Written by: Peter MilliganOne arc down and I’m still collecting the “doomed” title known as Red Lanterns. Something about it keeps drawing me in, compelling me to stick with the rage filled book that expands on Atrocitus and his Red Lantern Corps. The title itself is doing quite well – expertly written and wonderfully drawn. As always, however, my concern is with the longevity of the title…can it last as long as DC hopes it to? With the publication of issue #7, my hopes have certainly been raised.
One thing I’ve noticed about Red Lanterns is how difficult it would be to translate the script onto the big screen. Sure, the dialog looks great as wrote, but if you ever heard anyone say this in real life, it would be clunky and strange. But Peter Milligan writes a wonderful story that splits up into three different sections; Bleez’s take over of the Red Lantern Corps in Atrocitus’s absence, Guy Gardner fighting the newly inducted Red Lantern from Earth, and Atrocitus facing his past. Milligan has a lot of good things coming, and he’s writing them in a way that will make yearn for more.
But the poor letterer, or whoever is in charge of making sure the right set of dialog is being said by the right character, made an incredible boo-boo. I don’t think anyone who’s as big of a reader as me would have missed it, but this needs to be said regardless. Carlos Mangual, in the future, be a little more careful, ok?…
Aside from that, Mangual lettering job is spot on perfect.
Guy Gardner’s entrance, of course, is interesting. He’s always been the hot head of any comic he’s featured or guest starring in. He’s good at it, and it makes for wonderfully tense moments. But he also hits the nail on the head when he remarks about how opposite his confrontation with Rancorr is…
Guy? The Reasonable One? NNNAAAHHHHH.....
The confrontation is intriguing though. The Hot head of DC is the one having to talk sense into a lantern controlled by his rage. But there’s also an instance where Rancorr speaks to Guy, pleading for help. Why isn’t Rancorr like every other Red Lantern? Sure, Atrocitus can speak and has taught the others how to speak and think coherently, but that took time. Rancorr’s ability to remember, be aware of himself, and speak are developments that have not yet happened (at least this quickly) with any of the Corps members. The implications of this are endless.
The tension that’s building up between Atrocitus and Bleez is amazing. Bleez is in charge of the Red Lanterns, but the question of how long was raised by one of her tortured victims. Bleez has yet to prove herself, so the fear of Atrocitus is still out there. Yet Atrocitus’s rage seems to be controlled by his needs to kill Krona. But now Krona’s skin is wrapped around Atrocitus’s son, and the source of his rage no longer exists. This begs the question…if the source of a Red Lanterns rage is obliterated, will that Red Lantern loose his or her ring, and in turn, go back to their normal life? More than likely not, but it is interesting to think about.
Give me more Ed Benes please! Sure, you see a lot of the some poses, action shots, and ass bearing moments, (like you’ve seen the exact same ones in previous issues) but he’s so good at it! I would have asked for a different colorist, but it’s still stunning to say the least.
A lot of interesting questions are raised by Rancorr’s inner monologue , which will lead to some interesting confrontations for the future, and tension is building up better than I thought possible. I guess it proves that as long as you have a capable writer behind the wheel, any comic book can have a great story.
9 out of 10 stars
