Green Lantern Corps #42

It's still Blackest Night, as the Black Lanterns consume power battery after power battery. The Green Lantern Corp yet resists and we do now know how to destroy a Black Lantern. But can that suffice? And is there a good story in it? Find out after the jump!

Peter J. Tomasi writes (and letters) the next installment of the Blackest Night Saga - Hungry Heart - and the Pencils are delivered by Patrick Gleason. And Mr. Gleason has really a lot to do in this issue. We are facing the war on Oa, where the Green Lantern Corpss Central Power Battery will be the next to be destroyed. Green Lantern Kyle will play a very central role in the defense.

At least the Green Lanterns have some support from, among others, Indigo Lanterns. The forces of light are united. And as we know: Combined Lights can sever the connection of a Black Lantern ring to its host. But we also know, that the Black Lanterns power levels have reached 100%. And that means? Basically: For each one killed, another one will be produced.

Patrick Gleason does a good job at showing us the large scale of the battle. It's almost as if this issue was the attempt to show us, how many mass battle panels and spreads you can fit into one comic book. I have to hand it to the penciler: He knows what he's doing. You get the feeling of a huge ass battle all over the place, while you can still make out the important persons and figure out what is going on where.

Sadly the "what is going on", is also, where this books fails. If I want to bring it down, the whole action can be summarized in two or three sentences. Colored Lanterns fight Black Lanterns all over the place. For a short moment it looks like doom can be averted through the sheer rage Red Lanterns can cause. But it is only a moment if final suspense (nice use of that technique though). In the end only a tragic sacrifice can save the Green Lantern Corps Power Battery. Also well done: Once more we get so see what makes a true hero.

Now, I don't think Peter J. Tomasi can really be blamed for what's going on here. The problem is rather, that we see once more, how Blackest Night has grown too big to sustain that many books. If we boil this book down, we get little more than a really big battle, with all the key elements focused right and where writer and penciler display just the right sense of scale. But despite the key elements all right in place and storytelling technique applied well - we get a glimpse of hope, we have spotlight moments despite all the chaos going on, and we have tragic elements - in the end it is not enough. In the end we see once more too little progress. In the end it's just a book with one huge battle, which doesn't move us forward.

So my recommendation in the end? If you like Blackest Night, you have to get Green Lantern Corps #42, but I advise caution. Too little happens to justify buying this book all for itself. But if you don't buy it, you are maybe missing an important key element. The failure of this book can not be found inside it, but in the whole execution of the Blackest Night event.