Review: Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 2- Beyond Hope

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s characters are better than ever and have some great, emotional moments between them. The larger narrative remains interesting. The visuals are mostly positive and suit the comic well.

Cons: The Blue Beetle crossover is lackluster. Most of the volume’s smaller story arcs have disappointing conclusions.

Overall: This volume is successful in continuing some of the comic’s positive plot threads and story elements but has some problems while doing so. The stories here often have disappointing conclusions and one of them is mediocre all-around. However, the characters are all still a joy to see and their progression here is great. Plus, the comic’s mystery is as compelling as ever. Readers who enjoyed the first volume may want to continue their reading here, as long as they can accept a few more bumps in the road.

Story

Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 2: Beyond Hope, by Tony Bedard, is more troubled than its predecessor but still retains a solid and entertaining core concept. This core concept revolves around the book’s characters and the central mystery. The characters are a joy on nearly every page and bring some seriously satisfying emotions out. Meanwhile, the narrative reveals some aspects of the mystery but withholds just as many, building interest in the future. Unfortunately, smaller aspects of the book are less appealing. The crossover with the Blue Beetle series is almost instantly forgettable and many of the shorter story arcs have poor conclusions. Though this volume sees the series struggle more than before, it still retains many of the comic’s positives, and I am hopeful that the next volume will be able to bring out more of these positives.

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The troubles in Beyond Hope start early as one of its opening chapters details a lackluster crossover with the Blue Beetle series. This crossover is only moderately exciting and really does little to enhance the narrative of either series involved. A team-up with Blue Beetle as the New Guardians go on to attack the Reach would have, potentially, been great, but it simply does not happen here.

Other troubles appear in the story arc conclusions throughout the entire collection. Kyle’s wholesome interaction with Blue Beetle stops suddenly, despite the fact that the two were beginning to connect on some issues. The entire situation of the Blue Lantern home world feels like a huge issue as it is happening but is dropped relatively quickly and is barely mentioned once the heroes are forced to flee; the reader never even finds out what happened to the Blue Lantern Central Power Battery. Then, the final story arc sees the New Guardians quickly decide to team up with Larfleeze and then quickly decide to disband, both of which feel like decisions that would have required more debate than what was shown here. The ease with which plotlines are moved past hurts the overall appeal of this series and makes it seem like the stakes are lower than the comic is presenting them.

Luckily, the core concept of the Green Lantern: New Guardians series is still solid. The characters, with the benefit of a volume of development, are more enjoyable than before. Their uneasy relationship with one another makes more sense and makes them all feel like a new group of friends, one just learning to appreciate each other’s company. These emotions are capitalized upon with Glomulus, who’s sacrifice was surprisingly shocking and emotional. The general appeal of these characters makes me excited to see what the next volume could hold in store for them, assuming their “break-up” is as temporary as I am imagining it will be.

Beyond Hope also continues the appeal of the comic’s larger narrative. For the majority of the volume, readers are still unclear who assembled the New Guardians and why. This leads to a satisfying reading experience, as readers learn some information yet never get the full picture. Even the volume’s close does not answer every question and leaves the reader wondering what greater destiny Sayd has pictured for the New Guardians. 

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Art

The majority of the artwork in Beyond Hope is positive and suits the tone of this comic. Tyler Kirkham’s work is as bold and dynamic as it was in the previous volume. This helps characters look well-defined and makes their emotions stand out, which is important in a character-centric book. It also helps make the action feel more thrilling and enjoyable.

The only visually unpleasant moment in this collection occurs during the Blue Beetle crossover. Here, the visual style shifts dramatically as Marcio Takara takes over on art. Though the artwork in this chapter still looks alright, the shift is a bit jarring.

Continuity

Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 2: Beyond Hope continues the story started in Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 1: The Ring Bearer (Review).

The story here continues in Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 3: Love and Death.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Ganthet’s emotional change was made in Green Lantern Vol. 5 #1, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro (Review).
• Sinestro betrayed the Yellow Lanterns across Green Lantern Vol. 5 #1-5, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro (Review).
• Kyle Rayner references the death of his girlfriend from Green Lantern Vol. 3 #54, collected in Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Vol. 1. 
• The Red Lantern Power Battery was poisoned in Red Lanterns #8, collected in Red Lanterns Vol. 2: Death of the Red Lanterns.
• Larfleeze’s last attack on the Blue Lantern home world occurred across Green Lantern Vol. 4 #45 and #47, collected in Blackest Night: Green Lantern.