Review: Green Lanterns Vol. 1- Rage Planet

Quick Summary

Pros: The volume’s conflict is filled with excitement and action. The main characters are great and their progression through the book is both fun and meaningful. The characters give the series plenty of potential.

Cons: The volume’s main conflict does not always make sense. The artwork feels lackluster in a few places.

Overall: Though not the best Rebirth volume out there, the first volume of Green Lanterns provides a charming and optimistic start to the series. The comic centers around the captivating development and endearing antics of two, new Green Lanterns, who are almost always fun to watch. The problem is that, outside of the excitement, the volume’s conflict is mediocre and the artwork has some issues. Overall, this volume is a pretty positive start to a new series, one that will specifically appeal to readers looking for a different type of Green Lantern adventure.

Story

Green Lanterns Vol. 1: Rage Planet, by Sam Humphries, is an optimistic start to a new and different Green Lantern series. This comic stars two excellent characters, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Their status as amateurs in the world of superheroics allows them to stand out from the volume’s beginning while their progression as a team holds keeps things interesting through this volume’s conclusion. Their personal stories are accompanied by a vicious fight between Green and Red Lanterns. Though this fight is flashy and exciting, it has a few logistical problems that prevent it from being as good as it could have been. Luckily, the promise shown by the characters and the possibility of improvement make this volume a worthwhile start to the series.

(spoilers start here)

The storyline in Rage Planet centers around two rookie Green Lanterns, Simon and Jessica, as they try to stop the Red Lanterns from taking over the Earth. This puts them at odds with a host of powerful beings, one of whom has posed a serious threat to the entire universe multiple times in the past. The resulting battle is exciting and is filled with moments where it appears as if the heroes have lost, only for them to rise from their near-defeat even more triumphant than before.

Though this narrative has plenty of thrills and tension, it manages to disappoint on other fronts. There are places where the storyline feels illogical, like the Green Lantern’s decision to leave a giant Hell Tower simply because A.R.G.U.S. asked them to or even the fact that A.R.G.U.S. forced out two potentially critical assets. There are also places where the storyline fails to really justify itself, such as when the Red Lanterns’ overwhelming numbers play almost no part in their battle with the Green Lanterns or when Jessica defeats the Hell Tower with a single construct. Finally, the fact that the Red Lanterns reappeared in a way that highly contradicts their last appearance feels like a blow to anyone who enjoyed the Red Lanterns series.

Luckily, the battle against the Red Lanterns is not the highlight of Rage Planet. Instead, the personal dramas surrounding Simon and Jessica steal the spotlight. These characters are both driven by personal and emotional issues. Simon is dealing with prejudice in his daily life and tries to overcompensate in his position as a Green Lantern, while Jessica’s role as a superhero is complicated by her ongoing struggle with anxiety. They are also both able to deal with these issues in major ways, Simon by proving himself as a hero and Jessica by summoning enough will to overcome her fears. Watching their progress is awesome and the possibility for even further growth gives readers another reason to stick with this series.

It also helps that Simon and Jessica are both downright fun. Their worries about pedestrian problems, concern for their families, and preference for taking time off make them feel like rookies to the superhero game and allow them to stand out from their contemporaries. Plus, their friendship with each other, specifically the way it evolved past animosity, makes them a solid pair. I enjoy reading about these heroes and am already looking forward to seeing them again in the next volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Rage Planet fluctuates somewhat heavily throughout the volume and these fluctuations prove to be frustrating. Though the volume gets off to a solid start, with a decent chapter from Ethan Van Sciver, the quality of the artwork goes down from this point. The rest of the volume features visuals from a variety of artists, with each chapter typically containing work from at least two pencilers and even more inkers. The result is a book where the quality may look different from page to page, where light inks in one area clash with heavy ones in another area, and where a general feeling of inconsistency is everywhere. There are also places where there are simple errors, like Jessica smiling on a page where it does not make sense for her to be smiling. The upside is that the volume, as a whole, is structure well and is successful in telling the story that needs to be told. Overall though, the artwork in this volume is a bit disappointing.

Continuity

Green Lanterns Vol. 1: Rage Planet is the first volume in a new series. Though it builds on storylines involving Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, it does not have a direct predecessor.  

The story here continues in Green Lanterns Vol. 2: Phantom Lantern (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Simon Baz’s early history as a Green Lantern is mentioned. This history is mostly detailed across Green Lantern Vol. 5 #0 and #13-20, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 3: The End (Review). 
• Jessica “almost died” and received a Green Lantern Ring during the Justice League: Darkseid War (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• Green Lanterns: Rebirth #1 references the return of the Green Lantern Corps and a threat from Sinestro. Both of these plot points started in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1, collected in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1: Sinestro’s Law (Review).
• Green Lanterns #1 mentions that the Emotional Spectrum reunited during the “Blackest Night”. This is a direct reference to the Blackest Night event.