Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 7- Darkstars Rising

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is fun, exciting, and centers around some emotional and meaningful themes. The entire volume incorporates earlier concepts from the series in a way that is rewarding. The majority of the artwork is positive.

Cons: Some aspects of the story feel rushed. The inconsistency of the artwork is frustrating in some places.

Overall: This is a fun collection that works as a great sendoff to the series as a whole. The book details an engaging fight between two powerful forces, where the safety of the entire universe is up for grabs. The conflict brings in intriguing ideals, plenty of action, and actively utilizes the development made over the course of this series. Any reader can jump into this collection for a fun, high-stakes battle but it will be the most rewarding for readers who have read the entire series.

Story

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 7: Darkstars Rising, by Robert Venditti, is an explosive conclusion that delivers on all of the promise of this series. It takes the accumulated powers, forged alliances, and general themes from earlier collections and uses them to craft a high-stakes narrative where the Green Lanterns are really put to the test. In addition, the storyline itself is highly entertaining and keeps the reader engaged all the way through. In this way, the volume heavily pays out to longtime readers but still does well on its own. The only downside is that there are a few emotional moments that feel rushed rather than being successfully built up to. Luckily, the vast majority of the book still works out well and ends up being worthwhile overall.

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The narrative in Darkstars Rising sees the titular rise of the Darkstars, brutal and lethal enforcers of the law, and their attempt to replace the Green Lantern Corps. This allows the volume to center around a critique of capital punishment, a theme built up in previous volumes from the series. This critique plays out through an emotional battle between Tomar-Re, who’s feelings of vengeance have metastasized since the violent death of his father, and Hal Jordan, who’s belief in redemption is a major part of the battle and is seen through his work with Hector Hammond. Their final fight works as a great climax for this theme and as an emotional and meaningful end for the series.

It also helps that the battle between the Darkstars and the Green Lanterns is just downright fun. At first, the Green Lanterns are simply overwhelmed by the Darkstars, having no counter to their ability to teleport. This leads to an exciting marshalling of forces and the creation of a mysterious plan. Then, when this plan is finally executed, it gives this story arc the wonderfully exciting sendoff it deserves.

However, this flow of excitement doesn’t just work as a conclusion to the story in Darkstars Rising, it also works as the conclusion to the entire series. The fight against the Darkstars requires the Green Lantern Corps to call on abilities, allies, and maneuvers they have been developing throughout this series. Readers finally get to see the friendship between Guy and Akrillo significantly pay off, see the New Gods’ debt collected, see the full rehabilitation of Hector Hammond, and much, much more. The entire volume is like a reward for readers who have been around since the series began.

The only downside to the collection is that there are parts that feel rushed. Guy Gardner’s reconciliation with his father happens so quickly and comes out of nowhere that it barely has an impact and Tomar-Re’s death is an easy conclusion to his story but emphasizes that he has failed to learn his lesson about capital punishment. All of these elements feel like they were rushed and then tacked on when necessary, instead of being worthwhile additions to the narrative.

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Art

The artwork in Darkstars Rising is mostly positive and comes from a variety of talented sources. Rafa Sandoval’s contributions are the most significant and the most successful. Sandoval’s work has a cinematic flair that pairs well with the high-stakes action of this collection and a realism that helps emotional points hit home. There are also multiple chapters from Ethan Van Sciver. These chapters contain the artist’s realistic and creative take on the Green Lanterns, though I admit the layouts of these chapters were a bit less appealing than they typically are. Finally, some additional work from artists like Fernando Pasarin and Brandon Peterson help contribute additional artistic success by providing a unique and creative view of the book’s action.

However, I ended up being a bit disappointed in the lack of artistic consistency throughout this collection. This book contains work from a variety of different artists but their work is almost never seen for multiple chapters in succession. Instead, readers see chapters jump from gritty and realistic to light and stylized at a moments notice. This happens so frequently that it ends up having a small, negative impact on the overall reading experience.

Continuity

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 7: Darkstars Rising continues the story from Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 6: Zod’s Will (Review).

The Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps series ends with this volume. Hal Jordan’s adventures continue in The Green Lantern. 

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• This entire volume heavily references events from the previous six volumes.
• Tomar-Re was killed in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #198, collected in Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 2.
• The Darkstars were originally created by the Controllers back in the original Darkstars series.
• Hal wore an armor that changed reality at the conclusion of Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order).