Review: Red Lanterns Vol. 3- The Second Prophecy

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is exciting and features some entertaining, high-stakes action. The focus on Atrocitus is excellent and makes him a more interesting character. The events in this volume build excitement for the future. The visuals look nice in most places.

Cons: One of the volume’s major subplots is mediocre and fits in poorly with the rest of the collection.

Overall: This is a worthwhile continuation of the narrative stretching through the Red Lanterns series. It has all of the action and intensity one would expect from the Red Lanterns but with the added stakes of a major Green Lantern event. Meanwhile, the focus on Atrocitus and the slow build of future plot points keep things even more interesting. There is one disappointing subplot but, besides that, most fans will have a pleasant reading experience with this book.

Story

Red Lanterns Vol. 3: The Second Prophecy, by Peter Milligan, is an exciting volume and a great showcase for the leader of the Red Lantern Corps, Atrocitus. This volume details the rise of several powerful villains and shows the epic battles that are undergone in their opposition. Alongside this, the narrative really digs into who Atrocitus is and why he is doing what he is doing, which, at some points, is legitimately surprising. The only downside is that one of the book’s major subplots is mediocre and feels out of place in this narrative. However, as long as readers are able to look past this one sore spot, the majority of this collection is a very entertaining read.

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The Second Prophecy contains chapters that take the Red Lantern Corps through the Rise of the Third Army and Wrath of the First Lantern events. This sees a creepy and powerful group of enemies rise to power, a direct attack on the Guardians, and the unexpected rise of an even more powerful villain. The entire sequence of events is laid out well and makes for an exciting and entertaining read.

However, the most compelling aspect of The Second Prophecy is the examination into Atrocitus as a character. This volume has him finally within reach of destroying the Guardians, which has essentially been his life’s goal. Yet, in order to do so, he teams up with the Manhunters, the very instrument of destruction used to destroy his home world. Then, when the First Lantern offers Atrocitus the chance to resurrect his home world, he refuses because that pathway led to him becoming a villain. All of this makes Atrocitus a layered and complex character who never seems completely good or bad.

The only problem here is that Atrocitus’ decision to put a hit on himself and then call it off makes for a very corny sequence of events, which even include a self-proclaimed rebirth that feels more generic than anything else in this series. 

The events of this volume also help build up future plotlines for this series to take on next. Atrocitus decides to restructure the Red Lanterns in order to directly address the Lanterns’ needs, which could lead to some interesting and personal stories in the future. In addition, the rise of Atrocitus’ old enemies could create some complications as this narrative continues.

Unfortunately, The Second Prophecy has a number of problems within the Rankorr’s solo adventure, which feels entirely out of place. Rankorr’s story is moderately interesting and is a unique piece of the overall Red Lantern saga. However, it feels incredibly weird as a subplot in an event of universe-altering consequence. While other characters, like Atrocitus, are going through gut-wrenching emotional turmoil and an insane being threatens to remake all of reality, the love-life of a single Red Lantern feels inconsequential. If this subplot was paired with another main narrative, it could have worked, however, within the context of this volume, it does not read as well.

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Art

The visuals in The Second Prophecy end up with almost the exact same strengths and weaknesses as the visuals in the previous volume. Miguel Sepulveda’s dark and gritty artwork matches the dark and gritty tone of this particular story. It helps to emphasize the general sense of despair that the story is attempting to convey. However, for a single chapter, the visuals dramatically shift in a way that makes them look almost lighthearted and cheery. The transition between these points is unpleasant and the general tone of this chapter feels off. Overall, the artwork in this book is good but not great.

Continuity

Red Lanterns Vol. 3: The Second Prophecy continues the story from Red Lanterns Vol. 2: Death of the Red Lanterns (Review). This volume also contains issues that form parts of the Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army and Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern crossover events and, thus, references the events of the issues it crosses over with. Our upcoming reading orders for these events will explain exactly how they cross over.

The story here continues in Red Lanterns Vol. 4: Blood Brothers.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The war against Black Hand, Nekron, and the dead took place during the Blackest Night event.
• The war against Krona took place during the Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns event.
• Many pieces of Hal Jordan’s life are shown. These include:
  • His separation from Paralax in Green Lantern: Rebirth, part of Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book One.
  • His battle against the Manhunters in Green Lantern Vol. 4 #12-13, collected in Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book Two.
  • His fight against Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns in Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War.
  • His encounter with the Red Lanterns in Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns.
  • His encounter with Larfleeze in Green Lantern: Agent Orange.
  • The war against the dead in Blackest Night .