Green Lantern #51

Parallax Rebirth Part Two

Geoff Johns Writer
Doug Mahnke Art
Colors: Randy Mayor
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover: Mahnke, Christian Alamy & Hi-Fi
Variant Cover: Greg Horn
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our main cover features the Yellow Lantern Scarecrow with tons of bugs and maggots pouring out of his mask. It's a well-done and appropriately creepy cover. The only problem is Scarecrow doesn't show up on a single panel in this issue. Which is completely ridiculous, seeing as how this story is dealing with Parallax, the literal embodiment of fear. Oh well.

Our variant cover shows all the other Lanterns facing off against the Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan, with Nekron looming large in the background. It's a nice enough cover, but I feel like we've already seen quite a few images just like this. And that's the problem with an eight-month event that gave a variant cover to almost every tie-in issue. Things start to feel a bit redundant.

Our story opens with the two Orange Lanterns — Lex Luthor and Larfleeze — bickering over who gets to use the Orange Lantern power battery. Lex probably would have defeated the Black Lantern Superman had Larfleeze's intense greed not got the better of him. But their squabbling is soon interrupted by the gigantic fight between Black Lantern Spectre and Parallax. All our other heroes are naturally worried about Hal's decision to bring back Parallax, but Ganthet urges everyone to let Hal carry out his plan, believing it to be the only way to tame the Spectre.

And that small panel is all we see of Kid Flash in this issue. Anyway, Hal's plan is largely a success. Parallax is able to free Spectre from the Black Lantern ring, but then Parallax immediately tries to destroy the Spectre. Carol Ferris manages to separate Parallax from Hal, and Sinestro tries to contain Parallax, but an unknown force pulls Parallax away. The Spectre then tries to help out our heroes by taking on Nekron, but soon discovers that Nekron has no soul and is immune to the Spectre's powers.




I really don't have anything to say about this issue. It was a decent Green Lantern story with nice art. I often get frustrated with all the other heroes not being able to do anything in the Blackest Night series, but I don't mind letting the Lanterns take charge in the Green Lantern series. I'll also note that I don't actually own this issue but am reading it off the DC Universe app. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you're not a DC Universe member, then you're doing it wrong. Only $8 a month and access to more comics, movies and shows than you'll ever have time to get through.

Next time, we'll finally — finally! — bring this bloated event to a close with Blackest Night #8.

Green Lantern #49

Tales of the Black Lantern Corps: The Birth of Nekron

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Jerry Ordway
Color: Hi-Fi
Letters: Rob Leigh
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our main cover by Ed Benes shows John Stewart drowning in a sea of bones and corpses. These aren't Black Lantern zombies —they're just skeletons, pure death. It's a pretty creepy, grotesque cover.

Our variant cover by Rodolfo Migliari shows a scene from this issue — John falling back on his old Army skills to battle the Black Lanterns. But while he sets up a sniper shot, a handful of zombies sneak up behind him. It's a rather interesting concept, but one we won't get into today. These covers show images from the main story, but Black Lantern Kid Flash only makes his cameo in the backup story.

Our story picks up with the Zombie Jean Loring dragging Mera and the Atom into a Black Lantern ring. Jean sees the compassion in Ray's heart, but instead of trying to rip his heart out, Jean has chosen to try to educate Ray and turn his compassion toward the Black Lanterns. As our trio continues to shrink inside the molecules of the ring, they reach a point where Jean is somehow able to show Mera and Ray visual aids to accompany her lesson.

Jean explains that darkness existed before light and life. She claims the Guardians of the Universe waged war against the universe, not for it. So in response to this threat, the darkness spent eons creating its own guardian — Nekron. Jean says Nekron isn't death, but peace. She says if she understood this truth when she was alive, she wouldn't have killed Sue Dibny, but instead would have killed Ray to grant him the gift of death. Jean adds that both Ray and Mera are special, and would have been saved by Nekron had they died, like many other heroes. She then shows Ray and Mera how the Zombie Batman spat out a bunch of Black Lantern rings that turned those heroes into Black Lanterns.

Jean says Nekron is now using those heroes to destroy the light and return the universe to its rightful tenants. As she boasts that no one is going to stop them, Deadman sneaks into the ring to save our heroes.




I really don't understand the point of this side story. It really didn't teach us anything new, and it kind of contradicted the main purpose of the Black Lanterns. Yes, these zombies do like to try to manipulate their targets a bit, but ultimately, all they want to do is spark a strong emotion in their hearts, which they then remove to convert the target into another drone in their army. So it doesn't make any sense for Jean to refuse to do that when Ray is so full of compassion right now. Basically, what this side story boils down to is a lazy excuse by Geoff Johns to get Ray and Mera from Point A to Point B, as we'll see next time in Blackest Night #6.

Green Lantern #43

Blackest Night Prologue: Tale of the Black Lantern

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy
Color: Randy Mayor
Cover: Mahnke, Alamy and Alex Sinclair
Variant Cover: Eddy Barrows and Nei Ruffino
Letters: Rob Leigh
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our cover shows the focus of this issue (and much of the Blackest Night event), Black Hand, showing off a shiny new power ring over the grave of Bruce Wayne. It's a striking reminder of the most shocking "death" from Final Crisis and the ominous arrival of a villain with power over death.

Our variant cover shows Black Hand battling Hal Jordan. Despite the rain and the blood pouring from Hal's mouth and nose, this cover lacks the drama of the main one. Everything just looks fake and plasticy. And the teeth are incredibly distracting. Barrows tried to draw every single tooth in both characters' mouths, but he drew all the teeth identically. Just a mouth full of incisors without any canines or molars.

In an ideal world, Johns' Legion of 3 Worlds story would have finished before his Flash: Rebirth story started. And in that ideal world, Flash: Rebirth would have wrapped up before Johns' Blackest Night epic began. But we're not in an ideal world, so we have to try to make best with a bit of overlap (I can only imagine how difficult it was for readers at the time). Unlike the past two stories, though, Blackest Night is a DC-wide event, and a massive one, at that. It is ostensibly a Green Lantern story, but it spread to nearly every other title DC was publishing at the time, as well as carrying its own dedicated miniseries. It's very easy to get sucked deep into this tale and the enormous Green Lantern universe Johns created, but this is a Bart Allen blog, so we're going to skim across the top.

This issue sets up the main villain of Blackest Night — essentially Death itself. At least, as far as we can tell so far. One of the Guardians of the Universe has split away from the others on Oa and has become obsessed with/corrupted by Death. This Guardian then works with Death to create the first Black Lantern — William Hand, better known as the Green Lantern villain, Black Hand.

Hand was the son of two morticians and always obsessed with death, even as young boy. As he grew older, he began hearing Death speak to him. And after surviving a near-death experience with some aliens, Hand begins receiving visions of all the major DC characters who have died and been brought back to life. Naturally, this includes our recently resurrected speedster, Bart Allen.

Death tells Hand he feels cheated by all these people, and he wants them back. So Hand agrees to become Death's herald. He kills his family, then himself. The Guardian arrives on the scene and vomits up a black ring that flies onto Hand's finger and tells him to rise. Hand's injuries heal and the "Zombie" Black Hand rises up and vows to extinguish the light with his new power.




This is actually a nice setup for a comic book event. Lots of people like to complain about how nobody stays dead in comics, so what would happen if Death itself decided to take that personally and start going after all the people who had cheated death? Unfortunately, I know how long this event is going to drag out, and I'm already dreading it. But that's nothing to hold against this issue.

I also want to note that this is the first issue I've reviewed that I don't actually own. I got these images through the DC Universe app, which has completely blown me away with the amount of digital comics they're making available. Old, new, obscure and popular. If you want it, you can probably find it there. It's not just a streaming service for Young Justice. And no, DC is not paying me to advertise this — I just genuinely am a huge fan of it.

Next time, we'll begin the story proper with Blackest Night #1.

Green Lantern: Rebirth #6

Brightest Day

Geoff Johns – Writer
Ethan Van Sciver – Penciller
Marlo Alquiza, Ethan Van Sciver, Mick Gray – Inkers
Moose Baumann – Colorist
Rob Leigh – Letterer
Harvey Richards – Asst. Editor
Peter Tomasi – Editor

Our cover by Ethan Van Sciver shows the main group of Green Lanterns, who are the heroes of this story. From left, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan, Kilowag and John Stewart. It is a fairly heroic pose, but the more I look at it, the more ... off ... it seems. Like the anatomy is off. Of course, this is still better than the regular artist on Teen Titans at the time, so I shouldn't complain.

Our story picks up at Coast City, where the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans are still standing around helplessly while the Green Lanterns battle Parallax. Batman demands an explanation from Hal Jordan, who not only refuses to speak to Batman, but also punches him out. Batman tries to regroup the heroes to battle Parallax, but Sentinel and Jade block them off with a wall of green fire, telling all the other heroes to let the Green Lanterns handle this.

So all the Green Lanterns battle Parallax. We see that each one of them uses the power ring slightly differently, which is pretty cool — except for Kyle Rayner, who is now literally creating a giant hand holding a pencil to "draw" his constructs. You know, 'cause he's an artist? Anyway, they fight and fight and fight, finally winning by ... I don't know ... blasting it a bunch? Well, all that matters is the day is saved, and the Green Lanterns come back down to confront the other heroes once more.

Batman stares down Hal for a moment before asking if he's supposed to believe that Hal had been possessed by Parallax for all that time. Hal says he doesn't care what Batman thinks. Batman gradually accepts that Hal is "back," and says the universe could use a little more light. The story ends with Hal checking in on the recovering Green Arrow and retrieving his power battery.



Am I supposed to like Hal Jordan? He comes off as a huge jerk in this issue. And yes, I'm going to complain again about that Kyle Rayner bit. Kyle has shown up quite a few times on this blog, and he has never done that. But my biggest complaint, by far, is the inclusion of all these other heroes to only have them stand around and look stupid. That's just cheap storytelling, in my opinion.

Next time, we'll return to our fight with Doctor Light in Teen Titans #22.

Green Lantern: Rebirth #4

Force of Will

Geoff Johns – Writer
Ethan Van Sciver – Penciller
Prentis Rollins – Inker
Moose Baumann – Colorist
Rob Leigh – Letterer
Harvey Richards – Asst. Editor
Peter Tomasi – Editor

Our cover by former Impulse artist Ethan Van Sciver shows the Green Arrow wielding a Green Lantern ring to protect the injured Kyle Rayner. Spoiler alert: The two are fighting Sinestro. And I don't mind spoiling that because it has nothing to do with Kid Flash. This cover is alright — I like the shadows on Green Arrow's face — but the way Green Arrow is standing over Kyle is just ... odd. It's like some parts of his body are too big and long, and other parts are too small and stubby.

Well, we're jumping right into the middle of this story, so don't expect a comprehensive synopsis. Suffice it to say, former Green Lantern Hal Jordan, now the Spectre, still apparently had a piece of the entity of fear, Parallax, buried deep inside him. And now he's back and causing problems for everybody. So much so that the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans have all shown up to battle Parallax.

And all these heroes ... do absolutely nothing. Wonder Woman and Batman realize that Parallax's fear is affecting them all, causing them to hold back. Luckily, Hal Jordan and the Spectre fight against Parallax internally, splitting them all into three separate beings. The Spectre leaves to return to heaven, or whatever, and Hal Jordan comes back as the Green Lantern, apparently returned to the age he was before Parallax possessed him, I guess. And that's all we really care about.



I think Impulse was the perfect book for Ethan Van Sciver because it allowed him to pour detail into the backgrounds and "take it easy" on the more cartoony main characters. But now that he's trying to be incredibly detailed and realistic all the time, his flaws really start to stand out. I was shocked by how underwhelming that splash page was. When all the major heroes of the DC Universe show up, it should be an incredible, amazing image. But Van Sciver somehow managed to make almost every single character on this page look terrible. Kid Flash's legs are not connected to his body, Wonder Woman is grotesque, Superman looks 80-years-old, and Batman is just way too goofy-looking to take seriously.

I know I'm making a big deal out of one page, but this is clearly not Van Sciver's best work (for 2005). Some pages in this issue were quite nice. But others were also disappointing like this one, making the whole issue a frustrating hit-or-miss experience. As for the story, I really hate it when a writer wants to show off how powerful his villain is by bringing in all the most powerful heroes in the world and defeating them in half a second. Regardless of Parallax's powers, I think all these heroes should have been able to do something. Oh well.

Next time, we'll be introduced to a new teenage hero in Green Arrow #46.

Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1

Darkness Visible

Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Pencilled by Norm Breyfogle
Inked by John Lowe, Ray Kryssing, Steve Bird, John Nyberg and Keith Aiken
Lettered by Sean Konot
Colored by Glenn Whitmore
Separated by Jamison
Asst Editor Frank Berrios
Editor Matt Idelson

Our cover shows Green Lantern flying in front of the main villain of this event, Oblivion. It's not a particularly striking image. Oblivion is too obscure to appear imposing, and Green Lantern is too wonky to appear heroic. The good news, though, is that the story inside the cover is quite interesting. The bad news is that Impulse has nothing to do with said story.

So anyway, our story begin with the incredibly large, seemingly invincible Oblivion attacking the planet Rann. He tells that planet's hero Adam Strange to warn Earth that he's coming for them next. So the injured Adam Strange contacts the JLA, who go off into space to investigate with Superman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Plastic Man, Flash and Green Lantern. Kyle Rayner is shocked to see that Oblivion is exactly like a comic book super villain he created when he was 7 years old.

The JLA quickly learn they're no match against Oblivion, so Superman sends Green Lantern back to Earth to gather reinforcements. On the way, Lantern runs into the Spectre, who offers no help, but delivers a cryptic warning of Kyle going to be betrayed by someone close to him. After Kyle leaves, we see that Spectre is actually the deceased Hal Jordan. When Green Lantern arrives at the JLA Watchtower, he asks Oracle to round up the Titans, the JSA and even Young Justice. But Oracle says everyone is busy fighting back a massive crime wave, since word apparently got out that the JLA has left the planet.

And from Oracle's computer screens, we see she is monitoring Impulse, Captain Marvel, the Titans, Beast Boy, Robin and Jay Garrick. Sadly, we don't see exactly who these heroes are fighting. And even sadder still, that is all the Impulse in this issue. Anyway, Oracle does manage to send Power Girl to help Green Lantern, who forms a team with Adam Strange, Firestorm, Atom and a handful of other Green Lanterns from the past, future and alternate worlds, who unexpectedly answered Kyle's plea for help.


Like I said, this is a really interesting story. A ton of characters are in play, involved in a really neat mystery surrounding a huge villain. Ironically, even though Impulse has nothing to do with the main story, the epilogue of Circle of Fire will play out in two issues of Impulse. Go figure.

As to be expected, there aren't any letters to the editor. So let's check out the new ads:

Crime created him. Justice drives him. We immortalized him. 200 figures. 1 Batman. From Hasbro.

Where do gods go when they die? JLA: Heaven's Ladder. A spectacular, oversized graphic novel by Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch, and Paul Neary.

To all who would do evil, they are judge, jury and executioner. And the world doesn't even know they exist. JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes. An Elseworlds tale by Howard Chaikin, David Tischman, Mike McKone, and Jimmy Palmiotti. We will be covering this as it includes an alternate version of Bart Allen.

His greatest battle takes place within himself ... Batman: Ego.

From a lifeless body of clay ... a mighty Amazon warrior! Wonder Woman statue.

New Tropical Tremor increases lunchtime trading power by 300%. Tang.

Next time, we'll return to the Olympics in Young Justice #24.

Green Lantern #128

One in a Million

Jay Faerber – Writer
Gus Vazquez – Penciller
Andy Smith – Inker
W. Moose Baumann – Colorist
Sean Konot – Letterer
Frank Berrios – Assistant
Bob Schreck – Editor

Our cover shows Green Lantern down on the ground, surrounded by random thugs wearing Rocket Red-like armor, and one of them holding Green Lantern's ring. I don't know how Kyle is able to keep his costume on without his ring on his finger, but that's how they do it in the issue, as well. Anyway, this is a rather bleak and frightening cover, showing a superhero robbed of his one source of power. I just wish his ring was in the hands of someone we actually knew and feared.

Our story actually takes a much more light-hearted tone than the cover suggests. We open with Kyle Rayner and Roy Harper in the Warriors restaurant, with Roy showing off his archery skills in front of a girl by placing an apple on top of Kyle's head. Roy pretends to get distracted right as he fires the arrow, which freaks Kyle out, even though the arrow perfectly split the apple. After Roy gets the girl's number, he and Kyle catch up over a game of darts, reminiscing of their brief time together on the New Titans.

And that's all we get of Impulse in this issue — a flashback that shows him wearing the wrong kind of gloves. Although, the use of these gloves is interesting here, since it was in Impulse's first New Titans appearance where he was first shown (incorrectly) to wear full-fingered gloves to create a bit of a fake-out that Wally was going to join the team. Anyway, it was fun to see all these old friends once again. But now they've all gone their separate ways and pretty much have nothing to do with Impulse anymore. It's kind of sad, but Young Justice is exponentially better than New Titans was at the end of it's run.

Oh, I guess I should tell you how this issue ends. Well, Arsenal and Green Lantern get a call of some Quraci terrorists who have taken a bunch of hostages. During the course of the battle, Green Lantern loses his ring, and is forced to save the day with Arsenal's bow and arrow. To his and Arsenal's surprise, Lantern makes the one-in-a-million shot, and the two of them return to Warriors to laugh about it with Guy Gardner.


So yeah, this was a pretty fun, easy-going issue, which is always nice to have from time to time. And I do like to see that some people still do remember that brief and forgettable run of New Titans with Damage, Impulse, Mirage, Supergirl, Terra, Jarras Minion, Arsenal, Darkstar and Green Lantern.

Next time, we'll have another very quick Impulse cameo in The Flash #164.

Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #2

The Lantern's Apprentice

Mark Waid Story
Mike McKone Pencils
Andy Lanning Inks
Pat Prentice Letters
Matt Webb Colors
Harvey Richards Asst. Editor
Kevin Dooley Editor
Cover by George Freeman
Colors by Richard & Tanya Horie

This 80-Page Giant is split into seven separate stories, each with a different guest star. And as our cover shows, these team-ups go from Aquaman to Zatanna. Sadly, that middle spot went to Plastic Man instead of Impulse. (I guess it also could have gone to Big Barda, Deadman or Guy Gardner.) I think this is an alright cover, although I do wonder what happened to Kyle Rayner's nose.

Our story begins with Green Lantern frantically trying to save New Yorkers from jumping off buildings. The culprit is Hector Hammond, a paralyzed villain with an enormous head and telepathy and telekinesis. And Impulse is there, smashing open fire hydrants to catch civilians with the jet of water. Bart apparently muttered something about being in New York on a class trip, but I'd like to believe he just came here on his own. I mean, how many out-of-state trips does his junior high sponsor?

Anyway, Kyle continues rescuing people in odd, imaginative fashion, such as scooping them up with a shovel and placing them in a giant pail, and catching a couple of people with a large, chattering teeth toy. Don't ask me why. The chaos caused by the frenzied bystanders was merely a trap to lure a distracted Green Lantern close to Hammond so he could take control of the hero's brain. But before he can completely take control, Impulse pushes Green Lantern out of the way.

Enraged, Hammond begins blasting psychic beams at the heroes. Impulse tells Lantern to stop him, which he does with a stop sign and the words, "Your wish is my command." Bart thinks he's joking and says, "Yank my chain, why don'tcha?" Kyle creates a green chain around Bart's neck and literally yanks it, again saying, "Your wish is my command." Impulse gets him to let go, then realizes what has happened. Instead of being under Hector Hammond's control, Green Lantern is completely obedient to Impulse. Practically a personal genie for teen hero, which he thinks is pretty cool.

Hammond continues blasting away at Impulse, who tells him to knock it off so he can think. Hammond says thinking must hurt him, and Impulse, feeling that was a low blow, asks if he ever picks on Hammond. The villain replies in the affirmative, and throws a bus full of people at the heroes. Impulse has Green Lantern create a giant amusement park ride to catch the bus, then he changes Kyle's outfit to look more like a genie's, and gives himself a green turban.

Riding on the back of his "genie," Impulse has Lantern create an army of Megawar Thunderdroids to attack Hammond. But the villain is easily able to take control of the constructs and turn them on the civilians. Impulse frantically orders, "Squash 'em! No! The soldiers! Squoosh the soldiers!" Luckily, Kyle is able to take out the soldiers with a bunch of sledge hammers, and then places Hammond's head in a big green vise.

Hammond frees himself with a purple construct of his own — a large construction worker to undo the clamp. Impulse/Lantern counters with a giant green worker to battle Hammond's, and catches a couple more bystanders with a big pillow. Hammond mocks Impulse for having the powerful weapon in the universe at his command but not the slightest idea how to use it. So Impulse decides to go big. He has Green Lantern create an enormous cannon, hovering right above Hammond. The villain sees this cannon is probably big enough to destroy all New York, and he cries out in a panic, "You wouldn't dare!" Impulse boldly responds with, "You have a big head. You figure it out."

Luckily, this is the part where Green Lantern wakes up. He immediately grabs Impulse and demands to know what he's done. Bart can only get out, "Big head — bus — mental bolts — big head — !" Kyle releases his grip on Bart, but still holds on to him by strapping him in a chair. Gathering himself, he admits to Impulse he was on his way to a half-decent plan, which he completes by kicking Hammond into the cannon and then blasting him out of the city. Impulse wonders how far the villain will bounce, but Green Lantern prefers to not find out. He catches Hammond and places him in a cage surrounded by speakers blasting the Spice Girls to keep him from concentrating.

With the day saved, Impulse excitedly asks for a trampoline, a Game Boy and a cheeseburger, but Green Lantern tells him the game is over. Bart loudly brags how he was better with the ring than Green Lantern ever was, and how he nearly defeated the big head all by himself. So Kyle offers to let him play with the ring some more, by putting him in a prison outfit with a ball-and-chain and broom in hand to help clean up, which isn't what Bart had in mind.


This was such a fun story. It's always wonderful to have Mark Waid return to Impulse, even if it is a just a quick 10-page fling. The characterization was there, the dialogue spot-on and the humor plentiful. I only wish we had more pages to explore this goofy situation! Well, I also wish the art could have been a little better, but it got the job done.

That's all for Impulse in this issue, so we'll skip the six other stories. And there aren't any letters to the editor, so we'll head straight to the ads (and some of them are pretty good this time):

No music was harmed in the making of this product. Sony MiniDisc Walkman Personal Stereo.

Time Tremors: The Continuum Project. If you haven't started yet, you're already 80 million years behind. From Cherry Coke and MTV.

Power. It moves mountains. It stops evil. It gets you out of class. Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. All-new monthly action by Geoff Johns, Lee Moder and Dan Davis. Yes, we've already reached the Geoff Johns era of DC Comics. When Impulse was just getting started in the pages of The Flash, Johns was still a student at Michigan State University, getting his letter published in Speed Reading. And now here he is with his first comic book series.

The touching story of a boy and his right hand. Idle Hands. Starring Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson and Vivica A. Fox.

Batman told them not to go in. But did they listen? Young Justice in No Man's Land. By Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, Andy Kuhn and Chris Ivy. Cover by Scott McDaniel and Danny Miki. Breaking curfew this May. So this is a pretty exciting one-shot coming up, tying into the big Batman event of the year. It makes sense to bring in Robin and his two best friends, Superboy and Impulse, although Lagoon Boy does seem like a random addition since we haven't seen him before. Otherwise, this is a pretty cool-looking ad, minus the goof on Impulse's mask.

Clone Superman, get Bizarro. Clone an ordinary schlub, get ... A. Bizarro.

Meet the Dark Knight's new partner. You can stop laughing now. Impulse. Introducing the new Impulse team: Todd Dezago, Ethan Van Sciver, and Prentis Rollins. Issue #50 hits stores in May. This is so exciting! Impulse and Batman vs. the Joker! And we get new creators we already know and trust. Dezago did a great job getting Young Justice off the ground, and Van Sciver proved himself a phenomenal fill-in artist. With all due respects to William Messner-Loebs and Craig Rousseau, the Impulse title really needed a jolt like this. Sales had been in a steady decline since Waid left, and I can think of no better way to boost things up than to bring in these creators with these guest stars for the landmark 50th issue.

Clark Kent left home to find himself. He never dreamed he'd end up a hero. Superman: The Odyssey.

Well, that wraps it up here. Next time, we'll return to Chain Lightning with The Flash #149.

Green Lantern Secret Files and Origins #1

Guy Talk

Ron Marz Writer
Lee Moder Pencils
Dan Davis Inks
Tom McCraw Colors
Chris Eliopoulos Letters
Dana Kurtin Hostess
Kevin Dooley Bartender

The cover is by Gil Kane, Kevin Nolan and Digital Chameleon. It shows the three biggest Green Lanterns — Alan Scott, Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner. It's an OK image, but not a particularly striking one. The first inside page is a much cooler shot of just Hal and Kyle, and it looks like it could have been drawn by Todd Nauck, but I'm not sure.

Like all the other Secret Files and Origins issues, this 64-page issue is full of all sorts of goodies: Profiles Pages for each Green Lantern and their major villains, a couple of backup stories, a timeline and an "interview." The only extra of any note is the Profile Page for the last Guardian, Ganthet, which is drawn by Craig Rousseau. But all we're worried about here is the 26-page main story, which features a very quick shot of Impulse.

Our story puts us in Guy Gardner's bar, Warriors, just as he's cleaning up. Even though it's past closing time, the former Green Lantern can't resist the urge to tell the whole story of all the Green Lanterns. He starts with Alan Scott, then moves on to Hal Jordan, himself, John Stewart, and finally the current and only Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. And he's the only one we're interested in.

Kyle's story begins with Hal's fall into madness and transformation into Parallax. When Parallax destroyed the Guardians and Oa, one of them, Ganthet, managed to survive and create one last ring. Ganthet tried to give the ring to Guy, but he had felt unappreciated by the Green Lantern Corps and turned him down. So Ganthet gave the ring to Kyle Rayner, who established himself as the new Green Lantern. He helped stand up to Parallax in Zero Hour, and later joined the New Teen Titans with Impulse, Arsenal, Terra, Damage, and Donna Troy, who was his girlfriend for a bit.

Kyle then graduated to the Justice League of America not long after the Titans disbanded. With the JLA, Kyle fights alongside the Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Superman and Martian Manhunter. Guy Gardner finishes his story by telling how Hal Jordan redeemed himself during Final Night and died reigniting the sun. Guy then reveals a new painting of all five Green Lanterns, which he calls "Five Regular Guys."


So there you have it. Not a lot to say here, since this isn't a Green Lantern blog, but I was very happy to see that not everyone has forgotten about Impulse's short stay on the Titans. And it is nice to see Impulse next to that group and not be drawn like he had 200 extra pounds of muscle.

There aren't any editor's notes or letters, but there are a few new ads:

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Imagine you're Batman and you've been thrown into a world of broken bones and twisted minds. Welcome to the nightmare. Legends of the Dark Knight action figures.

We're giving away 100,000 special edition Daytona USA Deluxe PC racing games. After all, the object of racing is to win, isn't it? Skittles.

Even the most powerful man alive is still just a man. Superman For All Seasons. Written by Jeph Loeb. Illustrated by Tim Sale. This is one of the better Superman stories that everybody needs to read.

Fruitopia Peachberry Quencher. If you fold A to B you get an image of the bottle.

Crunch it while you can! Oops! All Berries.

Watch This Space once again has nothing interesting to say. Just some fun Batman costumes for Halloween.

JNCO shoes and a new comic book series.

Milk. Where's your mustache? With Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. But this ad didn't seem to have the rights to mention the show, and only referred to "the undead" instead of vampires.

Next time, Impulse will make another guest appearance in The Flash #139.

Green Lantern #81

Funeral for a Hero

Ron März – Writer
Darryl Banks – Pencils
Romeo Tanghal – Inks
Pamela Rambo – Color
Chris Eliopoulos – Letters
Eddie Berganza – Associate
Kevin Dooley – Funeral Director

I suppose this is a rather solemn cover, but it doesn't really do much for me. I guess that's because I'm not a big Green Lantern fan. But I think they could have done something that was solemn and more inspiring, as well. Maybe a statue of Hal Jordan?

So apparently Hal Jordan's death at the end of Final Night was conclusive enough for all the heroes of Earth to hold a funeral for him. After all, he did go out as a hero, destroying the Sun-Eater and restoring the sun to its former glory. So the current Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, constructed a cathedral in Coast City and invited everyone who's anyone to attend.

Impulse sat on a row with Max Mercury, Jesse Quick, Wally West and Linda Park. Donna Troy, now retired from being a superhero, was there, but sadly, I couldn't spot any of the other New Titans Impulse used to hang with. Superboy was there with Superman and Steel, and Robin, who felt compelled to bring his bow staff to a funeral, was there with Batman and Nightwing. But Batman still can't forgive Hal for what he did during Zero Hour, so he withdrew himself from the crowd, forcing Nightwing and Robin to join him in the shadows. Impulse was well-behaved during the funeral, so he didn't really have a chance to interact with Superboy, Robin, or the Legion of Super-heroes.

Superman directed the proceedings, and the first people to speak were former Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart. Black Canary then spoke on behalf of the late Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, who was good friends with Hal. Then Wally spoke on behalf of the late Barry Allen, who was also good friends with Hal. Carol Ferris, Hal's former girlfriend, gave a tearful address, then Kyle Rayner closed the ceremony. The original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, created a green flame to burn eternally for Hal. And Swamp Thing created a beautiful garden to surround a statue of Hal made by Kyle. Then, at the very end, Batman says he finally forgives Hal.

My digital copy of this comic also includes a new adventure of Hal Jordan, which is mostly a flashback to his origin, reprinting pages from 1960. It was pretty neat, but again, I'm more interested in the Flash family and Impulse, so I don't have a lot to say about this issue.

Next time, Impulse finally meets Robin in Robin Plus Impulse #1!

Green Lantern #59

Green Christmas

Ron Marz – Writer
Darryl Banks – Pencils
Romeo Tanghal – Inks
Steve Mattsson – Color
Albert DeGuzman – Letters
Eddie Berganza – Elf
Kevin Dooley – Santa

This issue has a cover date of February 1995, but as per comic book tradition, it actually came out two months before that, making it right in time for Christmas 1994. The cover by Banks and Tanghal shows Green Lantern battling Doctor Polaris, who is basically DC's less-significant version of Marvel's Magneto.

Our story opens on Christmas Eve with Green Lantern arriving at the Titans headquarters and being greeted most enthusiastically by Impulse.

Impulse taunts him and tells him he's in trouble for blowing off his training session with Arsenal. Green Lantern uses his power ring to lift Impulse off him and hold him in the air. Impulse calls him a big bully, and Lantern calls him a twerp.

Arsenal then arrives and puts an end to their fun. Arsenal chastises Lantern for being two hours late, and reminds him that if he wants to be a member of the team, then he has to start acting like it. And as part of his team duties, tonight Lantern is on monitor duty. He doesn't like the idea of wasting Christmas Eve in front of a computer screen, but Arsenal points out that Lantern's the newest member of the team, and the monitor duty shifts are assigned based on seniority. While this conversation is happening, Impulse is sneaking behind them, making faces at Green Lantern.

Bart then quickly changes into his civilian clothes — complete with a Santa hat — and introduces himself formally to Kyle along with Grant and Terra. Grant apologizes to Kyle for getting stuck with monitor duty, and Bart, still feeling a bit sore from earlier, says, "Better you than me." Terra calls out Bart for being rude, and the three teens take off to check out the Christmas decorations at Manhattan.

And that's all the Bart we have in this issue. The rest is pretty interesting, as Kyle struggles to overcome the loneliness of moving to a new city, as well as the depression of his girlfriend dying. As you could have guessed from the cover, he does fight Doctor Polaris, but he beats him pretty quickly. And the issue ends with Donna Troy visiting him and kissing him under the mistletoe.

So yeah, we didn't get much Impulse here, but I still really enjoyed this issue. Ron Marz is a great comic book writer, and I found myself relating to Kyle Rayner very well. I also have moved to a new city, and often find myself sitting at home being lonely. Like Kyle, I need to remind myself to get out and live my life. Luckily, I don't have a dead girlfriend to haunt me.

Sadly, this is the last we'll see Impulse in Green Lantern for a while. But happily, Impulse will be moving on to bigger and better things next time, with Flash #98.

Green Lantern #57

Farewells

Ron Marz – Story
Darryl Banks – Pencils
Romeo Tanghal – Inks
Steve Mattsson – Color
Albert DeGuzman – Letters
Eddie Berganza – Drunk with power
Kevin Dooley – Him too

The cover, by Johnson and Panosian, is actually half of an image with New Titans #116. It's an OK gimmick that was done as recently as the New 52's Trinity War. I'm more forgiving of this gimmick when each individual cover can stand well on its own, and I think this one mostly accomplishes that. If you were just reading Green Lantern, you probably wouldn't know that was Changeling, but I think most Green Lantern readers would have known that anyway. The only odd thing about this cover is the coloring. I suppose they felt compelled to make a difference between Changeling and Green Lantern's constructs, but they ended up making Changeling more blue than green, and I don't like that.

Our story begins with Kyle Rayner visiting the grave of his recently deceased girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt. I don't know all the details, but I do know Kyle found her mangled corpse crammed in a refrigerator. Pretty rough stuff.

Kyle then moves in to his new apartment in New York, and the situation is very similar to Marvel's Doctor Strange (hey, why can't the Big Two pay tribute to each other every now and then?).  Kyle stays up till 4:30 in the morning designing toys, when he is suddenly visited by Psimon. Kyle tries to fight him, but fails spectacularly and is possessed by the super-powerful psychic.

Psimon takes Green Lantern to kill the Titans at their new headquarters in Liberty State Park, New Jersey. But they're still battling the demonic Changeling, so Lantern takes him out with a big truck. Impulse thinks this is really cool, but Arsenal is skeptical since he heard Green Lantern had died during Zero Hour.

Arsenal tries to ask Lantern about this, but he is ignored and attacked. In fact, Lantern would have vaporized Arsenal if Impulse hadn't saved him (complaining all the while that everybody's moving at a snail's pace). However, even with his super speed, Impulse took a bit of a hit while saving his "fearless leader," and he jokes with Damage that he likes "the taste of burnt me." Terra calls in some mud to put out the green flames, and she yells, "Cripes! What're you trying to do, Lantern? Kill us?!" The possessed Lantern answers in the affirmative, to which Impulse asks to be excused.

This was a pretty fun story. I like the idea of New Titans having quick and easy crossovers with other related titles. Later this month, we'll see them in Damage, then later in Darkstars and Deathstroke. Unfortunately, DC never did any New Titans crossovers with the Flash while Impulse was on the team, which would have made a lot of sense since Wally was once a Titan. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy what we did get 20 years ago.

Somehow, I've never read anything by Ron Marz before this. I need to remedy this problem. Soon. I've never cared about Kyle Rayner before, but Marz changed that in this one issue. He spent a lot of time with Kyle Rayner, the normal man, going about his day-to-day life, and I loved it. But somehow there was still plenty of time for some fun action at the end. That is how you pace a comic book.

Unfortunately, the art really held this issue back. And I don't think Darryl Banks is entirely to blame for that. For whatever reason, Steve Mattsson failed to color about half of Green Lantern's constructs. I don't know if that was intentional — like maybe something was causing them to be transparent — but I always thought whatever a Green Lantern makes should be bright green. In this issue, I had to go back over a couple of panels to figure what was going on, and then it felt really weird to realize that 90 percent of the panel should have been colored green but simply wasn't.

As for Impulse, I thought he was well-represented here. He was drawn just the way you'd expect him to be from this era, and he acted just he did in the pages of New Titans. I did like how he saved Arsenal — again — continuing to show that he is one of the more powerful and necessary members of the team.

Next time, we'll continue this green battle in The New Titans #116.