Green Lantern Corps: Recharge

So when I reviewed the first volume of “Green Lantern Corps” last week, it had slipped my mind that it wasn’t actually the “first volume.”  Like a lot of ongoing series, it was preceded by a mini-series to see if there was an audience for it.  “Recharge” does a good job of setting things up for the subsequent ongoing; though, as you might have guessed from the fact that I was able to read the first volume without feeling too lost, it’s hardly an essential read.

With the Guardians, the floating blue space midgets behind the Green Lanterns, now back in the DC Universe, the hard work of rebuilding the GLC has begun.  Fortunately, they have a few experienced lanterns in the form of Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and Kilowog to help lead the charge.  Before you can say, “It’s a trap!” they and the rookies find themselves involved in a galaxy-wide plot by the nefarious Spider Guild to destroy the GLC before it has a chance to re-establish itself.

This series was written by both Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons, two men who really know their way around mainstream superhero fare, and it reads like a big, flashy summer blockbuster as a result.  We’re introduced to the various members of the cast, the threat is built up, then revealed, and all the heroes come together in a stunning display to save the galaxy.  It’s not very original, but it hits all the right notes and comes off as a satisfying cosmic action story in the end.

Reading this story after the proper first volume of the series, I was pleased to find out a little more about the characters featured there.  It’s established that Vath, the Rannian with a temper, was selected for Lantern duty in the middle of a war and tried to kill his attackers with the ring before he was whisked off.  He also didn’t get along with his eventual partner Isamot who was plucked from death row by his ring.  Turns out that the Thanagarian lizard man killed his commanding officer who wanted to surrender to the enemy.  Then you’ve got Soranik Natu, “Ms. Pity Party” in the subsequent volume, who takes the most interesting route as a Lantern since after she’s selected by the ring in the middle of surgery (saving the patient’s life in the proces) she demands to leave.  Turns out that Sinestro’s reign on her home planet when he was a Lantern has made the ring a symbol of fear and oppression.  Whould’a thunk?  The background stories offered here don’t really give me a reason to change my assessment of the characters being fairly one-dimensional, but the additional information gives me hope that they’ll get another dimension eventually.

Art is provided by Patrick Gleason here, and while his work isn’t as detailed or ornate as it was in “To Be A Lantern,” he still displays a great versatility in handling character expressions and the various weird aliens creatures and surroundings that populate this collection.  In fact, he appears to be strongly influence by current “Green Lantern” artist Doug Mahnke here as a lot of the characters and aliens bear a more than passing resemblance to his style.  I’m not complaining, as Mahnke is a great artist and his talent for drawing strange, over-the-top creations is one that more artists could stand to imitate.

In the end, the book is as entertaining as a good popcorn flick and almost as forgettable due to its predictability and lack of originality.  If you’re like me and have jumped on the “Green Lantern” bandwagon with the Geoff Johns era, then you’ll be entertained by this too.  Sure, there have been better spin-offs, but this one is pretty good for what it is.