Comic Review: Green Lantern New Guardians #25

Written by: Laura Hong-Tuason, CC2K Comics Editor

With the Green Lantern Lights Out crossover at its end, welcome back to your regularly scheduled programming of Green Lantern New Guardians! Some spoilers ahead if you haven’t completed Lights Out.

Writer: Justin Jordan
Illustrator: Brad Walker, Geraldo Borges

At the end of Lights Out, all the corps of the emotional spectrum think Kyle Rayner is dead. It was discovered that the power of the emotional spectrum has a limit. Once the power runs out, the universe would be destroyed. Being the smart White Lantern that Kyle is, he sacrificed his life, with all the emotional entities inside him except for Parallax, into the reservoir wall of light to refuel it. Sadly no one, not even the Earth Lanterns, seemed too broken up about it. That was a punch in the gut for me! Fortunately the new guardians discovered him and the story ended with them telling him not to reveal to anyone he was alive.

Now in Green Lantern New Guardians #25, it opens up with Carol Ferris finding out Kyle is indeed alive. Though only because the guardians contacted her to come to them. Both Kyle and Carol are confused about where they are and what task the guardians have in store for them. They are informed they are on the planet Exuras, the greatest planet in the universe. Apparently it’s a utopian planet, but the guardians are skeptical. Therefore they’ve instructed Kyle to explore the planet to see if it is genuine or if there is something sinister running amuck.

At the same time, Kyle is afraid to use his White Lantern powers in fear of depleting the reservoir once more and putting the universe at stake. Exuras is significant because if it is truly a utopia, then it holds the key to preventing the further depletion of the emotional spectrum. Thus begins Kyle and Carol’s adventure into what I can only describe as a Doctor Who mind trip.

This issue is a fun start to a new, and I hope self-contained, story arc. It’s a nice refresher, treading into new territory and fruitful concepts. Kyle is portrayed the way I always imagine him to be. He’s quirky and charming with a carefree attitude, but he’s also hopeful and compassionate. A true artist! I highly appreciate how he has been illustrated these days. Before the new creators came along, Kyle was going downhill in the art department. I often think about his awful widows peak he had on for awhile (shudders).

With the exception of me disliking how Carol keeps popping up in New Guardians due to my own personal vendetta against her because I’m crazy (feel free to ask me about it), I can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m also curious to see if in the other Green Lantern #25 titles, Hal, Guy, or John will mention Kyle at least once. Fingers crossed!