Green Lantern #40 ( DC – Johns / Tan / Glapion )
“Agent Orange” part 2! The prelude to “The Blackest Night” continues as the war of light explodes across the Vega System. It’s the Green Lantern Corps vs. the bizarre Orange Lantern Corps led by the most disgusting, filthiest, vilest being in the universe. But now that Agent Orange has been disturbed, what does that mean to the rest of the universe? Plus, John Stewart battles alongside his newest ally…Fatality?”
Enter the violent and immensely powerful greedy bastards of Agent Orange. Larfleeze and his agents are collectors of, well, anything they want. And they want rings of different colors. It also seems as they want vengeance on the Guardians for locking them away in the Vega System for a millennium.
The Vega System has been the only sector of space that has been off limits to all GL Corps members because of the deal made between Larfleeze and the Guardians. They gave him his own sector of space, but in doing so also made a safe haven for every intergalactic criminal on the loose, sort of a space version of Tortuga Island. When the guardians enacted yet another law opening the borders of the Vega System, it became open season on all criminals in hiding. The GL Corps starts having a field day, that is until Agent Orange shows up.
Once again we see a Corps of the light spectrum that doesn’t so much as recruit it’s members as it does take them. The Red Lanterns tap into a beings rage, the Star Sapphires trap their members and brainwash them, and now Agent Orange members transmute fallen members from other corps into their own greedy ranks. Isn’t it interesting how the only members that seem to have a recruiting scheme are the yellow and green corps?
The writing and art are up to par in this issue. Geoff Johns continues his slow burn toward the Blackest Night as he continuously widens the cracks in the guardians facade. This issue does have it’s share of action, but it’s still in the realm of “slow burn” storytelling. The only big reveals in this issue is the new law in the Book of Oa and the slight peek at Agent Orange. Still, after all these months I feel like I’m still reading the introduction a big novel that I’m sure will be great. I just really want all the players to be put in place so real story can get rolling.
Grade: B-
