Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 Review

Summary

In the past Ganthet digs himself out of the bodies of the deceased Guardians of the Universe. He creates a power ring and goes to earth where he bestows it on artist Kyle Rayner of earth and is impressed at how quickly he can use it.

In the present a Sinestro corp member is cutting a swath through an armada when his ring abandons him. Elsewhere a red lantern has his ring abandon him and dies. In another sector a Star Saphire loses her ring and Fatality luckily manages to save her and track the ring to its intended host in sector 2814. On earth Kyle saves lives at a construction site when suddenly all the rings surround him as he’s been chosen to wield them. With the rings comes a plethora of Lanterns to kill Kyle for “stealing” them. He prepares for battle.

The Good

Retcon- Right off the bat we get the new retelling of how Kyle arrived at getting his ring. You will either love it or hate it since a part of Kyle’s charm has been the seeming randomness of his selection and eventually ascending to literal godhood and remaining human. He was also completely self trained in the use of his ring and managed to host the Ion Entity and was the reason the Guardians even exist today. This retcon suggests that there was a reason that he was chosen and also suggests that Ganthet had a more direct involvement with his training.

Art-Tyler Kirkham’s artwork is very striking and visually pleasing. There is smoothness to his work that makes the comic look like cartoonish with a tinge of anime. Very pretty stuff!

Humour- I enjoyed the humorous moments throughout the issue. Particularly the jokes about Kyle as just another Lantern and the kid making fun of his costume all these are staples of the character and felt “classic”.

Kyle- Here’s a character that thrives on being on earth since he’s so human and accessible like Peter Parker. It was refreshing to have him back in his element.

Fatality– Finally some panel time to deal with her conversion to the Saphires and whether or not her old personality is still there. She also has a history with Kyle dating back to his early days as a hunter of green lanterns. I’m hoping that Tony Bedward will find time to show her how her transition to becoming a sapphire has affected or simply moderately changed who she was originally. + Her inclusion gives me an excuse to include this title on my monthly review list (yes!)

The Bad

Redesign- Not a fan of the simplified version of Fatality’s costume……it just seems like a step back for her although I get the artistic liberty taken with characters in a shared universe.

Physiology- Another major nitpick on my part, Fatality is portrayed as completely human, sorry but fatality has large elven ears which are her trademark…..as a fan this small anatomical problem was jarring.

Lack of explanation– Ok for new readers the swarm of rainbow lanterns may need clarification….there is no explanation given about their powers and why they are different colors. Not new user friendly.

Story- This issue felt like marvel’s new .1 stories which simply introduce you to the main character but is light on story details. This issue was entirely set up with sparse story details.

Art style- Some may complain about its simplicity and lack of detail.

The Ugly

Good Start to Kyle’s life away from John Stewart! 3/5