Link: http://www.walkerofworlds.com/

Green Lanterns are intergalactic space cops. Mostly aliens but also three humans who have been gifted with a green ring that is the most powerful weapon in the universe. It is limited only by the wielder’s imagination and is fuelled by willpower, which its creators, the Guardians, believe is the most powerful force in the universe. Others disagree. In fact there is a whole emotional spectrum out there that has created a number of other Lantern Corps using different emotions as power sources. The Sinestro Core is fuelled by Fear, others by Hope, Love and so on and each is a different and appropriate colour. Then there are the Red Lanterns who are fuelled by Rage. The previous Green Lantern comic series has touched on the Red Lanterns, but this is the first time they’ve had their own ongoing book. It’s also focused on the creator of the Red Lanterns Corps, Atrocitus, who we’ve only seen as a villain so far. This is the first story told from his perspective and to me, it’s an interesting point of view.

Follow up:

Atrocitus is a monstrous looking alien with sharp teeth and claws and he has no qualms about slaughtering people. His introduction in this first issue makes it clear what he will do and he is not an anti-hero working towards redemption. He is someone who kills those he feels deserves it and he doesn’t get upset about it afterwards. I doubt if he even gives it another thought. His rage is also without limits and it’s with good reason as the population of his entire world was murdered. If you’ve read the previous Green Lantern series then there is more details in this issue about the cause of his rage, and if you are a new reader it tells you everything to need to know.

The one aspect that is touched on in this first issue but I think deserves a bit more explaining is that Red Lanterns are not exactly clear thinkers. Other coloured Lanterns have called them wild dogs because although the Red Lanterns might be powerful, their rage often clouds their thoughts and it makes them vicious but not great strategists. Their approach is very much attack first and worry about the details later. This is actually their greatest weakness, because even though their rage might be justified, they are so driven and focused on vengeance or revenge, it makes them blind to danger. So a Red Lantern might attack several enemies because he believed they deserved it, not realising or even thinking about being outnumbered.

The exception to this rule is Atrocitus and in this first issue we see him doubt how useful his fellow Red Lanterns are and his own place in the universe. He’s lost his way, his rage doesn’t burn as brightly as it used to, so he goes on a spiritual journey by entering a fever dream to help him regain his natural balance.

I didn’t expect it but there is a touch of spirituality to the Red Lanterns and their leader in particular. There are flashes of larger events to come and also some scenes on Earth, which suggest to me the possibility of the first permanent Red Lantern. A couple of people have worn the Red before but they managed to cast it off eventually after they too became wild dogs. I’m also hoping some of the other Red Lanterns, perhaps the new recruits, will be able to think clearly otherwise the issues will mostly have to focus on Atrocitus as the rest just growl and fight each other for fun.

The artwork by Ed Benes is amazing as ever and the colours by Nathan Eyring really make the art pop on the page. The writing was quite tight and it didn’t introduce too many different plot threads in the first issue, which was great, as this first issue was mostly focused on introducing Atrocitus and the concept of the Red Lanterns.

Overall I really enjoyed this first issue and I think it has a lot of potential. There’s also the fact that it’s very new, and although it has some similarities to Green Lantern, it doesn’t have decades of previous stories so there’s a lot to explore. It’s definitely a darker book than Green Lantern and that suits me perfectly as an older reader. Great stuff and I’ll be signing on for this series in the long term.