Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Red Lanterns #37 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Charles Soule
Art By: J. Calafiore, Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 24, 2014


Looking For Jewelry


We're coming down to the end and there isn't much left, so all you Lantern lovers better be paying close attention now because we're down to the wire.  Last time we looked in on Guy Gardner and Simon Baz they were being locked into a Miracle Cell when they boom tubed to New Genesis and had the misfortune of ending up in Malhedron's bedroom.  What they don't know is that other Lanterns have been brought to New Genesis and John Stewart and Saint Walker began the counter attack with the help of Malhedron, who now knows that Highfather's way might not be the best.  So Hal and Black Hand are at the Source Wall battling Orion, John and Saint Walker met up with Kyle and Carol but at the end of New Guardians it looked like they all might have met their maker.  Let's see what Guy and Simon have up their sleeves to get out of the Miracle Cell while Sinestro hopefully finds a boom tube and finds Hal and Black Hand.  Man, shit is really starting to happen fast.  Make sure you aren't left behind, let's check out GODHEAD Act 3 Part 4.

Explain It!:

I half expected to open this issue and see Guy Gardner playing a construct of a harmonica and telling us how nobody knows the sorrow he's seen and you know what?  I was half right.  No harmonica, but he is thinking back on the things he's seen and the people that he's let down and it's getting him pretty angry.  In case you don't know a Miracle Cell is a energy cube that holds the captives inside of it and surrounding the cube is a volatile energy that will destroy anyone caught in it.  Yeah, it's a little bit tougher than escaping from Alcatraz.  So Guy being his currently mopey self tells Simon to put his shields on full while he shoots everything he's got at the cell and while it works, if it wasn't for Malhedron turning off the energy field, Guy would of got his death wish and would've taken Simon out with him.


So yeah, Malhedron's there and it looks like he's making his rounds of atonement before he completely goes into hiding for betraying Highfather.  He tells Guy and Simon about the other Lanterns that are on New Genesis and he tells them about Hyalt the New God Weaponsmith, who's experimenting on the rings that Highfather obtained in the first act of this story.  Now the plan is to go to Hyalt's forge and to get their hands on the other rings, especially a blue ring so that they can get supercharged and actually put up a fight against the New Gods................. Only problem is they have to get past Hyalt.  Don't go thinking that Malhedron will go toe to toe with him and save the day because he's made it clear that he's done with all of this and takes off after showing Simon and Guy where the forge is, so now it's on our two heroes to save the day.  Oh and imagine that, Guy wants to go in there and do a whole suicide run while Simon gets the rings.  Mopey Guy is getting really annoying and I'm happy as hell that Simon has had enough of it too.  Instead of listening to Guy go on about how he's going to go in there alone, Simon just flies right up to Hyalt and starts the fight himself and for the most part, Simon is holding his own.  Go Simon!  Like all battles between the New Gods and Lanterns though, the New God gets the upper hand and if it wasn't for Guy getting a little juiced up by adding another red ring and doing his whole vomiting thing, Simon would of been killed.  After getting the rings and creating some bombs to keep Hyalt busy making sure that all his toys don't go boom, our two heroes make there way to find the other Lanterns and hopefully get the blue ring back to Saint Walker.


In the end, the Star Sapphire ring activates and goes to find a wearer and we jump to somewhere else on New Genesis where we find out that John Stewart, Saint Walker, Kyle Rayner and Carol Ferris weren't killed last issue but were transported away by Highfather................for some reason.  The Guardians also show up to tell us that they are the only hope in winning the battle and then completely go against what they just said and tell us that the Lanterns are the only hope.  Lousy Guardians and their flip flopping........... But hey!  Kyle's still alive!  Woo!


That's it for this issue of Red Lanterns and hopefully the end of Guy's mopey attitude.  Apparently all he needed was a good talking to by Simon Baz to get him out of his depression and to get him back in the ass kicking spirit.  While I would of liked to of seen more between Guy and Simon, this was a fun issue with great visuals and it makes me so sad to know that this series is on it's way out.  Hobo motorcycle gang Guy Gardner has really grown on me and to know that I won't be seeing him kicking ass with a bad attitude in the future is a little depressing, but at least we know that we've still got some time to soak it all in and this issue doesn't let us down in that department.  Charles Soule has Guy working through some depression right now and while that might sound depressing to the reader, it works well and appears to be over now and J. Calafiore keeps us entertained the whole time with his amazing art and his magic powers to bring these characters to life.  Just a really good issue with Simon and Guy being the odd couple that we never knew we wanted.  See you in Sinestro #8 for GODHEAD Act 3 Part 5 where hopefully he gets back to Hal and Black Hand and we can bring some zombies to New Genesis.  

Bits and Pieces:

I really love Red Lanterns and adding Simon Baz to this title for GODHEAD was such a stroke of genius that I'll be severely disappointed when it ends.  While we're not given ground shaking story altering epicness here, what we were given was two Lanterns doing their best to get out of a bad situation and trying to turn the tides of war while showing some humanity towards each other and you know what?  That's enough for me.  It's a fun issue with two characters that I've come to love as a duo and J. Calafiore's art is just the cherry on top.  Go check it out and continue your GODHEAD adventure. 

8.7/10

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