Saturday, April 26, 2014

Red Lanterns #30 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Charles Soule
Art By: J. Calafiore, Alessandro Vitti
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: April 23, 2014



Justice Isn't Blind.  It's A Red Lantern, Get The Hell Out Of There!


Last time we saw the Red Lanterns they were hanging out in Supergirl #30, and the gang was defending a planet against invaders.  We also saw Kara give a long drawn out explanation why she hates people that commit genocide, and her problem solving skills led to the conclusion that the people committing genocide should all be killed.  So we have a bit of a hypocritical solution here.  In the end of that issue we saw that the alien invaders want to use Kara for their own goals to wipe species almost off the map.  It's what they call "their gift" you see, if you almost kill an entire species the survivors will become stronger.  If this is what people are calling gifts nowadays then I'm not celebrating shit anymore.  So let's see if Bleez is ready to talk about what happened to Rankorr, and see what Guy Gardner plans on doing about Atrocitus.


Explain It!:

Our story begins with Bleez finally being well enough to talk about Atrocitus.  She lays down the dirt about the big red ugly and Dex Starr now being able to use constructs, and that they have a new Red Lantern at their side.  Her big plan is to go rescue Rankorr, who if you remember stayed to fight back Atrocitus so Bleez could escape.  Very honorable for a Red.  But Guy's concern is retrieving the other new Red Lanterns that are out there in the universe before Atrocitus can.  It's like Dragon Ball Z all of a sudden.  Need to get them before the big bad does.  

Guy Gardner has Zilius Zox reconfigure their ship The Kaalvar to be able pick up the Red energy signature, and he has Kara babysit Bleez so she doesn't do anything stupid like try and rescue Rankorr on her own.  It's a pretty funny scene where Bleez wants to know how a young girl can keep her there, then she tries pushing by her, and Kara doesn't move.  Bleez gives up and goes back to bed.  I actually laughed out loud at this part, which is odd for me because I'm dead inside.  So Kara and Bleez have some girl time where they learn about each other, and Bleez tells her the sole purpose to being a Red Lantern is so nobody ever has to be one again.  So the two start thinking about what their lives would be like without the rage fueled ring.

Now about Zilius reconfiguring the Kaalvar to pick up Red energy.  Now I know it's all about high tech star ships out there in space, and in the Lantern world but who could guess that a machine could easily be changed to support blood magic?  Now a couple issues ago we saw ZZ engulf the ship in red energy and I was okay with that, but to actually set up a red ring adapter for a specific use, I don't think even the little mad ball could pull off this techno hoodoo.  But all this is just me not understanding interstellar travel, and has no real baring on the book.  ZZ get's the job done, they find a huge energy source and the team fly off to find this new Red in sector 775 on the planet Primeen.

So who's this new Red?  Well let's find out.  Throughout the story we're given the background on a character called Sheko, who at the beginning of the story is about to become a judge on her world.  But not simply a judge as we know it, she's responsible for all judging.  It's a very important role on her world, and we see that she does a great job for decades, until her last case which has her judging the King's son for heinous crimes.  She sentences him to death, but the king has measures in place to make sure his awful son doesn't face the death penalty.  All the viewing screens to the courtroom are turned off and Sheko's bailiff, or what is the equivalent of a bailiff on this world turns and shoots Sheko.  He dumps her body into a some body of water, but before she dies by the hand of someone she thought was a friend, and ultimately by the royal court that she had served her entire life, a ring flies down and tells her she has great rage in her heart.  I don't know if I'm just getting excited for more Game of Thrones but all I could think about was how the Red Wedding would of turned out if Catelyn Stark had received a Red Ring while reading this.

So Sheko is returned to the land of the living with crazy blood magic pouring through her veins, and she proceeds to pass brutal judgement on everyone she comes across.  So when the Reds finally arrive they find a world that is terrified of someone wearing a Red Lantern symbol, I'd just be terrified of a gang of strange aliens flying down at me, but that's just me.  So once Guy calms down the scared populace he finds out that there are more an one Red here and we all know what that means.  Atrocitus is here.  That's it for this month's Red Lanterns we'll be able to jump back into this story in a month in Supergirl #31, see you then.

Bits and Pieces:

This is a completely character driven story, from Kara and Bleez bonding on a "What the hell are we doing here" level, to the newly introduced  Red's origin story, and lucky for me that's how I like my stories told.  Two artist take up the two parts of this story, and I had to double check once I was done because they work pretty seamlessly together in telling this sad rage fueled story.  Red Lanterns continues to please, and I'm still shocked that this is one of my favorite titles.  I mean come on who would of thought two years ago that this would be the go to Lantern title?  For all you nonbelievers out there go and get an issue, and see what I'm talking about.

8/10

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