Written by: Morgan Hampton
Art by: Fernando Pasarin, Will Conrad, Oclair Albert, Jason Paz
Colors by: Arif Prianto, Ian Herring
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Cover art by: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Matt Herms (cover A)
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: January 17, 2024
First Impressions
The opening pages hit hard with visual spectacle and immediate threat, establishing Enquar's planet-devouring agenda while the emotional entities search for their reincarnated avatars. The pacing feels urgent, grounding the cosmic threat in character-driven stakes before pivoting to the political intrigue unfolding on Oa. It's a solid hook that respects the reader's intelligence by trusting them to follow multiple threads without exposition overload.
Plot Analysis
The issue opens on the Procyon System where Enquar demonstrates control over Enquar's ocean, intent on resurrecting the water world in its own image, ultimately planning conquest beyond this single planet. Enquar manipulates Fatality's doubts about its true motives, feeding her both genuine partnership and calculated deception, as it prepares to spread its influence to other worlds while keeping Fatality emotionally tethered.
On Oa, Jessica Cruz broadcasts a message announcing the gathering of all six corps-states to forge unity through emotional spectrum alignment, hoping this radical experiment might grant all ring-wielders the ability to shift between power sets at will. The Indigo Tribe meditates in search of the reincarnated entity of compassion while cadets train above ground, Kilowog and Guy pushing the new generation to trust their instincts rather than overthinking their constructs. Larfleeze crashes the carefully choreographed political summit, revealing a hidden charged battery and declaring ownership of Oa before detonating an energy explosion that scatters the leadership.
The explosion fractures the unified defense structure immediately, with possessed Thanagarians spreading Larfleeze's avaricious energy while the leadership scattered across different locations, unable to coordinate. John Stewart realizes his hesitation to act cost lives and the planet, accelerating toward a larger conflict as Enquar's celestial mass mysteriously heads toward Oa from the Procyon System, defying known physics. The issue ends with the tease of imminent planetary collision, cliffhanging the stakes toward what's explicitly promised as "War for Oa" next month.
Writing
Morgan Hampton manages a complex narrative with three distinct storylines without letting any of them feel neglected, which is genuinely impressive for a single issue. The pacing accelerates naturally from the Enquar subplot's revelations into Jessica's political speech and then explodes into immediate action with Larfleeze's betrayal, maintaining momentum without feeling rushed. Dialogue varies between characterization and exposition, though some exchanges lean heavily into explaining the emotional spectrum alignment concept that might lose readers unfamiliar with recent continuity. The structure works because each scene has clear purpose and the escalation feels earned rather than arbitrary, and John Stewart's internal monologue about missed opportunities adds emotional weight beyond the spectacle.
Art
The issue features multiple art teams across the three primary sequences, and the consistency holds better than expected given the complexity. Enquar's opening sequence uses softer lines and water-based color palettes that contrast sharply with Oa's harder-edged military precision, making the visual distinction between threat and sanctuary clear without dialogue. The crowd scenes during Jessica's announcement prioritize character recognition over anatomical detail, a practical choice given the number of named characters that needed quick identification. The explosion sequence and subsequent action benefits from dynamic panel layouts and strong use of negative space to convey movement and force, though some of the possessed Thanagarian designs blur together slightly during the chaos sequence.
Character Development
Enquar emerges as the issue's most compelling antagonist precisely because Hampton gives it contradictory motivations, making it feel like a character rather than a plot device. Fatality's conflicted trust in Enquar's partnership feels genuine, not contrived, because the text acknowledges her legitimate reasons for skepticism. Jessica Cruz's confidence in diplomatic unity reads as slightly naive given the demonstrated tensions, which makes her vulnerability when the plan collapses feel like earned character growth rather than betrayal of prior characterization. John Stewart's guilt over inaction is understated but effective, grounding the larger conflict in personal stakes. The new cadets feel like developing characters rather than token diverse representation, particularly in how the issue respects their training and capability.
Originality & Concept Execution
The idea of forcing seven warring emotional spectrum factions to coexist and coordinate isn't entirely fresh in the Green Lantern landscape, but executing it at this scale on a single planet creates genuine tension. Enquar as a parasitic hive-mind represents a departure from typical Green Lantern villains by existing as a genuinely alien intelligence with motivations beyond conquest for its own sake. However, the execution stumbles slightly because Enquar's threat feels somewhat disconnected from the political intrigue with Larfleeze until the final pages. Larfleeze's betrayal is the issue's most original beat because it flips the expected dynamic of the chaotic orange lantern as comic relief into something genuinely threatening through preparation and manipulation.
Positives
The multiple-front narrative strategy pays dividends by keeping readers constantly engaged with fresh scenarios rather than retreading similar beats. Enquar's characterization as a complex antagonist with understandable motivations if deplorable methods makes for compelling reading that transcends typical hero-versus-villain dynamics. The visual distinction between sequences, powered by different art teams, creates a sense of cosmic scope without sacrificing clarity, making readers feel the scale of the Green Lantern universe. The final page revelation of an approaching celestial mass adds genuine mystery and raises stakes credibly without feeling manufactured. Hampton's dialogue consistently balances exposition with characterization, never letting world-building overwhelm personality, and the inclusion of Thanagarian refugees adds emotional weight to the political conflicts by reminding readers that lives are at stake beyond the dramatics.
Negatives
The issue struggles to balance three subplots within standard page count, meaning some character moments feel compressed or underexplored, particularly around the new cadets' training sequence that gets interrupted before finding its narrative momentum. Enquar's plan to spread influence remains somewhat vague in execution, which weakens the stakes since readers don't have clear understanding of how planetary resurrection translates to universal conquest. The possession sequence with Thanagarians creates action beats but sacrifices character clarity in the chaos, making it difficult to track which characters are where during the climactic moments. Larfleeze's sudden departure from his typical comedic characterization, while appreciated as a development, lacks sufficient setup to feel completely earned, as the character has been conspicuously absent from recent issues. The emotional spectrum alignment concept, central to the political plot, remains abstract enough that readers might not fully grasp what unified Corps members could theoretically accomplish, diluting the stakes of Jessica's grand experiment.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TwitterThe Scorecard
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [3/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [1/2]
Final Verdict
Green Lantern Corps #12 is a functional setpiece comic that sacrifices character cohesion for ambitious plotting, banking on next month's promised war to justify the clustered storytelling happening right now. Hampton proves competent at juggling multiple narratives simultaneously, but competence isn't the same as excellence, and readers investing in this series deserve more than a well-organized setup issue. The comic does enough things right to keep Corps fans engaged, though it neither deepens existing character relationships meaningfully nor introduces fresh enough concepts to justify the reader's time investment.
6/10
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