A power ring from each of the Lantern Corps suddenly abandons its wearer and begins seeking a replacement in Sector 2814. While Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is saving a construction worker, he is taking heat from a little kid who believes his uniform isn’t a cool has Hal Jordan’s. It’s a day in the life of a superhero, and such it is for Kyle.
Suddenly each of the rings descends on Kyle each repeating that he has been chosen. But Kyle’s problems don’t end there. The rings are followed closely by members of the respective corps, all claiming that the rings were stolen. Can Kyle defend himself and the civilian bystanders from six other angry lanterns?
“You have just been inducted into a proud and ancient order of interstellar peacekeepers. Think of yourself as a cosmic policeman with a power ring instead of a gun. The ring channels your willpower and projects it in any shape you can image.”
The Nerd’s Thoughts: I wouldn’t exactly call this a highlight issue of the New 52. It wasn’t an all around horrible issue, but for some reason it felt rushed and not totally put together. The issue starts out with a flashback to immediately after the Green Lantern Corps was wiped out. Ganthet, the sole survivor seeks out the first replacement Lantern and finds a young artist named Kyle Rayner. Even though Kyle is caught by surprise and reluctant to what is going on, he knows almost instantly and instinctively to use his power right. Ganthet has chosen his first recruit well.
Other scenes in the issue are of various other lanterns losing their rings and the consequences of losing their powers so suddenly. Not all of them manage to survive the loss of their ring. It is no wonder that the other lanterns sent to find the missing rings are angry when they discover a Green Lantern is in possession of them.
Beyond the little bit of back-story in this issue, it just felt rushed. Once the main story got going, the issue came quickly to an end. That’s great if you’re looking to sell comic books, but for issue number one, I as a reader felt cheated. As usual the artwork by Tyler Kirkham and Batt is beautifully done. But I wouldn’t give Tony Beddard high praise for the story in this issue.
Personally as a reviewer, I hate to give any comic a bad review. I try to balance the good with the bad of a particular issue. There is always something good to comment about in nearly every comic. I certainly wouldn’t categorize this as a book without merit. On the other side though, I found it difficult to get past the feeling of being rushes through the story. Green Lantern: New Guardians by far isn’t the best of the new DC releases this month, but it is far from the worst.
it'll probably make sense once the trade comes out