Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #1 (of 5) - DC (2005)

I thought I was a big Green Lantern fan for a while, there. Turns out I'm a big Green Lantern Corps fan. I mentioned a lot of the stuff I like about the Corps in an earlier post and the first issue of Green Lantern Corps: Recharge has quite a lot of it.

The GLC has a long history in the DC Universe and many writers over the decades have had a lot of fun telling its stories. Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons have written a great opener to this miniseries. Hal Jordan and John Stewart are staying put in Sector 2814 (Earth's sector) while Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner go to Oa to attend the reformation of the Corps.

There are some good scenes of various people across the galaxy being visited by rings and told to report to duty. I love that stuff. Everyone from surgeons to criminals to beggars is eligible for membership as long as they meet a single criterion: the ability to overcome great fear.

The three Green Lanterns on the cover (see above) are going to get some major screen time during this series and that's a good thing. Kilowog, Rayner and Guy all have different approaches and personalities which will give us some entertaining stories. We've been introduced to a few other new Lanterns (such as Soranik Natu of Korugar) who will be very interesting to watch.

The only complaint I have about this first issue is the art. The backgrounds and setting pieces are well done as are the aliens. However the humans (and human-shaped aliens such as Superman) are distorted and look quite non-human. It wasn't enough to distract me from the great writing but it really stood out the second time I read this issue. I don't know whether to blame Patrick Gleason's pencils, Christian Alamy & Prentis Rollins's inking or an unholy alliance between them all but I hope a new artistic team comes on board for the upcoming monthly Corps title.

The phrase "monthly Corps title" makes me happier than anything from the Big Two has done in a very long time.