Review: Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns

Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns was published by DC Comics is 2007 and written by Geoff Johns with pencils by Ivan Reis, Mike McKone, and Shane Davis. Rage of the Red Lanterns acts as a prelude to the next big Green Lantern event, Blackest Night. The story involves Atrocitus, an old foe of the Green Lanterns forming his own Lantern Corps, the Red Lanterns to destroy the Green Lanterns Corps. The Red Lanterns draw on the emotion of rage to fuel their red power rings.

Rage of the Red Lanterns further expands the notion that there is an emotional spectrum that powers the various ring colors. Green power rings are powered by the user’s willpower, yellow rings are powered by the user’s ability to instill fear in others, orange power rings are fueled by the user’s greed, indigo rings are fueled by the user’s compassion, blue rings are fueled by the user’s hope which were created by exiled Guardians of the Universe, Ganthet and Sayd, and violet rings are used by the all-female Star Sapphire Corps, who draw on power of love to fuel their rings. A new group of Lanterns is also hinted at in this issue, the mysterious Black Lanterns, an army of zombies. All of these Lantern groups are prophesized in the Green Lantern Corps. rule book, The Book of Oa to engage in war with one another culminating in an event called Blackest Night, which will threaten to destroy the universe.

Rage of the Red Lanterns also expands on how the Green Lantern Corps. have drifted away from their core values since the Sinestro Corps. War. The Green Lanterns have now come to embrace the act of killing after being authorized by the Guardians of the Universe to do so. Hal Jordan quickly realizes that this is all a part of Sinestro’s plan to destroy the Green Lanterns by having them compromise their values, causing them to spread fear in the galaxy due to their newfound fondness for lethal force.

Geoff Johns does a great job of inching the overall story arc toward Blackest Night. The contrast of the Red Lanterns who all look like nightmares straight out of your worst nightmares and the peacefulness of the Blue Lanterns makes for great drama. The artwork by Ivan Reis, Mike McKone, and Shane Davis is able to show that the Red Lanterns aren’t really even people, they’re monsters. This is in contrast to just how serene looking the Blue Lanterns are.

Overall Rating: ****

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