War of the Green Lanterns

I've been reading A LOT of back issues of pre-New 52 Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Emerald Warriors, including issues from the "War of the Green Lanterns" crossover event. Krona had released the dreaded Parallax into the main power battery on Oa, taking control of the Corps' collective mind and turning them against Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Kilowog, and Ganthet. Unable to use their polluted rings, Hal convinced the team to use different colored rings left behind when Lyssa Drak trapped other Lanterns of the Emotional Spectrum in the Book of the Black. Krona is an Oan scientist who became obsessed with observing the origins of the universe itself, constructing a machine that pierces the temporal barrier to view the beginnings of time itself. Krona catches a glimpse of the hand of creation depositing the speck that would become the entire cosmos. His machine explodes at that instant, and the universe is shattered causing the creation of the Multiverse as the universe replicates into an infinite number of parallel universes. As punishment for this act, Krona is transformed into pure energy by his fellow Oans and is sent to forever wander the cosmos. Krona's actions are what caused the Oans to become the Guardians of the Universe. (from Wikipedia)

I've really enjoyed Geoff John's stories, and am a HUGE fan of Doug Mahke & Tyler Kirkham's drawing in Green Lantern & Green Lantern Corps respectively- EPIC work, People! The images above are from Green Lantern #65, and below is from Green Lantern Corps #59...

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Green Lantern Corps: Brightest Day "The Weaponer"!

While I'm waiting for the March issues of the New 52 Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Lantern New Guardians, I've been catching up on issues of  Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, & Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors from 2010-2011. The Green Lantern Corps issues from around this "Brightest Day" period before DCs  New 52 reboot have been some of my favorite, including "The Weaponer" story arc, starting in Green Lantern Corps #53 (Dec. 2010). This ties in pretty nicely with my last post on DC Direct's Series 5 Sinestro & Soranik Natu, as the Weaponer who crafted Sinestro's yellow power ring has come back to take his revenge on the "Butcher of Korugar" for what he has done to Qward by holding his daughter hostage.

The art in this book by Tyler Kirkham, Batt & Nei Ruffino is spectacular, as is immediately evident in the opening flashback sequence of Thaal Sinestro receiving his yellow power ring from the Weaponer. While I have read the Sinestro Corps War in the last year, which I understand carries on in regard to Sinestro and his connection to Qward through this book, I'll admit that I've read so much Green Lantern in the last year that I've had a difficult time keeping it all straight in my mind!

There are a lot of whimsical moments mixed with the action throughout the book, both in the dialogue and visually, that made this book a real treat! In the following page, Kyle pokes fun at a new Sinestro Corps recruit, currently under a truce with the Green Lanterns, and the Weaponer shows up to slap Kyle Down, kidnap Sora, and send a message to Sinestro: "Surrender yourself or your daughter dies" ...

Kyle seeks out Sora's despotic father, deaf to his pleas to face the Qwardian Weaponer in order to save his daughter...

Exasperated by Sinestro's apathy, Kyle insists the Yellow Lantern return with him to Qward by way of a knuckle sandwich...!

Green Lantern Corps #54 (Jan. 2011) opens up with the insulted Sinestro his power ring in accordance with the treaty, and settling the matter toe-to-toe with the Green Lantern. "Fisticuffs Enabled"  :D

"This style of boxing is called Hammerfist, It was taught to me by the Korugarian Grandmaster Tivas Kark", goads Sinestro after knocking Kyle to the ground, "Who taught you to fight?" "Batman." answers the young Lantern as he slams a fist into Sinestro's breadbasket...!

Sinestro prevails however, knocking down Lantern Rayner three times before "invoking the mercy rule", advising him to go save her himself.

Meanwhile back on Qward, the Weaponer pleads his case to Sinestro's estranged daughter, who needs little convincing that her father is a heartless monster. It's because of Sinestro that all of Qward is now a post-apocalyptic wasteland, their god-king, the Anti-Monitor, destroyed in a war against the heroes of the Korugarian's universe, and the Sinestro Corps returning to enslave the Weaponer's home planet.

In Green Lantern Corps #55 (Feb. 2011), Kyle returns for Sora with his teammates to confront the Weaponer, who confidently dispatches the fighting unit one by one using his superior, adaptive weaponry that utilizes the primal life-force of the White Light! 

Gathnet's secret pact with Guy Gardner & Atrocitous is revealed to the other members of the Green Lantern Corps when he vomits blood upon being netted by the Weaponer, the mysterious alliance in defense against the threat of an old enemy destined to enslave the seven entities that embody the emotional spectrum (Krona, in the War of the Green Lanterns story that follows!). While the Weaponer delights in the mess Gathnet has wrought, Soranik sneaks up from behind with one of his own otherworldly weapons...

While the Thunderer's are confused by the Korugarian's appearance on the scene, the Sinestro Corps teleports in to throw a monkey wrench into the whole mess! Riveting!! 

Green Lantern Corps #56 (March 2011) opens with Sinestro calling all Yellow Lanterns to arms, demanding the Weaponer be destroyed for trying to ransom a thing he holds sacred... his dignity! You thought he was going to say "daughter", didn't you?   :D

The Green Lanterns attempt to shield the unsuspecting Thunderers from the rampaging Sinestro Corps, whom they must not engage in keeping with their current peace accord, the common enemy they share at home a larger threat... 

But Sinestro is not far behind his army, reminding his corpsmen to spare the Green Lanterns and concentrate on reminding the Qwardians why they fear them, and that the Weaponer is his alone to defeat... !

Realizing the Weaponer's shield is the key to his status as "protector" of the Qwardians, Soranik begins to realize that his salvation may be the key to ending the Sinestro Corps' reign of terror. Green Lantern Corps #57 (April 2011) finds Lantern Stewart returning to the battlefield with the Thunderer's, armed with the Weaponer's creations taken from his fortress...

After pummeling the Weaponer, Sinestro pulls his daughter from Lantern Rayner's hand, "I will not have you polluting my daughter." "You have no right to call me that! Since when were you ever a father to me?" Soranik fires back. But the Weaponer is on his feet once again...! 

The Weaponer eventually falls to Sinestro, but instead of killing him the Korugarian appeals to his lonely and despised Qwardian's sense of belonging, asking him to join the Sinestro Corps... and he accepts! Before departing through a portal with  the Weaponer and his corpsmen, Sinestro bids farewell to his estranged daughter, "You do know that had you been harmed in any way, I would have ground this world to dust." GREAT stuff, People... great stuff...!

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DC Direct Green Lantern Series 5 Sinestro & Soranik Natu

I was really excited to see some new DC Direct Green Lantern figures show up recently, Sinestro & Soranik Natu in particular. I'd seen a general lack of interest by fellow bloggers about the Green Lantern Sinestro, but I didn't have any of the other GL Sinestros that have been produced, and the New 52 Green Lantern started off with Sinestro being mysteriously reinstated as a Green Lantern by the Guardians of Oa, denouncing his affiliation with his own Sinestro Corps, warriors of the yellow light of fear. Thrilling!

I've said before that DC Direct lacks in articulation, they more than make up for in paint & sculpt- Sinestro is no exception. The piping sculpted into Sinestro's outfit  is a small detail that really adds to this relatively simple sculpt, and the metallic green paint really brings this out, repeated in his green eyes to really bring aesthetic unity. He does have bicep joints, as well as a cut joint at the boot tops & wrists, in addition to the usual DCD ball & socket shoulders & T-hips, and a serviceable ball-jointed head. While I like a super-articulated figure as much as anyone, I am attracted to the aesthetics of a toy as much as play value- that is to say, I enjoy them as art.

I've heard it said that either Marvel Select or DC Direct's limited articulation points are in compliance with their liscencing agreement, but they have their own charm in my opinion. I've pulled the arms off a couple these sometimes fragile toys, some of them have problems standing upright (especially some of the caped figures from the History of the DC Universe line), and the different lines often vary greatly in scale. That said, they are some of the most beautiful I own, and I enjoy their modeling after specific story arcs & DC Comics artist's style.

Before Sinestro became the arch-nemesis of the entire Green Lantern Corps, he was Hal Jordan's mentor and greatest of all the Green Lanterns. The former anthropologist from Korugar became bent on preserving order in the society of his home planet no matter the cost, resolving to conquer it to ensure this. As punishment for his crime, the Guardians banished Sinestro to the antimatter universe, where on the planet Qward he discovered the Weaponers. These warrior scientists hated the Guardians and Green Lanterns as much as Sinestro, and created a yellow power ring for the fallen Lantern to use as revenge on their mutual foe.

DCD Green Lantern Sinestro with DCD "Justice" Sinestro & Mattel's really short Wave 3 Sinestro Corps Sinestro...

Soranik Natu is the daughter of Sinestro, and niece of Abin Sur, Hal Jordan's predecessor. Introduced in 2005, Sora, as boyfriend Kyle Rayner calls her, was a neurosurgeon when the ring found her in the middle of a delicate surgery. Rejection it at first as the fate of her home planet was so enmeshed in her father's failure with the GL Corps, she finally acquiesced in order to save her patient. Rejected by her society upon completion of her Corps training, Sora opted to help the homeless with her medical skills & new power ring. As of writing this the father & daughter have never fought together as Green Lanterns, but they did ban together with the other Lanterns of the Emotional Spectrum to battle Nekkron & the Black Lanterns in the Blackest Night story arc.

Sora has the same articulation, lantern, and figure stand as Sinestro. There's some pretty obvious paint smear into the white glove on her right arm, but her pretty little face & eyes have been lovingly done. Great work! Her left boot top joint doesn't want to turn, but she holds her lantern more firmly than her father. Her limbs are a little thin, but that's her willowy styling. I like the sculpt of her torso a lot, her smooth tummy running straight through her t-hips into her thighs. I've read complaints about the plain-ness of her sculpt, but I like that about her. I am charmed by and treasure this dainty lady  :)

Sora with DC Direct New Krypton Superwoman & New Frontiers Wonder Woman...

Like the other DC Direct Green Lantern & Blackest Night Series figures, Sinestro & Soranik come with a color corresponding, transluscent base, theirs being green with the GL symbol. Will you just take a look at this outstanding pair... Wow! I had a ball photographing these! They're are a little taller than Mattel's DC Universe Classics, but I have them mixed together on a shelf in the vault and they look cool!

*See the DC Direct Action Figure Archive!

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Happy Valentine's Day!

"Built To Last" 2006

magazine collage, stickers, glitter, acrylic on masonite
10 x 8"

Though he's not really a superhero, I know many of my fellow dorks would enjoy this collage I created back in 2006 featuring Optimus Prime with the Japanese dancing robot  :D   This technique involved skimming through magazines to find characters, colors, & patterns I could cut out & paste down to make a little story- this one telling of a love "built to last". Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!

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DC Direct JLA Kyle Rayner

I've been reading a lot of Green Lantern lately, including the New 52 Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Lantern New Guardians, the last of which features Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. I've also been picking up issues of Green Lantern Corps: War of The Green Lanterns and Green Lantern Corps: Brightest Day from 2010-2011 as I find them. All these titles feature Earth Lantern Kyle Rayner.

I kick myself for not picking up the Mattel DCUC Kyle Rayner at K-Mart when I had the chance last year, but I stumbled upon this unusual DC Direct Kyle from the 2003 JLA Series. For awhile, Kyle was the only Green Lantern, appointed by Ganthet after Hal went crazy while hosting Parallax, killing all the other Green Lanterns in the universe. He briefly weilded the god-like powers of Ion during the "Final Night" & "Ion: Guardian of the Universe" series, and suffered a stint as host to Parallax during the Sinestro Corps War, but I believe this is Kyle's second GL outfit, the only version without his trademark, beveled facemask.

I relate with Kyle Rayner in that he's an artist and dreamer- his free-flowing imagination fuel his unusual constructs, making him a formidable opponent. Here he is sporting this outfit in Green Lantern: Rebirth (DC Comics Oct. 2004- May 2005) which I read last year...

DC Direct has come a long way since they released this 2003 version of Kyle, though as a pre-DCUC action figure, he had decent articulation and a somewhat premium sculpt & paint for the time. Measuring 6 3/8" tall, he's somewhat shorter than later DC Direct figures, and has a relatively slender build.

While this figure's cut neck joint and lack of wrist/forearm articulation limit his expressive possibility, I love how he looks. Yes, the sculpt is very stylized & "cartoony", the incised lantern symbols in his chest & shoulders are cool, and the light green paint is iridescent, unlike the regular Green Lantern series from DC Direct in the same year.  Additionally, the straps on his boots & ridges up the legs & arms have a glossy black finish that stands apart from his otherwise flat black bodysuit. He's pretty snazzy!

Kyle's lantern is sculpted like the one specific to his character in the comics, and has a clear lens inside. The JLA base he came with is a little too big, but it does help him with posing...

Here's Kyle with the DCUC Blue Lantern Flash I got recently:

I scored him for about $8.50 loose on Ebay, but have seen him go for thirty to forty bucks- too much in my opinion. I'd have paid a little more if he came mint on card, but not much. Don't misunderstand: I was thrilled to find him, but he's not as artful as some of DC Direct's more recent Green Lantern figures. Kyle seems to be an in-demand fan favorite, action figures of him going for more than usual on the secondary market. And while Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern of my generation, I've enjoyed reading about Kyle Rayner lately.

*See the DC Direct Action Figure Archive!

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