Review: Green Lantern Corps Vol. 4- Rebuild

Quick Summary

Pros: The entire volume is engaging and works well as a continuation of the series. The characters are great and their emotional journey is well done. The flashback to John Stewart’s past is unique and thoughtful. The visuals are well-laid out.

Cons: The Lights Out crossover chapters are jarring and feel out of place.

Overall: This volume continues the quality of the Green Lantern Corps series even as the comic’s focus changes. It manages to provide a thoughtful blend between compelling storytelling, intense action, and worthwhile character development. The positives are numerous while the negatives are few. In the end, this collection will easily appeal to anyone who enjoyed previous entries in this series or who is interested in the Green Lantern Corps’ adventures in this era.

Story

If you’ve read ComicBookWire’s reviews of Green Lantern Vol. 4: Dark Days (Review) or Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 4: Gods and Monsters (Review), you may be aware of the damaging influence the Green Lantern: Lights Out event has had on every series it extends into. This event is flawed at its core and has undermined character development for a number of heroes. However, Green Lantern Corps Vol. 4: Rebuild, by Van Jensen and Robert Venditti, is a dramatic exception to this rule.

Rebuild starts by addressing the aftermath of the Wrath of the First Lantern (Review) (Reading Order) event. This leads to a compelling story about new Lanterns learning about their new responsibilities and old Lanterns reevaluating their role in the Corps. The resulting storyline is emotional but has plenty of action to keep things interesting. Later on, the volume details a thematically relevant flashback to John Stewart’s past and begins addressing some of the aftermath from the Lights Out event. There are some minor places where this volume struggles but, overall, it is another quality entry in this series.

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The bulk of Rebuild stays true to the volume’s title by focusing on the Green Lanterns’ mission to rebuild the Green Lantern Corps. This involves training the new recruits, building new facilities, and generally picking up the pieces from the mess the Guardians created. It also shows how the universe’s opinion of the GLC has changed, with many now viewing them as a malevolent power set to suppress the will of various worlds. All of this makes for a unique take on the cosmic side of DC’s comic landscape, especially after the impact of Wrath of the First Lantern.

The narrative also makes a point to address the emotions and feelings within the Corps at this time. It shows how the new recruits are acclimating to their positions and even goes so far as to have one of them make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his teammates. Meanwhile, longtime Green Lanterns like Salakk and Kilowog struggle with the structure they have grown accustomed to changing. Finally, the relationship between John and Yrra is tested as the two grapple with an increase in their obligations to those around them. Exploring these personal stories is what makes this series different and interesting so I am glad to see it continue here.

In addition, Rebuild contains a single chapter that features an extended flashback to John Stewart’s past. The flashback is a touching and meaningful reflection on how an oppressive system can create chaos and violence. It comments on political issues and shows how the correct answer is not always the most obvious one. All of this also thematically connects with what is going on with the GLC, allowing it to serve as a perfect interlude within this larger narrative.

The only real problem in Rebuild is that the Lights Out chapters still feel slightly out of place. The destruction of Oa, the rise of an ancient evil, and the near destruction of the universe feel strange after the previous event incorporated extremely similar concepts. In addition, this volume makes no attempt to explain what happened in the chapters from this event that are not collected within this volume. Though this event reads better here than elsewhere, it still has a negative impact on the volume as a whole.

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Art

The artwork in Rebuild is pleasant and does a solid job in detailing the events of this volume. Bernard Chang’s work is well-laid out and allows the narrative to flow logically. There are also places where the page structures get a little creative and help make specific pieces of this narrative more interesting. However, the quality of the artwork mostly ends up just being average. It doesn’t necessarily stand out as particularly bad in any specific place, but it also doesn’t stand out as particularly good either. In the end, the visuals here are average but do manage to get the job done.

Continuity

Green Lantern Corps Vol. 4: Rebuild continues the story from Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3: Willpower (Review) and the Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern (Review) (Reading Order) event. Issues from this volume also form part of the Green Lantern: Lights Out event, which will be explained in our upcoming “Green Lantern: Lights Out Reading Order”.

The story here continues in Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 5: Uprising.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The Orange Lantern Corps attacked Oa in Green Lantern #21, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 4: Dark Days (Review).
• The Guardians’ attempt to create a new army in Rise of the Third Army (Review) (Reading Order) is referenced.
• Guy went undercover with the Red Lanterns in Red Lanterns #21, collected in Red Lanterns Vol. 4: Blood Brothers.
• Green Lantern Corps #25 is a tie in to the Batman: Zero Year event, which centers around the storm in Batman #29, collected in Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year- Secret City (Review).
• Green Lantern Corps #26 occurs after the events of Green Lantern #25, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 4: Dark Days (Review).
• Hal Jordan’s message from the end of this collection is sent out in Green Lantern #27, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 5: Test of Wills.