Review: Green Lantern Vol. 5- Test of Wills

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s second half details a compelling war between powerful forces. This war remains thrilling and contains enough surprises to stay interesting all the way through. The artwork is mostly positive.

Cons: The book’s first half has some problems with the way the narrative is structured. This first half also poorly handles the concept of the limited supply of emotional energy.

Overall: This volume has its fair share of problems but significantly improves as it goes along. The book’s first half has issues with the way its story is told and even in the way it is justified. However, as things progress, the problems become far less pronounced and the narrative gets far more enjoyable and interesting. It also helps that the majority of the artwork looks solid and enhances the read. Though this isn’t the best Green Lantern book out there, anyone just looking for a fun war involving the Corps may find it worthwhile.

Story

Test of Wills, by Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, is a lot better than its predecessor (Review) but is still mixed when it comes to overall quality. The problems set in early. The book’s first half feels choppy, as several simultaneously running story arcs distract from one another, and the previous book’s newly introduced concept, dealing with the universe’s limited supply of emotional energy, is poorly handled. However, things dramatically improve as the book enters its second half. Here, the narrative is more focused, more exciting, and generally more interesting. It also is unpredictable in a way that makes it even more fun to read. Though this volume has its ups and downs, I’m hoping that the second half is an indication that this series is on the upswing.

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The opening chapters of Test of Wills are not nearly as troubled as the majority of the chapters in the previous volume (Review) but are still troubled nonetheless. The narrative starts with a story about shapeshifters, jumps to one focused on Supergirl, spends a little time dealing with the Red Lanterns, before finally returning to the shapeshifters. Each of these pieces, as part of their own narrative, is interesting but the way they are spliced together here makes them far less appealing.

In addition, the opening half of Test of Wills poorly handles the concept of the universe’s emotional energy running out. It starts by declaring the Green Lanterns are going to police the use of this energy but this declaration falls to the wayside as the volume continues. It also fails to show the Green Lantern Corps taking any active steps to research this problem or find alternative ways to utilize energy, making them almost come across as the villains for a good portion of the read.

Luckily, the quality of the comic significantly increases as the “Uprising” story arc begins. This crossover between the Green Lantern series and the Green Lantern Corps series essentially details a war between the Green Lantern Corps and numerous other alien groups, all of whom are being coaxed into war by the shapeshifting Durlans. It is a very compelling war that sees both sides use creative strategy and intense power to try to one-up their opponent.

The best part about this war though, is its ability to constantly defy expectation. At first, it appears as if the war is a relatively straightforward attempt by the Durlans to grab power from the Green Lantern Corps. Then, it is slowly revealed that the entire war is a smokescreen designed to distract the Corps while the Durlans commit two genocides in order to advance their species’ evolution. Then, once it seems like their plan was stopped, one of the Green Lantern’s allies is revealed to have been a Durlan the entire time, nearly allowing her to salvage the Durlans’ entire operation. Watching the war evolve makes the reader truly hate the Durlans, which allows the Green Lantern Corps’ blunders to have less of an impact. These twists also keep the narrative tense, as the reader is never quite sure what is going to happen next.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Test of Wills is mostly positive, only stumbling slightly in the collection’s second half. The majority of the volume is penciled by Billy Tan and inked by Rob Hunter, with Martin Coccolo providing some work in a handful of chapters. These artists provide bold and creative takes on the cosmic adventures of this collection’s heroes. They make planets and the creatures who inhabit the planets feel unique and lifelike. They also present a visual intensity that matches the intensity of the war playing out through this collection. It also helps that the Green Lantern Corps issues, mostly drawn by Bernard Chang, look good as well and live up to the quality in the rest of the volume.

The only problem is that there are a few places in the collection’s second half where the visual styles shift in unpleasant ways. There are a few pages where dramatically different visuals make for a somewhat jarring reading experience. It is not a huge issue but is definitely noticeable.

Continuity

Green Lantern Vol. 5: Test of Wills continues the story from Green Lantern Vol. 4: Dark Days (Review).

The story here continues in Green Lantern Vol. 6: The Life Equation and Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Supergirl’s changed situation, from the beginning of the book, took place in Supergirl #28, collected in Supergirl Vol. 5: Red Daughter of Krypton.
• Criminals were recruited by the Green Lantern Corps in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 Annual #2, collected in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 5: Uprising (Review).
• The statues on the Red Lantern home world were added in Red Lanterns #27, collected in Red Lanterns Vol. 5: Atrocities.
• Red Lanterns #28 references a number of recent events in the preceding Red Lanterns issues. Many of these are collected across Red Lanterns Vol. 5: Atrocities and Red Lanterns Vol. 4: Blood Brothers (Review).
• The Lantern found in Green Lantern Corps #31 was last seen in Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #7, collected in Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors Vol. 1. 
• The events of Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 #31-33 make a number of references to recent events in the Green Lantern Corps series. This mostly includes their actions from Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 #28-30, collected in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 5: Uprising (Review).
• Daxam was conquered by the Sinestro Corps in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2 #33, collected in Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse.  
• Sodam Yat became host to the Ion entity in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2 #17, collected in Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War. 
• Sodam Yat had previously made Daxam’s sun yellow in Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2 #37, collected in Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse.