GLC: Recharge #4: Spoilers

[The Wayner]

Another very good issue! Things are setting up nicely as we near the ongoing...

And what's going on in #4?

Kilowog lays down some heavy punches. Guy is his usual self. The rookies are saved. And the Spider Guild...

I could dig the webs in sub-space. Not to mention the threat that the Spiders are proposing to Oa. In a need to feed their young with the power of a sun, the Spiders have launched an attack that leaves the GLC off-guard. The rookies have yet to overcome their yellow weakness, and the Spiders outnumber them greatly.

But, as the Guardians hang their heads fearing the worst, the GLC vows to fight to the death...

Have to admit that spiders give me the creeps, so that's always a plus, lol. Can't wait for #5!

Thoughts?

[TinMan]

I concur, this is looking better and better! Really enjoyed this issue, the rescue of the rookies, the daring escape and now the imminant threat to OA from the spiders! Great bits of excitement and suspense, not to mention good Sci-Fi w/ the "subspace spider-web" thing, thats just a great idea. Can't wait for issue #5 and then the ongoing, if its anything like the last couple, I'm gonna love it.

[bosshog7169]

DC has finally gotten this Grren Lantern thing back on track. Everything is perfect in both this series and the Hal series. I was never a big GL fan but these comics are quickly approaching the top of my list. The only thing that DC could do better is to give Guy his own series, but this is close enough.

[Calamas]

Sorry, Kyle is next. Then Guy . . . maybe. Who knows?

[stealthwise]

Sorry, Kyle is next. Then Guy . . . maybe. Who knows?

Guy is getting his own series called Overdrive. I believe that it's written by Howard Chaykin.

[mgs]

I concur, this is looking better and better! Really enjoyed this issue, the rescue of the rookies, the daring escape and now the imminant threat to OA from the spiders! Great bits of excitement and suspense, not to mention good Sci-Fi w/ the "subspace spider-web" thing, thats just a great idea. Can't wait for issue #5 and then the ongoing, if its anything like the last couple, I'm gonna love it.
agreed!

i was hoping when this was announced that this book would live up to what it's been so far, and I've been very pleased with the results!!!! :)

but an ongoing??!?? i heard this was gonna be it. are there plans?

[stealthwise]

agreed!

i was hoping when this was announced that this book would live up to what it's been so far, and I've been very pleased with the results!!!! :)

but an ongoing??!?? i heard this was gonna be it. are there plans?

Yep. Written exclusively by Gibbons, I think that it launches right after the mini wraps up.

[mgs]

Yep. Written exclusively by Gibbons, I think that it launches right after the mini wraps up.
awesome news!! thanks stealth! ;)

[ducklord]

While nothing gladdens this fanboy heart more than the return of the Green Lantern Corps, I really really REALLY wish someone at DC would decide whether the Corps wtaches over the Universe (or some non-trivial subset of it), or just the Milky Way. Between the goings on in Infinite Crisis, the Rann-Thanagar War, Hawkman and GL: Reborn, and GLC: Recharge, we've had:

-- Polaris as a star in the Milky Way
-- Polaris as its own galaxy
-- A Green Lantern from Rann, famously the closest extrasolar planet to Earth in the DCU
-- Kyle Rayner narration explicitly stating that the Guardians divided the universe in 3600 sectors
-- Implications that Oa used to be at the center of the Milky Way, implying that the Corps was merely a galactic organization

This may seem like a trivial thing, but it really grates my carrot when writers casually toss around "universe" and "galaxy" like they're interchangable. They're not. It's like not knowing the difference between James Yee of Brooklyn, NY and the entire population of China. Times ten.


Sorry 'bout that,
Mike.

[Patience]

Umm... Rann was moved to the Polaris system.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This really is a great time to be a GL fan. Both comics are great reads, and both Kyle and Guy are going to get their own comics shortly. The only GL whose fate is a mystery One Year Later is John Stewart.

I wonder what they've got cooked up for him?

[Patience]

This really is a great time to be a GL fan. Both comics are great reads, and both Kyle and Guy are going to get their own comics shortly. The only GL whose fate is a mystery One Year Later is John Stewart.

I wonder what they've got cooked up for him?

Hopefully, soemthing good. He's got potential (http://glyphsonline.blogspot.com/2006/01/would-you-buy-all-star-green-lantern.html) but no one seems to want to use it (http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/01/john-hals-got-paperwork-stewart.html).

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Hopefully, soemthing good. He's got potential (http://glyphsonline.blogspot.com/2006/01/would-you-buy-all-star-green-lantern.html) but no one seems to want to use it (http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/01/john-hals-got-paperwork-stewart.html).

I've been telling everybody who'll listen that DC should revive MOSAIC again and again....and I'll keep doing it until they listen.

It was a damn good book and made John an interesting character in his own right. MOSAIC gave him a distinct and necessary role amongst all the various Earth Green Lanterns.

Alan is the Icon, the Legend, the Original. Superman.

Hal is the Man of Action, the Alpha Male, the Super Hero. Captain Kirk.

Guy is the Jerk, the Loudmouth, the Joker. The Smartass.

Kyle is the Everyman, the New Wave, the Artist. Peter Parker.

John is the Smart One, the Thinker, the Strategist. The Philosopher.

All of those characters fit a certain role and work best in different kinds of stories. DC should let those characters play to their strengths. And having John act like a more hard-assed military Hal Jordan clone is not the way to go about it. Just as trying to turn Kyle into Hal didn't work either. MOSAIC was a seminal comic for John Stewart and DC should look to it for way to do with the character now.

And, Jade, unfortunately, is still The Chick. Hopefully, someone will think of something to do with her besides having her play the role of Bitch.

[Patience]

Someone will eventually. And hopefully, we'll get all the necessary wierdness with it. :)

And, Jade, unfortunately, is still The Chick. Hopefully, someone will think of something to do with her besides having her play the role of Bitch.


How about The Deceased? :evilsmile

Soranik or a resurrected Katma can be the Chick.

(And I think Kyle's too artsy to be a Peter Parker type anymore. They need to embrace the crazy artist archetype with him. I so want to see him take a ten-day sculpting/painting binge where he doesn't sleep and sustains himself only on coffee and koolaid after some sort of trauma. Kyle's already half insane, why not go the full mile?)

[Bored at 3:00AM]

(And I think Kyle's too artsy to be a Peter Parker type anymore. They need to embrace the crazy artist archetype with him. I so want to see him take a ten-day sculpting/painting binge where he doesn't sleep and sustains himself only on coffee and koolaid after some sort of trauma. Kyle's already half insane, why not go the full mile?)

I'd also like to see them push the artist angle of Kyle a little harder. Morrison was really the only one who exploited that element to its full potential.

[CaptainAwesome]

Guy is getting his own series called Overdrive. I believe that it's written by Howard Chaykin.
Really? Never heard of this. Is there any site with info on it?

[stealthwise]

Really? Never heard of this. Is there any site with info on it?

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=78426&highlight=green+lantern+overdrive

Strange, that's all I could find. I remember a brief Newsarama mention about it though.

[The Wayner]

Am still looking forward to this'un!

[CaptainAwesome]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=78426&highlight=green+lantern+overdrive

Strange, that's all I could find. I remember a brief Newsarama mention about it though.
Thanks a lot! Kinda dissapointed that its only a mini though.

[Violently Apathetic]

Guy's getting his own mini? Kickass...more money for me to toss away! Yay! It can't be helped though, I love Guy.

[Black Hole]

I was very excited about recharge, mostly because of The One, True Green Lantern Guy Gardener, but this is pretty bad.

I suspect it's because of John's influence, hopefully Gibbons is not this bad by himself. The problem with Green Lantern is that writers keep lowering the bar on the Lanterns to make the story work.

What I mean by this is that a lot of these writers can't think up a credible threat to a GL so they put in some contrived plot device to force peril into the story for the Lanterns.

Now take this issue...plenty of bitching about how the rings are almost out of power, but they keep fighting to the end and all that crap. Give me a break.

Shouldn't we be past all of this crap by now? And it is crap. Why don't they carry the damn batteries with them? Just shrink them or order them to follow them invisibly floating behind them until needed? Just put them in subspace until they need to call them out. Set it to appear automagically through warp space from wherever it is? Or here's a good one...why don't the damn Guardians get rid of this ridiculous flaw in the whoe setup???

We know why the writers don't..they need this plot cotrivance to fall back on when they write themselves into a corner. But it makes absolutely ZERO sense considering the power of the Green Lanterns.

And speaking of power, I'm tired of all these mediocre battle that are appearing in Recharge and over in GL. Most of these fights are very improbably drawn out considering the level of power that a GL has. Why are they trading shots with spaceships?? Ridiculous! Blow it away, turn it to dust, drain it's energy, teleport it away, or simply refuse to engage them and just keep the shield up and be done with it and go about your business! Get on to the real threat. Maybe the "rookies" can be excused for this, but not Guy, Kilowog or Kyle...especially Kyle! He's supposed to be so damn imaginative...well let's see something!

I'm supposed to believe that SIX GL's were in danger from the Spider-Guild? Yes they are dangerous to average citizens of Vega and other parts of the universe, but not to 3 top notch Gl's and 3 of their students. Utter nonsense.

So now that brings me to the assualt on OA. WHAT?! This had better turn out that the Guardians have some plan...maybe they are willing to sacrifice some GL's to put the rest through the wringer, a crucible just to get them up to speed.

I can't believe that any armed force would think that an assualt on OA itself would be anything other than a death sentence. Why is this all up to the GL's? WHY DON'T THE GUARDIANS JUST BLINK THE SHIPS OUT OF EXISTENCE? We're told over and over again how powerful the Guardians are, but we don't see it. Guardians should NOT need Green Lanterns to save themselves! That's ludicrous!

I would like to see this situation resolved as such. The attack is happening, the Guardians say enough is enough...they go back to work and leave one Guardian to deal with the attack. He blinks and the Spider-Guild fleet is disintegrated, all dissipated into nothingness as if they never existed. One second later, the Guardian turns back around and goes back to work with the rest.

Other issues:

Is Guy Gardener GL #2814.2 or 2814.3? In Recharge he's the former, over in Gl #7 he's the latter. So who's who:

Hal-#2814.1
John-#2814.2
Guy-#2814.3
Kyle-#2814.4

That's what I would guess. Anyone else? Or has this been ironed out somewhere else?

I don't know how I feel about Bolphunga being used. I thought that was a great Alan Moore story where he tried to take on Mogo. But the great part about the tale was that I never knew if Tomar Re just made it up to mess with Arisia's head or not. has Bolphunga ever appeared in between that story and this?

Even though I have a pretty solid dislike of Kyle, I liked how he's got this enemy who despises him. Even if it is Fatality and I hated those original stories she appeared in.

Man I hope they can fix this stuff. Hopefully Gibbons on his own will be able to think a little bigger. The whole GL franchise right now is just horribly mediocre.

Oh yeah:

Alan is the Icon, the Legend, the Original. Superman.

Hal is the Man of Action, the Alpha Male, the Super Hero. Captain Kirk.

Guy is the Jerk, the Loudmouth, the Joker. The Smartass.

Kyle is the Everyman, the New Wave, the Artist. Peter Parker.

John is the Smart One, the Thinker, the Strategist. The Philosopher.

This was spot on characterization man. Exactly my take on the GL's.

[sschroeder]

I'm enjoying this series. The coloring has been nice, down to the different word balloons. It hasn't been flawless, but I think Black Hole is too harsh.


Now take this issue...plenty of bitching about how the rings are almost out of power, but they keep fighting to the end and all that crap. Give me a break.
Maybe these rings run out of power during engagements too frequently, but they did pretty much stop fighting at that point for the rest of the issue, retreating to a force field, and the one ring bearer with significant power took them away from the battle. Only the Lanterns who came to help them later in the issure really did anything ring-wise.


And speaking of power, I'm tired of all these mediocre battle that are appearing in Recharge and over in GL. Most of these fights are very improbably drawn out considering the level of power that a GL has. Why are they trading shots with spaceships?? Ridiculous! Blow it away, turn it to dust, drain it's energy, teleport it away, or simply refuse to engage them and just keep the shield up and be done with it and go about your business! Get on to the real threat. Maybe the "rookies" can be excused for this, but not Guy, Kilowog or Kyle...especially Kyle! He's supposed to be so damn imaginative...well let's see something!

I'm supposed to believe that SIX GL's were in danger from the Spider-Guild? Yes they are dangerous to average citizens of Vega and other parts of the universe, but not to 3 top notch Gl's and 3 of their students. Utter nonsense.
If GL's have this much power, it would be tough to come up with credible threats!


So now that brings me to the assualt on OA. WHAT?! This had better turn out that the Guardians have some plan...maybe they are willing to sacrifice some GL's to put the rest through the wringer, a crucible just to get them up to speed.

I can't believe that any armed force would think that an assualt on OA itself would be anything other than a death sentence. Why is this all up to the GL's? WHY DON'T THE GUARDIANS JUST BLINK THE SHIPS OUT OF EXISTENCE? We're told over and over again how powerful the Guardians are, but we don't see it. Guardians should NOT need Green Lanterns to save themselves! That's ludicrous!
You should consider that if you don't see it, maybe they just aren't as powerful as you imagine. Perhaps they have created a legend about themselves that is rarely challenged.


I would like to see this situation resolved as such. The attack is happening, the Guardians say enough is enough...they go back to work and leave one Guardian to deal with the attack. He blinks and the Spider-Guild fleet is disintegrated, all dissipated into nothingness as if they never existed. One second later, the Guardian turns back around and goes back to work with the rest.
I don't think I'd enjoy your resolution to the story. If the Guardians really had these levels of power, you can bet they would restrain themselves from using it in the ways you describe.


Is Guy Gardener GL #2814.2 or 2814.3? In Recharge he's the former, over in Gl #7 he's the latter. So who's who:

Hal-#2814.1
John-#2814.2
Guy-#2814.3
Kyle-#2814.4

That's what I would guess. Anyone else? Or has this been ironed out somewhere else?
I would say you are right. It looks like the Recharge guys made a mistake. Hopefully, it won't happen again.

[Cowlander]

One of the best books this week. It still continues to kick all types of arse...

[G. Wayne]

I was very excited about recharge, mostly because of The One, True Green Lantern Guy Gardener, but this is pretty bad.

I suspect it's because of John's influence, hopefully Gibbons is not this bad by himself. The problem with Green Lantern is that writers keep lowering the bar on the Lanterns to make the story work.
...
We know why the writers don't..they need this plot cotrivance to fall back on when they write themselves into a corner. But it makes absolutely ZERO sense considering the power of the Green Lanterns.

And speaking of power, I'm tired of all these mediocre battle that are appearing in Recharge and over in GL. Most of these fights are very improbably drawn out considering the level of power that a GL has...


Do you want a full Green Lantern Corps where every single Lantern never has to recharge the ring, and the ring has no weaknesses? Exactly what would be a threat to them then? Thwarting universal destruction every arc from Maggedon level threats would get kind of old, I think.

If they power them down, so to speak, (rings running out of energy, inherent "powercheck" weaknesses in the rings, inexperienced rookies being the bulk of the members) there's so much more that they can face and have it be a credible opponent.

[Black Hole]

I'm enjoying this series. The coloring has been nice, down to the different word balloons. It hasn't been flawless, but I think Black Hole is too harsh.

You know, I am sorry for coming off so harsh, but I just get so frustrated when characters that I love (and in the case of GL, the entire concept) are written in what appears to be slip-shod manner with not much thought put into it. Those who enjoy this series please do not take offense. I just want the best for these characters.

Maybe these rings run out of power during engagements too frequently, but they did pretty much stop fighting at that point for the rest of the issue, retreating to a force field, and the one ring bearer with significant power took them away from the battle. Only the Lanterns who came to help them later in the issure really did anything ring-wise.

This has been going on for way too long. Running out of power is just a pretty lame way to force danger into a situation where the lead characters should be experience little to no danger at all.

I would like for the editors at DC to put a 5 year ban on all stories that feature loss of ring power due to the time limit. If some greater force depowers the ring, fine, but not because the ring-slinger didn't charge his ring for 24 hours. Take that crutch away from the writers and they will start thinking of other things real quick once their stories are not bought.

If GL's have this much power, it would be tough to come up with credible threats!

This is exactly what I have been saying, my friend! It is hard, isn't it? But that's what happens when you create a character who has the most powerful weapon in the universe, you have to step up your game a little, and these writers have not been doing that. They've been taking the easy way out and I am going to call them on that when they do. They can't think up any true peril for the characters, so the "out-of-power" card is played over and over, the characters take cheap shots that should never get past the ring's force-field, etc... It is so boring, man. I know they can do better than this, I just wish they would.

You should consider that if you don't see it, maybe they just aren't as powerful as you imagine. Perhaps they have created a legend about themselves that is rarely challenged.

Actually I did not consider that. I'll admit that that would be a good take on things, but it would be a cop-out, to me. It's definitely possible, although I would hope that would not become an official stance.

I don't think I'd enjoy your resolution to the story. If the Guardians really had these levels of power, you can bet they would restrain themselves from using it in the ways you describe.

I don't think many people would enjoy an anticlimactic ending such as that, but I think it would show the levels of power that are being dealt with here. Perhaps if they simply blew them up in a vast orgy of destruction? that might be pretty good. Thus showing all the assembled Green Lanterns that the Guardians' CAN take care of business, but that they prefer not to intervene directly unless threatened directly.

To sum up, you make some good points, but I still see the things that I mentioned as a big problem in the GL world. A lot of it is cheap, contrived writing to me and it's taking the easy way out. They characters never learn after all this time. What's the use of having "experienced" and "rookie" GL's if we never SEE that experience in action? Anyway good post, man.

[ducklord]

Umm... Rann was moved to the Polaris system.

Yeah, but where IS Polaris these days?

The Earth-Real one is just ouside the galactic disc of the Milky Way, reasonably close to Earth.

In times past, that's been the probable location of Polaris in the DCU as well, since it jibes with the notion of Rann & Thanagar being in something of constant interplanetary cold war (why would they be at each others throats if they weren't in the same galaxy, right?).

But then we have lines of dialogue in IC describing the big-ol'-vortex-that's allegedly-the-center-of-the-Universe-in-the-aftermath-of-the-Rann/Thanagar War as being in "The Polaris Galaxy."

Wha?

So, here're my questions:

1) Is DC-Polaris a star, a galaxy, or both?
2) Assuming it's a star, is DC-Polaris in the Milky Way, or in its own galaxy?
3) Does the Green Lantern Corps patrol some significant percentage of the entire DC Universe, or just the DC-Milky Way?
4) If Polaris is a star in the Milky Way, and the GLC patrols a big chunk of the Universe, isn't the Milky Way getting just a wee bit overpatrolled at the moment? Hal, Guy, John, and Kyle are bad enough, but now we've got a Rannian and a Thanagarian, as well.

Bonus Essay Question) Explain how a planet can be at the "center of the universe" in the first place.

Prefers a small helping of science in his science fiction,
Mike.

[Black Hole]

Do you want a full Green Lantern Corps where every single Lantern never has to recharge the ring, and the ring has no weaknesses? Exactly what would be a threat to them then? Thwarting universal destruction every arc from Maggedon level threats would get kind of old, I think.

hey G. Wayne,

I do believe I mentioned some pretty good alternatives to running out of power.

Why don't they carry the damn batteries with them? Just shrink them or order them to follow them invisibly floating behind them until needed? Just put them in subspace until they need to call them out. Set it to appear automagically through warp space from wherever it is?

Actually I wouldn't mind it at all if the ring had no inherent weaknesses. The whole battery thing is terribly straining the bounds of the credible anyway. The batteries can receive power from OA, but the rings cant? Why not? Whatever old reason there was is it still valid now? Can't the Guardians make a Ring/Battery? If not, why not? Why send out your GL's with a pretty large and possible deadly flaw in the system?

Any GL who goes on a mission for more than a day is doomed the way they write these characters. That does not make sense. That was 1960's writing, it just doesn't fly now.

And making it interesting depends on the writer. Some writer's have it, others don't. That's just the way it is.

If they power them down, so to speak, (rings running out of energy, inherent "powercheck" weaknesses in the rings, inexperienced rookies being the bulk of the members) there's so much more that they can face and have it be a credible opponent.

You're absolutely right. There is so much more they can face when the writer does not actually have to think, they can just say, "well the GL's are in trouble because their rings are almost out of power!" or "he's a rookie, so the bad guys have yellow paint and now there's legitimate danger!" GASP!

I've never seen that one before.

I want some stories that show how bad ass these guys are. I mean, in there spare time, the GL's can round up the usual suspects on Earth and put them behind bars, but these guys should be dealing with threats that just can NOT be handled by anyone else. Not Superman, not Wonder Woman, noone. It just takes someone with sufficient imagination to come up with these things. I don't think we've seen that person yet in recent times.