The 50th issue of Green Lantern does exactly what a 50th issue should do, it celebrates the hell out of the comic. The issue opens in the middle of the war to save Coast City between the Black Lanterns and the unified mutli-colored Lanterns who have recruited some fascinating people to the fight. Now the Black Lanterns are facing Yellow Lantern Scarecrow, Orange Lantern Lex Luthor and even a really emo sounding Blue Lantern Flash (Barry Allen). With the new recruits in tow the Lantern army attacks their undead foes in a fast moving battle that never lets up.
Once again, Blackest Night mastermind Geoff Johns scripts a high-octane multi-layered war without sacrificing any of the humanity. There’s as much focus on Red Lantern Mera battling to kill Black Lantern Aquaman as there is the Blue Lantern Flash trying to stop Firestorm. Johns keeps the reader so wrapped up in the non-stop action that when Black Lantern Spectre shows up ready to snatch Hal Jordan up to face judgment. I won’t give away all the surprises but the issue is called "Parallax Rebirth" so I’m sure you can guess just how bad things get. Johns celebrates the 50th issue of a series he helped re-launch by pulling out as many of the stops as he can. It’s amazing how Johns can write an epic like this without losing the intimacy of the human struggle but instead anchoring the whole thing with it.
Commanding the art side of GL #50 is Doug Mahnke and he does a brilliant job. Rather than describing how well his use of movement and flow is for the action I’ll give you a run down of how many breathtaking visuals he has in this issue alone. The two page splash of the multi-colored Lanterns, The Black Lantern Spectre (they better make a toy of him) arriving to clam Hal Jordon, Black Lantern Spectre losing his jaw, the two page splash of Parallax and the last page of the issue which I won’t give away. Each of these images could carry a book on its own so having them crammed into one issue is pretty special. There should also be a tip of the hat to colorists Randy Mayor & G Gabe Eltreb, these guys make each panel pop of the page. There’s also some nice panel layout here, which helps move the action along.
Blackest Night is as important as comics get not just because of all it involves, but because of how well Johns has controlled the story arc. From the very first glimmers of the horror to come way back in Sinestro Corps War all the way to the confrontation between Hal Jordon and Black Lantern Spectre this has been a story about people. The decisions both good and bad, the loyalties, the ego, the hatred, the love, all of the emotions and directions various characters have taken, that’s what Blackest Night has been about beneath the sheen of the action. Green Lantern #50 is a real celebration of what Blackest Night has really been about as well as all the reasons we as fans love the Green Lantern.
