Blog EntryWRAPPING UP: THE SINESTRO CORPS WARDec 25, '07 10:03 PM
for everyone
The landscsape of comic books has gradually changed over the years. Recently it seems that a major event ends only to set up another upcoming event. Some may scream Event & Gimmick Overload, but not me. I'm loving all the hype and excitement these events generate. From politically motivated storylines like Civil War, to the old school cosmic stuff such as Infinite Crisis and Annihilation... All these will only serve to help the industry by pushing the Big Two to raise the bar and produce more and more quality books for the fans. So who stands to benefit from all these? Okay, fine... Our wallets are taking most of the beating. But hey, nobody's forcing you to buy these books, and can you really put a price on an incredibly awesome story? I didn't think so.


This is NOT A REVIEW per se, but more of A RECAP. So yes, MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD regarding The Sinestro Corps War


THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR

Sinestro Corps War is a crossover event that took place between the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles. Written by Geoff Johns & Dave Gibbons and drawn by Ivan Reis & Ethan Van Sciver, the whole saga is composed of eleven(11) parts and four(4) specials serving as supplemental stories.


Sinestro Corps War is touted as the second part of a trilogy, 2005's Rebirth storyline as being the first part. The Blackest Night, whose foundations are laid in Sinestro Corps War's conclusion, will be the third and final part and will be released in 2009.



Really, I'm running out of superlatives on how to describe Geoff Johns & Dave Gibbons masterful execution of this epic story. I was uber geeked out after reading the first issue, but a part of me was a bit skeptical on how GJ is going to be able maintain the standard set by the ridiculously awesome opening one-shot. And oh boy, I've never been so glad to be proven wrong. Every issue seem fit to explode from the pages. From The Battle of Mogo, the superpowered clash between Prime and ION, to the jaw-blowing-mind-dropping supersized finale, the action and awesomeness never seemed to stop. Thank you Mr. Johns... you've given me hope that maybe DC isn't done for after all.


Sinestro extracting the ION entity from Kyle Rayner (Sinestro Corps Special #1)

Overall, the awesomeness of the art matched Geoff Johns storytelling prowess pound for pound. From the breathtaking panoramic spreads, to the action-packed fighting sequences (I've never thought pages with congested panels could look so beautiful). Ethan Van Sciver & Ivan Reis were born to draw Green Lantern. Future GL artists will be hard pressed to match the brilliance of those two. (Although there was a part where Prime looked like a gay goth person, but I'm pretty sure it was drawn by a different artist)

(LEFT) All depowered, Kyle, Hal & Sinestro get down and dirty in a completely non-homosexual way. -GL #25

(RIGHT) Daxamite Sodam Yat is the new ION -GLC #17



The Sinestro Corps War is the perfect example of a crossover event done right. This is one series any Comics fan should have in his shelf (or wherever it is that you store your comics). I can't recommend it enough.

THE COVERS
(in chronological order)




THE SPECIALS

What I love about these specials is that, you DO NOT NEED to read them in order to gain an understanding of the overall story arc. These are just supplemental stories for those who wish to know more about the complex set of villains/heroes that take part in Sinestro Corps War.


TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS: PARALLAX

Writer: Ron Marz    Pencils: Adriana Melo
This special explores the struggles of Kyle Rayner as he is possesed by Parallax. It will give the reader a better insight on Kyle's motivations and fears, which is awesome, BUT that's pretty much it. To be honest, I thought this issue would be more about Parallax. Nevertheless a satisfying enough read, especially for Kyle Rayner fanboys.

TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS: CYBORG SUPERMAN
Writer: Alan Burnett   Pencils: Patrick Blaine
Cyborg Superman is my favorite villain in Sinestro Corps War. So naturally, this is also my favorite out of the four specials (This issue further explores his origin and motivations). I love that the reason behind all the things he's doing is his desire for death... to finally put an end to all his suffering. His "demise" in GL #25 is easily one of the best moments in SCW.

TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS: SUPERMAN-PRIME
Writer: Geoff Johns   Pencils: Pete Woods
This one is kinda.. Meh. If you're a new fan, then yeah sure grab this one. But to old DC fans, most of it is just a summary of what we've already known in Infinite Crisis. There are some nice revelations here and there though, and the back-up story at the end was freeeaaky.

TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS: ION
Writer: Ron Marz   Pencils: Michael Lacombe
The events of this special occurs in the aftermath of the SCW. Basically, it's just a passing of the torch of ION from Kyle Rayner to Sodam Yat. I liked this issue very much. A fitting end to Kyle's journey as ION, but also a good taste of what's to come for Yat. (P.S. Lacombe's interpretation of the guardians is kinda.. for lack of a better word.. funny)


For Sinestro Corps War fanboys, the following images can be used as desktop wallpapers, taken from the mini-series. Both are at a 1280x800 resolution. Happy Holidays!

        


21 CommentsChronological   Reverse   Threaded
tobieabad wrote on Dec 26, '07
Don't you love how the covers progressively get GREENER as the story flows, with that subtle one in part 8 which was a "they might fail" hehehe.
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
Oh hey I think you're right. I didn't take notice before.. I wonder if they did it on purpose... If they did, does it symbolize the gradual turn of the tide, as the war starts to favor the GLC? Or maybe we're just thinking too much. And by "we", I mean "me". LoL
zenstrive wrote on Dec 26, '07
Oh yeah, SINESTRO ROCKS!

Even when jailed he says he won!
tobieabad wrote on Dec 26, '07
And I have to admit, I kept reading Sodam Yat as SODOM YAT.
I kinda liked it more as SODOM YAT.
taddeovalestra wrote on Dec 26, '07
haha same here! Sodom is kindabetter. heheh!

i dint like the Superboy...man-prime special. rip here, kill there, cry now, etc. its kinda lame.

my fave special would be the Cyborg Superman then followed by Ion.
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
i dint like the Superboy...man-prime special. rip here, kill there, cry now, etc. its kinda lame.
Yeah.. I wish they came up with a more compelling motivation to his behavior than just being a dumb emo brute. *Sigghh* His character had huge potential...
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
And I have to admit, I kept reading Sodam Yat as SODOM YAT.
I kinda liked it more as SODOM YAT.
LoL. You guys should get a room or something Haha!
socmeister wrote on Dec 26, '07
Even when jailed he says he won!
He did accomplish forcing the hand of the Guardians to allow the GLC to kill. Hehe. I think "The Alpha Lanterns" arc will be awesome!
zenstrive wrote on Dec 26, '07
Yeah.. I wish they came up with a more compelling motivation to his behavior than just being a dumb emo brute. *Sigghh* His character had huge potential...
Imagine this: U r an ordinary boy, a geek teenager who fancy Superman, and you are named Clark Kent. Then all of sudden, u have a powers just like Superman.

Then boom, your world ended. You then fight the creature who caused the devastation of ur world and won and save a universe; a universe u don't have chance to live inside; a universe u saw crumbling apart with heroes that act more and more like uncaring snobs. Then u got corrupted by a scheming version of Alexander Luthor then u got out to the world and tried to save them.

But then u killed people; many people. U lost control of ur powers;

U became frustated.

They labeled u as UBER-VILLAIN.

And U simply don't understand what has happened.

So u went berserk.

Then u got caught and prisoned all year long, naked, and watched by at least 20 adults all the time.

Feeling frustated yet?

Then some pink-faced dude helped u out;then u let out ur frustation on the world!

THEN YOU RIPPED AN IMMORTAL AND ABSORBED HIS POWER!

Then U gets out to the multiverses and started destroying planets and "fake heroes"

U are Clark Kent; Superman from Earth-prime;
and u r number one villain in the whole world cause u got all Pre-COIE Powers (which are multiple times over the New Earth Superman)
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
Yeah, I mean Geoff Johns has been explaining it over and over again. The tale was told in brief in Infinite Crisis... and then again (in detail) in Infinite Crisis: Secret Files, and then finally, the Superman-Prime Special. He's a lost kid with the powers of a god. We get it. But all that backstory only explains why he's the way he is. It still doesn't make him a compelling character. He still sucks, he's cheesy and everything he says has shallow meaning. That's why I feel that DC squandered the opportunity to create the ultimate badass villain in the DCU. Someone who will make you say "OH SHIT IT'S HIM" when you see him on a page and/or panel... not "OH CRAP IT'S THE IDIOTIC WHINY KID". But that's just me ^_^

They should make him more like Black Adam! Woohoo! Lobo's pretty awesome too LoL.
baalzak wrote on Dec 26, '07
I really have to read this :o
great article ;)
gabcheekee wrote on Dec 26, '07
im a big fan green lantern. i even have a tat of the key members of the corp on my right leg as proof. i must say out of everything that came out this year that this is the best. i felt relieved that the writers and artists involved were able to pull it off.
jepster2005 wrote on Dec 26, '07
Hmmm... not much of a fan of Green Lantern... but I'm planning to pick this up on Trades because of the overwhelming rave reviews I've read this past few months...
neuroticinfinity wrote on Dec 26, '07
Great article :D Thought the whole event was great; most especially enjoyed the fact that it was mostly self contained and didn't spin out of control like Amazons Attack did (as much as I love Wonder Woman, I lost faith in her series; thank God for Gail Simone).

And yeah, if there's one thing that Geoff Johns fell short in, it'd be how he characterized Superman-Prime, though reading the back story was interesting.

Can I add how I hated that Countdown spoiled what happened at the end of the series? I was really hoping that Superman-Prime would be killed off or boxxed and Kyle Rayner's status at the end of the arc lost some impact when we know what he was doing in that series.
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
@baalzak: Thanks man, Glad you liked it!

@gab: LoL! Awesome on the tat. And yes, this is the best GL story, so far. *sighhh* I can't believe The Blackest Night won't be starting until 2009... what a bittersweet feeling.

@jepster: And those reviews were well-founded. This series is really Awesome to the infinity power. ^_^
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 26, '07
Great article :D Thought the whole event was great; most especially enjoyed the fact that it was mostly self contained and didn't spin out of control like Amazons Attack did (as much as I love Wonder Woman, I lost faith in her series; thank God for Gail Simone).

And yeah, if there's one thing that Geoff Johns fell short in, it'd be how he characterized Superman-Prime, though reading the back story was interesting.

Can I add how I hated that Countdown spoiled what happened at the end of the series? I was really hoping that Superman-Prime would be killed off or boxxed and Kyle Rayner's status at the end of the arc lost some impact when we know what he was doing in that series.
Thanks! Ugh Amazon's Attack... That so-called "event" permanently bamaged my drain. But how awesome is Gail Simone eh? After more than a year of sucking, she managed to turn around WW, and she's only on her second issue! Whoooee I heart that Woman. ^_^

Countdown has an Anti-Midas Touch. Everything it touches turns to crap. The best thing to do is just to avoid it at all costs. LoL.
quistian69 wrote on Dec 26, '07
Trivia: in case you guys don't know yet, the concept of Kyle Rayner: Ion goes back to JLA #66, the start of the Obsidian Age story arc.
stompbox wrote on Dec 27, '07, edited on Dec 27, '07
He did accomplish forcing the hand of the Guardians to allow the GLC to kill.
I suppose this would mean that the GLC is potentially the embodiment of fear now? Sinestro is awesome then.

As other fans have said, everything Geoff Johns turns to gold. Even that guy named Booster (who apparently was the one who gave Sinestro the idea of a "Sinestro Corps" haha).

Anybodynoticed the Predator and the Alien among the Sinestro Corps members?

potchoct79 wrote on Dec 27, '07
if there's one collection that deserves the absolute treatment, it'd have to be the sinestro corps war!
comicbookgeek wrote on Dec 27, '07, edited on Dec 27, '07
Anybodynoticed the Predator and the Alien among the Sinestro Corps members?
What? Where? I wanna see! ^_^

Edit: Found them. Hahaha Awesome. I included Bizarro Hal Jordan... The one that made an appearance in Action Comics #859 ^_^

outlawzz83 wrote on Jan 1
Breathtaking art by ivan reis and ethan van sciver,and good writing by geoff johns, i'm a marvel man, but after finished reading tales of sinestro corps, i feel that i have to change my mind, oh yeah i'm starting to read some dc right now
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