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Mild Mannered Reviews - Adventures of Superman

Adventures of Superman #31

Adventures of Superman - Chapter #31

Released Digitally: November 25, 2013

"The Dark Lantern" - Part 1 of 3

Writer: Jim Krueger
Penciller: Neil Edwards
Inker: Scott Hanna

Reviewed by: Alisa Lea Gossage

Click to enlarge


Guilt... that crippling internal foe that no one can get away from... except in death.

So thinks The Dark Lantern.

In a galaxy, far, far away... (oh, wait. that's taken.) Ummm...

Somewhere in space, somewhere that must be beyond the 28 known galaxies, is a Star Wars bar scene where low-lives, scum and the very depressed plot, scheme and brood.

In that bar, a guilt ridden Green Lantern sits at the bar downing... some kind of drink that can only be found past the 28 known galaxies.

At another table, a purple-cloaked, faceless entity promises a rich reward to some muscle-bound Neanderthal.

The catch?

The Neanderthal has to steal a certain Green Lantern's... lantern... battery. Ok, sure. Easy enough, right?

Not really. The Neanderthal gets wasted on the barroom floor as he tries to steal the Lantern's... lantern... battery. (For some reason, Lantern's glowy thingy doesn't have its usual covering.)

The purple-cloaked person is unconcerned about Neanderthal's fate. His purpose wasn't to actually steal the lantern. His purpose was to test the brooding spectacle who is seated at the bar.

Why would the Guardians send a Green Lantern Corpsman to this scummy space quadrant? Our faceless friend is curious. He begins to converse with the moody Lantern. Sadly, the Lantern confesses that he is not just moody, but suicidal. He has tried time and time again to end his own life, but the Ring won't let him. The Ring protects him from himself.

"So, you wear the Ring, but you are no Superman, is that it?" Asks the faceless one.

"What's a Superman?" The Green Lantern responds.

The Green Lantern is stunned to find out that Superman is the last Son of Krypton. His yellow eyes widen in shock.

He must find Superman! It's like this Green Lantern suddenly has a purpose again. He speeds away from the Star Wars bar scene completely forgetting the purple-hooded figure.

Is there hope for this poor soul? Can Superman save him from himself?

The Green Lantern Ring leads our wild-eyed corpsman* to Earth... and to Superman.

Once there, he begs Superman to kill him, for he was the Green Lantern who was once held with the responsibility of protecting Krypton.

And he failed!

Gasp!

4Story - 4: The Good: This is one of those 'I should have had a V8' moments, when you pop yourself on the head and say, 'of course!' I may not know a lot about Green Lantern stories, but I do know enough to know that they are basically inter-galactic police officers who are assigned sectors of the universe to protect. So, of course, Krypton would have had a Green Lantern assigned to its area. (Okay, I actually didn't know this. I looked it up. Sue me.)

The point is this... THIS is a story I want to read! It's original (which is rare in the comics today), it's emotional, and it's intriguing.

This story could go anywhere...

Where were the Green Lanterns when Krypton blew up? Did this particular Green Lantern know Jor-El? Did he know Zod? If so, whose side was he on? Was he tricked by Zod in some way? Was he Jor-El's friend?

I cannot wait to see what Krueger has in store for us.

Also, who the heck is the purple-cloaked guy/gal? I'm mostly a Superman fan, so if this guy/gal has some significant purpose to the overall DC Universe... well then fine. Color me intrigued. I want to know more about him/her. However, being an exclusive Superman fan, I wonder if I will ever know who this person is.

The Bad: Yellow eyes? On a Green Lantern? Ummmmm... okay.

Just saying...

Not knowing who is behind the purple hood frustrates me a little.

*Please give this Green Lantern a name, so I don't have to keep making up pseudo pronouns for him.

5Art - 5: This poor Green Lantern is in agony. That fact is revealed in every page. From his 'I don't give a crap about anything' attitude at the bar to his tormented pleas for Superman to end his life, the art and dialog work hand in hand to reveal everything going on inside this character. It is very moving.

Can't wait for the next chapter.

5Cover Art - 5: I love this cover. A member of the Green Lantern Corp. is begging Superman to kill him. You cannot NOT look inside the comic to see what this story is about.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2014

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