07/01/26 Comics: Brighter Together

Absolute Green Lantern #15 written by Al Ewing with art by Sid Kotian

“We’re all we’ve got.”

This book may have been a slow burn when it started, but it’s been blazing ahead nonstop for the last few months now. Jo, Hal, John, and just about everyone from Evergreen have been dragged into space on the green lantern by Tomar Re. His plan was to fire the lantern, filled with a town’s-worth of souls, into Mogo, the world that’s coming, in an attempt to eradicate the Blackstar threat once and for all. In the last issue, Jo managed to take control of the ship and avert their imminent death, but that left them face-to-planet with Mogo itself along with several of the Blackstar elites.

The issue opens back on Earth with D.E.O agents Cameron Chase and Simon Baz confronting their former superior, Jon Double. Someone had leaked Jo’s whereabouts in a previous issue, putting a target on all of their backs and leading to the death of fellow agent Kari Limbo. Needless to say, neither Chase nor Baz are thrilled about this turn of events and clearly intend to continue hunting down their foes even with the Lanterns off-world. Unfortunately, their enemy knows all of their weaknesses, including the weird metaphysical ones. Simon Baz’s strange condition has been alluded to in previous issues, and I sure hope there’s another wrinkle to it that we haven’t learned about yet because Chase is going to have a rough time if she can’t depend on her partner for support.

Meanwhile, in the one place uncorrupted by capitalism, things aren’t looking great for the Lanterns. Jo is stuck in the control space still wrestling for control with her fellow Tomar, Re, while Guy, Hal, and John are outside the lantern holding down the fort. Guy has a fair grasp of his powers, but “restraint from action” isn’t turning the table against the chaotic power of the Blackstars. John, ostensibly the strongest, has discovered a crippling weakness in the gold level of light as well and appears helpless against the forces of Qard. The only hope available at the moment appears to be Hal Jordan. Readers were presented with the idea that there were four lights which one progressed through on a journey to enlightenment and power early on in this book. While our heroes and villains disagree over which direction the path is meant to take, there being only four lights was never in question. However, the violet light emanating from Hal does not correspond with any of the rules provided and none of the characters present seem to have any idea of what it’s capable of either. The violet light has always been associated with love in the mainstream universe, but it’s been made repeatedly clear that we can’t rely on those preconceptions in the Absolute Universe. Considering that he gained it upon elevation from the corruptive black light, it’s likely to be a force for good and is capable of some impressive feats, as we see in this issue, but Hal is going to have to figure it out fast because Sinestro has arrived and he looks ready for blood.

While all this is going on, Jo is in the lantern-space with the slumbering souls of her neighbors. She’s managed to restrain Re, but she isn’t any closer to finding a solution for the danger they’re in. Re continues to insist that they’re all dead either way, so they may as well take Mogo with them. However, Jo has been continuing her recent epiphany and challenging her own preconceptions of how her power is supposed to work. It brings her to a realization that just might turn the tide in her favor and welcomes a familiar face into the Absolute fold. Unfortunately, Darkseid is, and hope can be snatched away even in the brightest moments. There are still cards on the table, but who they’ll favor is anyone’s guess at the moment.

The sheer amount of worldbuilding Ewing manages to fit into each issue is truly staggering. The lore of this books is vast and this book is filled to the brim with it. From Hal’s strange light, to the implication of Jo’s new power, and the mysterious Lantern that has just joined the fray, for each question this book answers, three new ones are asked in its place. Given how the just about every cosmic player has gathered, it feels like we’re about to hit the climax that the story has been building towards. The apparent potential of the lights to evolve and/or mutate opens up a whole new gateway as well. The journey may not be as linear as first presented and there may be new pathways for each character to grow. Powers being tied to philosophical concepts is one of coolest things in sci-fi and fantasy media and creates ways to keep the character growth front and center alongside the action, and as our human Lanterns continue to develop their sense of agency, we’re getting to see how their personal views affect their relationships with their powers. John and Guy both seem like natural fits for their lights with all of the strengths and weaknesses that entails. Meanwhile, Hal and Jo have powers that are far more unstable, but also brimming with potential as they learn more about themselves and the universe. I’ve mentioned the conceptual overlap with Absolute Martian Manhunter before and this issue makes another nod to that series with a reference to “Bad Idea #0” using the same classification system that the Martian documents ideas with. That book has ended, but if they really are connected to this war of lights, we may get to learn more about those strange beings in the pages of Absolute Green Lantern as well.

Sid Kotian is firing on all cylinders for the art in this issue. This book ranges from a fight between spies in a parking garage on Earth to the depths of space where glowing aliens punch each other, and Kotian manages it all with aplomb. Each page is full of energy and attention-grabbing action, and the shift between the mundane and the insane is jarring in the best possible way. It reinforces the idea that some of the characters in this book are normal people trying their best to reckon with the madness erupting around them while other characters are fully submerged in the chaos and have to work within it. Nothing in this story is meaningless and the care given to each moment by the art serves as a reminder that this story is about the people as much as it’s about the ideas.

Absolute Green Lantern continues to offer a phenomenal cosmic-horror superhero tale while building out both the internal lore of the book along with concepts that will certainly be key to the Absolute Universe as a whole. The art and the writing are brimming with as much energy as the characters themselves. This book wastes no time and misses no beats, and is one of DC’s biggest must-reads.

Power Rangers Unlimited #1 written by Joey Esposito and Kenny Porter with art by Alessio Zonno

Both Power Rangers and Super Sentai may be off the air, but that doesn’t mean their stories have to end. When this book was first announced, I was reminded of the proposed Power Rangers Hexagon where rangers from across seasons would work together in specialized teams and showcase groups that we’d never seen work together before. It was a cool idea, but not one that could be realistically filmed consider how the show hinged on dubbing Sentai footage for many of the action sequences. However, comics provide a space where anything is possible, including what might be one of the most ambitious stories in the franchise.

This issue hits the ground running as Trini Kwan, the original yellow ranger, arrives on the space station Terra Venture II. Lord Zedd has appeared through a rift in space and time, leading an army of monsters from across the franchise in an attack. The space-time shenanigans have prevented Trini from teleporting at Zedd’s precise location, forcing her to fight her way through the various ecological domes that comprise the space station. At each confrontation, she’s joined by groups of rangers. The team compositions feel like a showcase of what this book is offering down the line, some teams are lifted wholesale from their series, others have nothing in common besides their color, and others just seem like a group of fun personalities to put in the same room. Crossovers have consistent proven to be fertile ground for stories both in the show and in the comics and a book that appears to be built around what is truly a vast amount of heroes and villains being thrown into new situations is the kind of premise that this franchise feels like its been building toward for years. We don’t get to see much of the team interplay in this issue as most of the story is told through Tr`ini’s internal monologue as she fights her way to said. We learn that this apparently a version of her from another universe, seemingly the version from the Once and Always special. How exactly she ended up in this universe is unclear, but she appears to be convinced that she cannot return to the life she left behind. The fact that this is apparently a different universe raises a ton of questions regarding the other rangers as well. Have they all been pulled from other universes or are they native to this one? Given what we see of them, they seem pretty close to the versions we’ve seen in their respective series, and it will be interesting to see how much clarity we’re given in future issues. Regardless, Trini is clearly grieving the life she lost and it’s pushing her to handle things alone. Despite the insistence of the mysterious operator, she refuses to rely on the various teams she encounters and continues to rush forward on her own. Of course, Power Rangers are never alone, a fact which her teammates are all too happy to remind her of. We’re treated to an epic fight along with hints at mysteries on both the heroes’ and the villains’ sides.

Alessio Zonno raises the standard in this issue with some of the best actions scenes I’ve seen in ages. The entire issue is essentially Trini fighting her way from point A to point B, and each scene emphasizes how she’s fighting a tidal wave of monsters in order to reach her goal. Trini’s new suit goes unremarked upon this issue, but it looks fantastic. It follows a similar motif to her original suit but, much like this book, takes something familiar and changes it up in new and interesting ways. The other rangers that appear use their regular suits and each of them looks amazing. As mentioned earlier, this book is full of rangers and monsters from across the franchise’s history. What that means is that every panel is full of characters with different colors, fighting styles, and design aesthetics. By all rights, this book should be a cluttered mess, and yet each panel is flawless composited while each ranger and monster is rendered to the last detail. It’s some brilliant work from Zonno and I cannot wait to see what they do next. There are so many standout panels in this book and an insane two-page splash towards the end, but my favorite panel has to be one right before the splash where Trini plans her next move. Despite wearing an expressionless helmet, the scene fully conveys the tension and focus she’s feeling via body language. It’s such a striking image and really hammers home how versatile of an artist Zonno is.

This was a breathtaking first issue of a book that is brimming with potential. The comics have consistently been a place where the franchise’s true potential has shined, and this book offers to take it to even greater heights. This issue provides amazingly drawn action while presenting plenty of mysteries and fun character interactions to hook the reader in for issues to come. Longtime fans will find plenty to love as the creative team seems dedicated to giving old favorites plenty of love, but the unique premise and sole focus on Trini also provides a pathway for newcomers to enjoy the book without needing to worry about decades of continuity. This team has captured lightning in a bottle with this book and it’s shaping up to be a morphonominal ride.