Green Lantern Corps #9...Woohoo!

It took an extra day because of the snow and sleet, but I am celebrating Valentine's day with a large glass of Champagne. Keith Champagne, that is, and Pat Gleason is strawberries dipped in the sweet sweet chocolate of Moose Baumann's colors. Ok, that's getting a little on the bizarre side, but I am holding the third and final installment of The Dark Side of the Green, and I am a happy woman.

Firstly, it isn't like reading a comic book at all, more of a mini-movie, with Mr. Gleason's incredibly dramatic and cinematic artwork. When last we left our intrepid heroes, things weren't looking too good. This issue opens with Guy's hand, fingers clenched in pain, scratching in the dirt, and then a gradual closeup of his body and face, dripping with blood, eyes rolled back in his head and definitely not a happy camper.

Next we shift to a look at R'amey's body enveloped in a beautiful pinkish-purple cocoon in front of the meteor artifact that started this whole mess.

Then a quick shift to the dismembered body of the evolved Khund. There are no words needed for any of these pages, the artwork tells the story beautifully.

At this point, I can actually draw a breath. Ah hah! R'amey doesn't look like she's dead, and Von Daggle, cunning little shape-shifter that he is, took the place of the dead Khund. Guy on the other hand, is not doing too well.

Oh well, back into the story. The evolved Dominator, is busy tearing up the old Watchtower on the moon of earth, and getting pretty pissy, because things aren't going exactly the way that he planned. He may have evolved but he's got the temper and self-control of a two-year old. And then who should show up, but Darkseid! He's a little cranky himself, since he has plnas for earth himself. See? EVERYONE loves us!

Meanwhile, back on the Dominator's planet, R'amey comes out of her cocoon, and is all glowing and shiny now, but quite concerned about Guy's condition, which in HER advanced state, she can sense quite clearly. She flies to where Guy is busy dying and confesses her serious crush, before kissing him. It turns out that Monarchist CPR is simply fabulous! Guy is awake, cranky and has his brains back along with his...er...charm. I love the smirk he gives when he admits that he somehow heard her confession of love.

Chomping on the bit, the two of them fly off lickety-split for Earth, having realized that Von Daggle took the place of the dead Khund. Fortunately, R'amey has all kinds of new powers to go with her evolved status, and they take a black hole express, which just kicks all kinds of awesomeness.

Back on the moon, the Dominator has belatedly realized that pissing off Darkseid may perhaps be a bad move on his part, when it finally dawns on him that his disciple the Khund may not be all he's cracked up to be. Von Daggle aattacks, and pulls the same trick that he tried on Guy earlier, turning into a bacterium. Unfortunately for him, the Dominator is wise to his ruse, and is preparing to squish him. Of course who should show up, but Guy and R'amey. Guy's all full of piss and vinegar as Guy should be, saves Daggle's behind, and puts a serious smack-down on the Dominator, who ends up begging like a school girl.

Here's where it really gets interesting. Guy, good Lantern that he is, wants to take the Dominator back to Oa, and let the Guardians decide what to do with him. R'amey has a different idea however, and rips the Dominator into tiny little Dominator pieces. Von Daggle of course thinks that this is an excellent move, while Guy is just flabberghasted.

With the mopping up complete, they are flying back and that's when Von Daggle informs Guy that he's a wash-out and not suited to be in the Corpse. Guy just smiles and says that he's never been so proud of failing. Killing is the easy way out...he prefers to make them suffer a little justice instead. It's pretty obvious that he thinks that Von Daggle is seriously creepy, and he's not feeling too enthralled with R'amey either, when she puts him to sleep. Daggle has said that there is no way that Guy can be allowed to remember what happened, so they mess with his memory a bit. He'll wake up and only remember not being able to find Daggle, and losing his partner in an avalanche and feeling guilty about it, which is particularly nasty I think. And that's that...they fly off, and leave poor Guy lying there on the moon. In a particularly clever twist, it is the same pose as on the cover of GLC #7...except this time there isn't anything crawling out of his ear.

There is an interesting epilogue however. Back on the Dominator's planet, some other poor stooge of a Dominator wanders around the wrong corner and discovers the artifact. There is a fwooosh of light and a scream...!

Well, they leave that for another day.

In my humble opinion, this has been one of the very best Green Lantern stories ever. It was fast-paced, jam-packed with action, beautiful art, witty dialogue, a cracker of a plot, and funny moments along with the gasping-out-loud ones. I sincerely hope that this isn't the last collaboration between these creators. So go out and buy it already!