Green Lantern Corps #26

And here we have it, the shocking finale to "Ring Quest", as written by Peter Tomasi, and pencilled by Pat Gleason...and it's a doozy.

As you all recall (of course) our heroes had all just been hit with Mongul's nasty little bioengineered Black Mercy plants, which changed from being your heart's desire, to your worst fears. Mongul is just nasty like that. Being Mongul, he has to gloat for a while, and then he threatens Mother Mercy,who really isn't such a bad sort, when you come to know her. He considers the Green Lanterns to be helpless...food for Mother Mercy's children, and plans to fly off and wreak havoc elsewhere. His hapless flunky, aka Duel, is torn between torturing the GL's or flying off with Mongul to torture NEW victims. Mongul makes the choice for him, by splitting him in two, which seems rather drastic, but efficient. You just KNOW that Mongul would make one heck of an Office Manager.

So, Mongul and one half of Duel fly off, probably cackling with glee. In an absolutely gorgeous two-page spread, we see the helpless Green Lanterns, all in the grip of their deadliest fears. The whole thing is framed in with black silhouettes and spreading vines, and it really is beautifully done. Kyle is consumed by a painting, Stel's body becomes evil, and he's helpless to prevent it, Iolande is torn between being Queen and being a Lantern, Vath is terrified of a universe without war, and therefore no place for a soldier. Isamot has feelings of inadequacy that are just horrifying, while Soranik is being autopsied by Sinestro and Bzzd fears being tiny and insignificant. Guy is last, and his worst fears are losing Ice again, and his friends, mainly Kyle, Hal and John.

While 1/2 Duel gloats, the Lanterns are slowly sucked beneath the surface to presumably be devoured by the Black Mercys. A lone Green Lantern ring pops up on the surface, to the delight of Duel. Too bad he doesn't get to enjoy it for long.



Wow! Guy's feeling a bit on the cranky side, and who can blame him? Really Soranik, sometimes you are SUCH a nag. Needless to say, the rest of them aren't in a particularly good mood either. Even Mother Mercy is pissed. They all fly off in pursuit of Mongul and the other half of Duel. Poor Duel, he was delighted to receive the Sinestro Corp ring all for himself. That lasted about two seconds before he gets blown into tiny little Duel bits.

The Lanterns all decide that they are mad as hell and aren't going to take it any longer, and they dogpile on top of Mongul, who isn't very pleased. There is a LOT of fighting, with everybody getting their licks in, as well as some more beautiful art, but Mongul does have a crapload of Sinestro Corps rings as well as his own powers, and they are getting pretty well trounced.

Until...



Woohoo! Go Bzzd! I literally started hooting at this point in the book. That's one mean little fly! Bzzd's attack gives the rest of the Lanterns an edge, and they all pour it on, blasting Mongul back into Mercy's orbit. Mercy is REALLY ticked at this point, and Mongul is in big big trouble.
Vath and Iolande are ready to go in and finish him off, but Kyle points out that Mother Mercy is taking care of that for them. It's interesting that Iolande is portrayed as being almos as hardcore as Vath, I didn't expect that from her, but it works.

They are all just pleased as punch with Bzzd. Unfortunately, taking out Mongul also took a lot out of little Bzzd, and he's dying. Oh No! Not Bzzd! He goes out like the hero that he is however. Man I really liked that little guy. Who will hang out with Mogo now?

Bzzd's ring flies off, and immediately picks Mother Mercy as Bzzd's successor. Oddly enough, she is ALSO picked by the yelllow ring of Duel! Now we are in a quandary. As she herself points out, she can both promote Fear, as well as ease Fear. Sea of Green had just been wondering the other day, if one person can have more than one ring, and I guess we found out the answer! Fortunately, Mother Mercy makes the right choice and choses the Green, giving the yellow ring to the other Lanterns as a gift for Salaak.

Finally, the Lanterns fly off home, with Mongul being (apparently) slowy digested, and taking a tiny little green coffin with them.

*sniff*

This was good. Really good, and definitely worth the wait. Tomasi really has a grip on these characters, and I think that he does a fabulous job of keeping them in character, as well as giving a distinctive voice to each of them. As is usual, Guy has the best lines, "Slam his ass to that small moon!" and "yum, yum, eat him up..." But they are ALL heroes. The artwork by Gleason is sensational as always. This is absolutely worth your while.