Green Lantern Corps #17

It took a while, but I am finally getting around to my reviews of the rest of the Green Lantern books.  At least...some of them.

This book has given me conflicting emotions.  On the one hand, I really loved the art by Fernando Pasarin, and I am going to miss him when he leaves, as I still miss Pat Gleason.  That giant splash page showing all the previous incarnations of Guy is simply gorgous. 

However, some of it doens't make a lot of sense, in the new Continuity (yes, I am flogging that dead horse again, with GREAT zeal!).  Some things I liked a lot.  Some things...well.

It makes perfect sense for Volthoom to be drawn to Guy because of his emotions.  Kalinara has always said that Guy is the most emotional, and I agree with her completely.  Volthoom starts digging through Guy's brain, dredging up past incidents, and twisting them around, since he apparently has the ability to mess with time and space, and other things. Exactly how or when he gained this power, hasn't been explained yet.  WHY he's messing with the Lanterns hasn't really been explained either, except it seems to be...because He Can.

We get Guy hesitating to save his brother and sister as children while playing ice hockey and their deaths.  It didn't happen, but since Guy apparently is bored with being a middle child, Volthoom says it could happen.  We also get the back story on why Guy was kicked off of the force, pursuing a terrorist through the airport, and having an impossible choice to make...his own little Kobayashi Maru moment.  Then Volthoom moves onto the most recent memory, when Guy went all Rage Lantern on everyone, only this time, he kills off everyone

There are a few problems that I have with this.  For one, Guy's mother is portrayed as  a...a normal person.  Anyone who ever read Beau Smith's version or even Chuck Dixon's version of Peggy Louise Gardner knows that she is a Force Of Nature...a virago of the finest order.  Here, she barely makes any impression at all.  I'm already a little annoyed with the portrayal of Rollie Gardner as a peevish retired Cop...he definitely lacks the utter nastiness and pathos of the REAL Roland. 

Having Guy as a middle child just doesn't really work that well either.  He had such a complex love/hate thing going with his big brother Mace, that is totally lacking here.  His siblings are nice enough certainly, but the rivalry that he has now is so...lukewarm. 

Finally, he just...gives up at the end of the issue.  He sees that Volthoom is changing things, and he just whines a bit and...gives up.  This is Guy Freaking Gardner!   His whole schtick is that he Never Gives Up. 

Well...we shall see.  If nothing else, this issue did provoke me, and now I'm all impatient to see how this all plays out, which is probably the whole point.