Last Week’s Comics 10/05/2011
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New Guardians #1
(DC – writer: Tony Bedard; art: Tyler Kirkham)
Bannen’s Book of the Week: While New Guardians is a fast read (I finished the issue in about three minutes), I still found it to be the best of the bunch this week. The story moves quickly, gets to its point even quicker and does its best to both reintroduce Kyle Rayner and set up the mystery for the series: Colored rings across the galaxy are being deactivated and ending up in the possession of Rayner, Earth’s newest Green Lantern.
Besides having the ability to overcome great fear, Kyle Rayner is also more sensitive than Hal Jordan. Tony Bedard tries to remind readers of why Kyle was chosen. When Hal went crazy and killed all but one of the Guardians, Ganthet pooled the waning willpower
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into one final ring. This ended up on Kyle Rayner’s finger because he happened to be at the right place at the right time. The first issue to introduce Kyle shows Ganthet holding the ring out to Kyle saying, “You’ll have to do.” In this issue, when Ganthet first indoctrinates Kyle, now he says, “It seems I have chosen well.”
The slight change is due to the fact that immediately after getting the ring, Kyle is more playful than the other Corps members. We see more of this in the issue when Kyle tries to justify his outfit choice to a young boy who tells him that his costume looks like “a big bib.” Tony Bedard seems intent on giving us a more lighthearted Green Lantern than we’ve seen recently.
Fast forward to the present day where Kyle, in the middle of saving a falling construction crane, suddenly finds himself surrounded by sentient rings in all the colors of the spectrum. Then he finds himself surrounded by angry members of those Corps, all of whom are looking to find out why Kyle has been chosen as a ring bearer. Kyle is just as confused as they are (as are we, the readers), but we’ll all get the answers eventually. The story feels tight and centered. Much like Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern stories, it’s obvious that Tony Bedard knows where he’s going. We just have to hang on for the ride.
There’s not much more to the issue. It’s fast-paced and gets to its point – a purpose that seems to be lacking in the other two issues reviewed this week. For some reason, Kyle is going to be the bearer of the different rings. That purpose has yet to be revealed. But Kyle is the perfect choice for this series. He’s not as serious as John, nor is he as cocky as Hal. And he certainly isn’t as brash as Guy. He’s the true heart of the Green Lantern Corps. He’s innocent and thoughtful and probably what the other Corps members should strive to be. It’s because of this that New Guardians is such a fun read. The premise is simple, as is the purpose. Tony Bedard asks readers to believe in him and not much more beyond that. Plus, if you’re reading a story about intergalactic space cops, you have to suspend your disbelief somewhere.
If you like Green Lantern, add New Guardians to your pull list. If you don’t like Green Lantern, add it anyway. It’s one of the better #1s DC has released this past month.
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