Red Lanterns #2

This was another issue I was iffy on whether I would continue reading after issue #1. But in the attitude of trying new things and being open, I decided to keep with it. After all, I had the same attitude about Swamp Thing #2, and that turned out to be excellent. While the payoff wasn't as big as with Swamp Thing #2, Red Lanterns #2 also proved well worth sticking around for.

While this issue lacked the killer early illustration that the first issue possessed to draw me in, the story came on strong after a slow start.  Again, much of this story draws on Atrocitus' inner-thoughts on "rage." While some may find a second-straight issue on this type of inner-monologue redundant, I think it's a great choice. The biggest concern about the Red Lanterns and Atrocitus is that they're a one-note character lineup.

But again, writer Peter Milligan proves the nay-sayers wrong. By asking questions about what makes rage worthy, how hatred, retribution, and pain all play into the makeup of it, we start to learn more about what makes a Red Lantern tick, what makes rage more interesting than it seems on first observation. Atrocitus comes off philosophical and intelligent, and makes this a protagonist worth following.

The planet of Ghan IX is an interesting choice as Atrocitus' metaphor for the Universe. Obviously he sees the Universe as a chaotic, cruel, stupid place perhaps not worth salvation. The conflict between the Yuever and the Ghanites could be seen as a metaphor for the Green Lanterns. The Yuever, like the Green Lanterns, were guardians sent to resolve conflict, but like the Green Lanterns, violence and chaos seems to follow them wherever they go.

"How is one rage more worthy than another?"

What I enjoyed: Perhaps no protagonist is as interesting to me right now as Atrocitus. that alone is worth reading this book for. I would lightly equate this to Daniel-Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood." Darn good movie, but not anything near Oscar for Best Picture worthy, but he's so good in it I'd rather watch it than any of the Best Picture-nominees.

What I didn't: I wish the child that Atrocitus meets near the end on the planet of Ghan IX would have gone with him, to become a Red Lantern. The drawback so far is that the reader hasn't been introduced to many Red Lanterns, hell, all we see of the others is in the last page.

Conclusion: This book was very good, I'm happy I chose to give it a chance, it paid big, big dividends. Oddly enough, what might be the best book in the Green Lantern section of comics has nothing to do with Hal, Guy, Kyle, or John. Obviously it's a little early to discern that, but this book is well on its way 8.4/10 (B).