Red Lanterns #3

Realizing that I'm in the minority in opinion on this series, I'm trying to take a fresh look at this series. I'm taking a step back, trying to separate myself from my enjoyment of the first few issues. I want to figure out why so many despise this series.

After reading issue three, my opinion hasn't changed that much. Honestly, I still think Peter Milligan is doing a great job. One of the hardest things to do in comics is to prove readers wrong, and work uphill against their assumptions. This is why I worried about how long this book would survive. When they announced this series, it was met with much skepticism, and I believe that closed-mindedness is jading some against the coolest color in the spectrum: red!

This issue deviates from the course of the last two issues, as the Red Lantern Bleez is the focus here. Atrocitus, up to now has been exclusively the point of interest, as he has his inner-debates about where his rage comes from. However, in this issue, Atrocitus essentially frees Bleez's mind (I didn't realize this, but none of the other Red Lanterns function on a higher level as Atrocitus does) allowing the two to explore her rage and see what she believes she should do with her rage.

Interestingly, how the two process rage is very different, with Atrocitus at odds with Bleez most of the issue. This further shows the depth to which Milligan is thinking about rage and why it's an important emotion that's too often overlooked as simple.

What I enjoyed: Good story, I hope this trend continues and Milligan writes proper histories for all the Red Lanterns. It's a pretty blank slate, and he has a lot to work with, hopefully he can take advantage.

What I didn't: I want to know more about where this story is going. What is Atrocitus' end-goal right now?

Conclusion: This issue isn't as good, but doesn't miss the previous standard set my much. I'm still excited about where this story is headed and I wont' be dropping this title anytime soon. 7.5/10 (C).