52 Pickup: The DC Shuffle – Green Lantern New Guardians

 

A big part of what DC is going with the New 52 Reboot is to clean things up. Reset continuity and allow new readers to come in fresh without a need to know, understand or even really care about what came before and just be able to enjoy what is happening right now in the DCU.

 

With that in mind I have to question to point or reason behind having Kyle Rayner become a Green Lantern in Green Lantern New Guardians.  Not to sound crass, but I’d wager it has a lot to do with Tony Bedard, who has an investment in Rayner as a character.  But after reading this issue it would have made more sense to just invent a new Green Lantern character than piggyback off what came before.

 

When Rayner originally had the ring forced upon him, Ganthet (one of the Guardians of OA) was running for his life from Paralax and part of why that period in the history of the Green Lantern title was interesting was because Rayner wasn’t chosen to be a Lantern.  He had to learn the ropes along the way, there was no training on OA.

 

This time they have a similar set up for how Ganthet and Rayner meet, though under less stressful circumstances, and Rayner is almost immediately and intuitively controlling the ring within seconds.

 

I don’t like that part.

 

If this issue was a movie, it would feel like the director got rushed after running low on funds after filming a couple of really cool action sequences and had to cut out most of the plot just to get by.

 

I realize that the DCU has a ton of main character Green Lanterns already, but they would have been better served by creating a new one here (being a Reboot period and a perfect time to do it) than to force Kyle Rayner into this situation.  Especially when the dynamic of his character is completely changed in this version.

 

A new character would be more believable as an incredibly powerful being worthy of all rings, since at the end of the issue one of each ring has abandoned their charge and come to earth to choose Kyle as its new master.

 

Too many parts of this story lack understanding or justifiable reasoning.  Due to that fact, Green Lantern New Guardians earns a JOKER rating.

The best is yet to come so keep your eyes (and browsers) open on 8DaysAGeek all month long as we tackle the biggest story in comics!

 

For now,

 

This is your Bin Fodder Guru Tim Blacksmith signing off.

 

p.s. Did you spot the hooded lady?  I’ve included a picture below.  She keeps showing up in the strangest places!  Who is she?  What’s her impact going to be on the new DCU?  Discuss below in comments!!!

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