DC Comics reviews 12/27/22 – DC vs Vampires #12, Action Comics #1050

John Stewart The Emerald Knight #1

It’s not so much that writer Geoffrey Thorne has the wrong idea about making John Stewart stand out among the Green Lantern Corps.

Stewart is a well-liked character and there’s countless Green Lanterns.

The problem is more Thorne’s approach of linking John to New Gods Lonar and Esak along with the literal interpretation of The Emerald Knight tag that holds the book back from finding and maintaining an audience.

This double-sized issue attempts to provide Thorne with another hard sell of his concept and why readers should care.

Thorne struggles quantifying John’s new power scope and the ongoing continuity issues within DC makes it difficult to determine when these events are playing out as Hal Jordan and a fleet of Lanterns are using their rings with no problem in Dark Crisis.

John and a handful of ex-Lanterns are tracking down Esak’s forces as they try and convert more followers to Esak’s cause.

Thorne has a tongue-in-cheek payoff for this arc, but it comes off more like a writer tired of readers complaining about the quality of contemporary stories than classics of yesteryear.

Marco Santucci’s art is lively with some smooth lifelike features for the humanoid characters although at times the action seems flat suggesting Santucci could add a larger degree of depth.
Michael Atiyeh’s colors are nice and vibrant essential for any Lantern book.

I want to like this idea more than I have, but this special just confirms this take on John Stewart just isn’t working for me. And I suspect I’m not alone.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Photo Credit: DC Comics