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With the conclusion of War of the Green Lanterns looming, this week Touring the Cosmos is going to be doing a quick recap of the nine parts that precede the finale. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what is going, here is a quick blurb from dccomics.com:

“With the entire Green Lantern Corps against them, the four Earthborn GLs – Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart – make a choice that will rank among the most memorable in GL history. But not all of them agree on what has to be done and what lines can be crossed. Can these warriors overcome their differences in time to save the universe?”

The preludes have so far shown us that Krona is the main villain of this story, and he has complete control over the GLC (Green Lantern Corps) and the entities of all the different corps. Krona, a renegade Guardian, has taken over because he feels as though the current Guardians need to be taught a little lesson in emotions.

*****************Now be aware, SPOILERS are ahead.************************

Part One: Green Lantern #64

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne, and Christian Alamy

Part One definitely starts out with a bang, with the respective champions of all of the corps getting absorbed in the Book of the Black, while Krona makes his move. He takes over the Guardian council of Oa by putting all of the entities into the Guardians. Krona just saved Parallax, who he put into the central green battery, therefore restoring the yellow impurity. While Krona is causing all this havoc, Hal is on the run from mind controlled GLs.

Part Two: Green Lantern Corps #58

Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Tyler Kirkham, Batt, and Rob Hunter

Where have Kyle and John been this whole time? Well, just after having saved Soranik Natu on Qward, the yellow impurity takes effect. Any lantern who has not overcome fear in the past is taken control of. While Kyle wants to save Soranik, John believes that they need to gather and make a plan. This leads to a little fist-a-cuffs between the two, with Ganthet shedding a little light on what is going on.

Part Three: Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #8

Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Fernando Pasarin and Cam Smith

Guy Gardner, the star of Emerald Warriors, finally makes his way in the War of the Green Lanterns. Like the other Earthborn GLs, Guy was completely taken by surprise by the attack of his fellow corpsmen. He was with Kilowog, who was taken back to Oa. Guy managed to escape, and finds Hal at a safe house. Now we all know that Hal and Guy don’t really get along, and with a little bit of yellow influence, a fight ensues. Soon they realize what Ganthet told the other GLs, and decide to take the fight to Oa, without their rings on.

Part Four: Green Lantern #65

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne, and Christian Alamy

This issue marked some pretty great character moments for Hal and Guy. Without being able to use their rings (so they don’t get detected by other GLs), they have to use a pretty wicked space ship from the safe house. This is a cool nod to Hal’s skills as a pilot, as well as the beer that Guy orders. The fun soon ends, though, when a recently controlled Kilowog attacks the ship, just as Hal and Guy get to Oa. Without their rings, they manage a narrow escape and hook up with Kyle and John. The group realizes they need some power to take the fight to Krona, so Hal offers the rings he obtained from the champions of the other corps to his friends.

Part Five: Green Lantern Corps #59

Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Tyler Kirkham and Batt

With Kyle wearing blue, Guy wearing red, John wearing violet, and Hal wearing yellow, the Earthborn GLs take the fight to Krona and the rest of the GLC. Meanwhile, Ganthet has been taking a massive beating while trying to fight pretty much the entire corps. When the Earthborn GLs show up, Ganthet freaks out, claiming that wearing other rings was “Foolhardy in the extreme!” Just when Ganthet and co. think they have the mind-controlled GLs on the run, a very big Lantern shows up….

Part Six: Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #9

Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Fernando Pasarin and Cam Smith

Enter Mogo. With Mogo under Krona’s control, things have gone from bad to worse for the GLs. Not only is he one of the most powerful GLs, but he controls the rings of future GLs. If he is tainted, the future of the GLC will be tainted as well. The team narrowly escapes, minus Ganthet. Two plans are borne while the team catches their breath. While Kyle, Hal, and Guy vote on taking Parallax out the battery, John wants to free Mogo so he can help them pull Parallax out. All the while, everyone is experiencing some pretty flared tempers, probably due to being influenced by unknown emotions by their new rings. While the team finds some secrets hidden beneath Oa, Kyle and John decide on a different path and the team is split up yet again.

Part Seven: Green Lantern #66

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne, and Christian Alamy

Krona is a pretty twisted dude. While his original intention, to show the Guardians there is more to life than just will and order, is actually noble, the way he goes about it is pretty messed up. While he toys with Hal and Guy by making them fight the entity-controlled Guardians, the champions within the Book of the Black are being tortured by memories and flashbacks of past events in their own lives. Soon Krona’s idea of what the universe should look like is revealed.

Part Eight: Green Lantern Corps #60

Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Tyler Kirkham and Batt

This was probably one of the most intense issues of the war. Kyle and John teleported to Mogo via John’s ring, wanting to save him from Krona’s control. After trying a few different techniques, they realize that they just do not have what it takes to save Mogo. Kyle uses his blue ring to show Mogo some hope in the form of his old partner Bzzd, but the black impurity that Mogo holds kills off Kyle’s creation. John realizes that if they cannot save Mogo, they have to take him out. Now what do you get when you have a violet ring, a boatload of death energy floating around, and a desperate plan?

Part Nine: Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #10

Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Fernando Pasarin and Cam Smith

The war has come to a head, and the Earthborn GLs make their final plays in freeing the other GLs from Krona’s control, and saving Oa. The death of Mogo creates enough distraction for Hal and Guy to gather with Kyle, Ganthet, and John. Ganthet reveals to them that in order to get Parallax out of the battery, they have to use the combined powers of all of the colors of the spectrum (with the rings Hal obtained earlier). Once Parallax is freed, the entire GLC is free of Krona’s influence. While this may seem like the end, Krona still has control of the entities and the Guardians, who hold more power than the GLC combined.

Well that wraps up our War of the Green Lanterns recap. Be sure to check out the conclusion, which comes out next week in Green Lantern #67!!!

Mike Parente
mike@comicattack.net