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Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Cover: Patrick Gleason & Rebecca Buchman

“Red Badge of Rage”: I’ll start this off by saying that if you have not read Green Lantern Corps #42 then you might want to come back to this review later for fear of a few spoilers.

Last issue a Lantern sacrificed his life for his friends and the galaxy, and when the smoke cleared, Kyle Rayner lay dead.  In Green Lantern Corps #43 the woman who loves him, Soranik, calls upon her medical expertise and constructs a defibrillator in her desperate attempts to bring him back. While Guy Gardner is struggling to hold on to Kyle’s ring as it tries to make its way to Mogo, and after he fails in doing so, he is overwhelmed with pain and rage, opening himself up to becoming a Red Lantern.  Now wielding both rings and blinded by his rage, he rips through the Black Lanterns who are trying to destroy the Central Power Battery of the Green Lanterns.  Another problem is the Black Lantern rings themselves, since they are trying to attach to Kyle’s body.  However the cavalry has arrived just in time to help stave off the swarm of rings trying to get to Kyle; but they know they only have so much time.   Not too far away a Star Sapphire is being alerted to the issue of an eternal love being extinguished by death, and she  tells her ring to take her there immediately, leaving Sinestro Corps member Kryb to fend for herself against an army of undead children.  Guy Gardner is still cutting a swath of death through the Black Lantern army with an intense brutality, and nothing can stop his rampage of revenge.  Not going to ruin the conclusion for anyone, but by the end of the book the Green Lantern’s plan is to get that ring off of Guy’s hand, and Mogo makes his grand entrance!

Green Lantern Corps has been consistently one of the best titles in the Blackest Night storyline, and this issue just continues in the same vein!  It has a purpose and a direction, and the reader’s time isn’t wasted with a filler type book that a lot of these fall victim to. Tomasi’s handling of the Corps has been a joy to read, as characters who aren’t naturally at the forefront are given depth and a legitimate role in the stories.  Patrick Gleason’s interpretation of a Red Lantern Guy Gardner was nice as well. I compared Guy to the other Red Lantern from the previous issue, and the artistic style change to emphasize the transformation helped him stand out.  Gleason has an attention to the little details that make the Lantern constructs look more life like as well.

Another solid chapter in the Blackest Night saga, and I’m really pumped for the next issue with the appearance of Mogo, and what seems like the near impossible task of getting that ring off Guy’s finger!

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