Review: Green Lantern - Rise of the Third Army

After careful planning, the Guardians unleash their dreaded Third Army on an unsuspecting universe. With most of the Green Lantern Corps caught unaware, it’s up to the rookie Simon Baz and a ring-less Guy Gardner to lead the assault on Oa to stop the Guardians. Meanwhile, John Stewart and his former enemy Fatality must work together in order to re-assemble the planet Mogo.

Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army collects issues 13-16 of Green Lantern, 13-16 of Green Lantern Corps, 13-16 of Red Lanterns, 13-16 of Green Lanterns: New Guardians, and Green Lantern Corps Annual 1. It features writing by Geoff Johns, Tony Bedard, Peter Milligan and Peter J. Tomasi.

Rise of the Third Army is the first large-scale Green Lantern-centric crossover from the New 52, which revolves around the introduction of the titular Third Army and new Lantern Simon Baz. It’s an expansive story that stretches across all of the Green Lantern titles that were being published by DC Comics at the time. As such, it’s not the most accessible crossover in the world. Readers are required to have a working knowledge of the Green Lantern mythos, as well as the material that immediately preceded this arc by Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi. If that weren’t enough, not all of the titles are written evenly. The issues from Red Lanterns and Green Lanterns: New Guardians are significantly weaker than those from Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Of course, the problem with New Guardians is that it continues to attempt to present Kyle Rayner as some kind of one-dimensional messianic figure.

Interestingly, Geoff Johns comes fairly close to Kyle Rayner levels of Gary Stuishness with Simon Baz. The idea that Simon is capable of pulling off things Hal Jordan was never capable of is not my favourite development in the world, but Johns makes me root for Simon regardless. He’s got his share of flaws and his introduction allows for Johns to explore the discrimination Muslims face in America. It also helps that, unlike Kyle, we’re not seeing him bed every attractive female that crosses his path. Simon also has one of the coolest Green Lantern designs we’ve seen in a very long time.

Rise of the Third Army’s premise is terrifying in that it exemplifies how far the Guardians are willing to go in order to “protect” the universe. They have such a skewed mentality of right and wrong that they have now come to see independent thought and free will as something to be eradicated. The seemingly unstoppable Third Army makes for eerie henchmen, assimilating just about everything that crosses their path. Given how much the characters are built up, we care about them and want to see them succeed in defeating the Guardians. This tension builds with each chapter in this saga. Unfortunately, it follows the Trinity War formula in that it’s merely a crossover that’s meant to lead into a bigger, more important storyline. This leaves the reader with little payoff, especially since the big fight against the Guardians is jammed into the final pages of this collection.

Rise of the Third Army is strictly for Green Lantern fans. It does a great job of building upon the mythology surrounding the Corps and allows for some interesting character progression. Simon Baz and Guy Gardner are the real runaway stars of this crossover, with the former making a pretty big splash for a then-new character. It’s not likely to be easy to follow for newer readers or those less indoctrinated in the world of Green Lantern. Hal Jordan and Sinestro’s absence is also felt within this collection, especially after how electric their chemistry had been in Geoff Johns’ preceding arcs. Ultimately, it is the transitory nature of the narrative that cheats the readers out of a great crossover. Still, it’s worth a read – if only for the Geoff Johns-penned issues featuring Simon Baz.

RATING: B-