Green Lantern Corps #13: A Good Enough Resolution

The Green Lantern Corps get off a little easy in Green Lantern Corps #13. Pushing Enquar into full-on black hat villain territory lets Hampton defeat him without addressing the Corps’ clear lack of judgment established back in Green Lantern Corps #11. Indeed, the Corps’ mistake is only barely addressed in Jessica Cruz’s after action report. This is a clear loss of opportunity to make the Corps more complex by having them confront their own fallibility.

That said, using Enquar in this way in Green Lantern Corps #13 sets up a redemption arc for Fatality. Like Enquar’s arc, Fatality’s is equally simple. There is virtually no inner conflict with Fatality as she receives another chance with the different Corps and immediately takes it.

This contrast between Enquar and Fatality is what creates the emotional thrust of Green Lantern Corps #13. Hampton uses Enquar and Fatality’s opposite positions to make an argument of compassion in the face of having been wronged rather than vengeance. Which side of the argument the story lands on isn’t a surprise given that Green Lantern Corps is mostly about the positive-oriented Lanterns.

It is worth noting that, despite any criticisms, the fight with Enquar is fun and makes for the highest octane Green Lantern Corps issue since The Starbreaker Supremacy.

Hampton does take time to touch on the series’ other ongoing threads: the Green Lantern trainees, the formation of a unified Lanterns’ council, and the Thanagarian refugees. Focusing most of the issue on the fight with Enquar leaves precious little space for these other ongoing story arcs, but the story beats these arcs do get are welcome.

Green Lantern Corps #13 delivers yet another colored-by-committee issue. The various colorists’ work is largely split by scene changes which prevents the transitions in style from being too jarring. Additionally, though the styles differ–some are distinctly brighter than others–none of them fight against Ryp’s art style. The most complementary color work comes at the start of the issue. A softer, comparatively muted style works well with the characters fighting within and against Enquar’s watery torrents.

Artwork is especially rich and action-oriented in these same scenes. Detailed linework builds up waves and sea foam. Combined with Fatality’s unruly hair, especially in close-up panels, Enquar’s body also has a chaotic experience. Ryp captures the villain’s power as he delivers something resembling a living storm.

Ryp’s character work isn’t the most detailed for most of the issue. The early Enquar fight sequence sees the greatest level of facial feature detail, mostly through added lines than patches of shading. As the issue goes on, that level of detail diminishes with most of the characters’ expressions resulting from limited work around eyes. This works well enough for Fatality but leaves John’s expressions more broad.

The fight sequences between John, Fatality, and Enquar are heavy with sound effects. Sharpe uses a variety of fonts depending on which characters are fighting Enquar at any given time. It’s an effective way to add some contrasting color in a number of panels that are mostly filled with shades of blues.