Green Lantern Corps #16: An Upgrade

Most of Green Lantern Corps’ current story is centered around Guy Gardner. Since he became the Allsight following DC K.O., Guy’s internal monologue drives much of the story. Hampton has given the character a certain amount of confidence but it’s been tempered with uncertainty. That uncertainty hits critical mass in Green Lantern Corps #16, and it serves to create a great reversal that leaves the character stronger and more determined. This serves to be a strong arc for Guy and makes him more interesting than he’s been since the Allsight story began.

A second character story in Green Lantern Corps #16, though not as rich as Guy’s, is Aya’s in the wake of the Manhunter’s corrupting her body and technology. Hampton weaves a nice undercurrent of guilt in Aya’s dialogue. There is a bit of tension between Guy and Aya, and it serves the issue well in balancing character and plot.

There is an amusing moment where Ophidian, the orange entity, complains about how Larfleeze isn’t doing avarice and selfishness correctly.

Green Lantern Corps #16’s plot moves quickly. It brings Aya and Guy’s character moments along nicely. As a result of the Manhunters stealing Aya’s body and code in the previous issue, Hampton is able to elevate the Manhunters into a complex, truly dangerous threat beyond simply a matter of overwhelming with numbers.

The different colored Lanterns, the emotional entities, a giant sun, and the Manhunters create a lot of color contrast throughout the issue. Herms is able to prioritize on pages and in panels such that there aren’t cases where everything pops indiscriminately, leaving nothing to stand out. With the exception of a sequence that takes place amidst mostly shades of orange and yellow, there are almost always color focal points–and even this sequence at the sun features Manhunters and their contrasting red/blue color scheme. While they don’t necessarily pop off the page, they provide good contrast.

This issue also doesn’t lack for expressive characters, especially Guy. Certainly other characters show clear and intense emotion when called for, but Guy’s arc demands it. Ryp’s work here is very strong. There’s a lot of subtle shading as well as wider fields of black.

Ryp and Conrad’s high level of detail is also visible in all the backgrounds throughout the issue. There is an early splash page featuring Mahunters floating in the foreground with a richly detailed background behind them. There is always solid establishing work behind characters.

There is lot of good use of color in sound effects in the the action sequence at the end of Green Lantern Corps #16. This fight is the main one in the issue, and Sharpe marries his work very well with the art team.