I should say New Guardians is a series I enjoy very much.
Seeing members of all the Lantern Corps working together sends shivers down my
spine. They’re the Avengers of the Emotional Spectrum. No. Wait. That should
probably say Justice League. Anyway. I have fun reading this month in and month
out. This however, did not live up to what I had come to expect.
Stepping in for writing duties on this annual is Keith
Giffen. To make a long story short, the dialogue is flat and repetitive. The
entire plot involves Carol Ferris, Arkillo, and Saint Walker traveling to ask
the Lady Styx to intervene in the actions of the Guardians. His writing starts as
the beginning of a heist movie to get Carol to a meeting, but it seems to hit
all of the standard beats of the set up with none of the fun of the pay off
from such a movie.
On art is Scott Kolins. His cartoony style is pleasant and
works most of the time. Where it fails to get any traction is during action
scenes. In a series where action and fighting coming every few pages, it can be
a problem. They seem to be rushed and the final product suffers for it. The
structure of the issue also sets back its success. The panels seem cluttered
and chaotic.
The biggest issue I had with this Annual that instead of
telling it’s own story, or pushing forward the event the series is currently in
the middle of, it uses it’s pages to set up a brand new comic coming in DC’s
next wave. The story focuses on the set up while ignoring the story it should
be telling.
While New Guardians has been a fun roller coaster ride so
far, the Annual makes it stop unexpectedly upside down at the top of the big
loop.
Last Line…4/10
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