The Good
John Stewart, Sinestro, and the Star Sapphires team-up to take on a group of New Gods with an affinity for bows and arrows. They may need help for this one.
Lots of building at set-up for the upcoming issues as the most unlikely allies come together to take on their new foes. A good chunk of this issue deals with John Stewart still dealing with the fact that he was with Fatality, whom was actually a Durlan in the last arc. He has trust issues with this and feels the Star Sapphires may be warping people's minds. It's nice to see these ideas laid out onto the table. Everyone is getting their feelings out and this isn't a team-up adventure that's just going to work perfectly fine. Overall, John's story is the most interesting part of the book, and Van Jensen does a solid job of writing him and the dialogue for the book. It's nice to see this book have a heavier focus on him and the ending of this issue, with that surprise reveal, really works well, and I can't wait to see how he handles what happens to him in the next issue.
For fans of the Weaponer, you're in luck. He plays a decent role in this issue as the an who presents John with a weapon made in part from the white light. This is the weapon that allows the Lanterns to get the upper-hand, for a short while.
The art Bernard Chang and the colors of Marcelo Maiolo really make this a beautiful looking book. Maiolo is at the top of his game and one of the colorists you should be paying attention to at DC. The majority of the book is straight-forward coloring, which looks great, but the one think I love about Maiolo, which he does quite a bit here, is flattens out colors during certain major scenes to put emphasis on what's happening. It's a technique he's used a lot here and during his time at GREEN ARROW. Also, being coupled with Bernard Chang doesn't hurt. He does some fantastic work that is consistent from start to finish. Artistically, this is the strongest of the Green Lantern books, no offense to some of the other amazing creative teams working on some of the other books.
The Bad
A lot the same problems that occurred in GREEN LANTERN #36 also happen in here. It's a ton of set-up for what's going on, even though it feels like all the necessary set-up happened in GREEN LANTERN, we get a ton of new ideas and elements happening here that don't feel integral to the plot.
The problems with Godhead, as a whole, start to show their ugly faces in this issue. Sure, mixing the New Gods with the Lantern Corps is a genius idea, but the problem with all of these books is if you're reading every part of this story line, then you begin to notice that some of the issues parrot the issue previous to it. The events happening within don't seem to, but the formula for what happens in the issue does. The issue opens up with discussion. This leads to a quick scuffle. Then, more discussion. There's another battle. Then, a giant revelation. Sure, this formula could work for any comic and many comics probably use it, but when it happens in the second part of a cross-over story, in an entirely different book, it's glaring.
All-in-all, aside from a few things in this issue, GREEN LANTERN CORPS #36 was a bit dull. Normally, I expect a bit more from this book and this issue just isn't doing it for me.
The Verdict
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #36 is a mixed bag. Folks not reading every part of Godhead may find this issue a lot more enjoyable than those reading everything because this issue feels so similar to last week's GREEN LANTERN #36. The formula being used for the issue becomes glaring and while the story is fun at parts, overall, it's a tad dull. Luckily, the art team pumps out some amazing artwork to elevate the book. This is the point where I'm a tad worried about Godhead and how it's going to continue to play out. We're not even halfway through the story and I feel like this issue and the last issue were a bit of a drop in quality of story.