Sinestro #4 (DC)

writer: Cullen Bunn
artist: Rags Morales

via Comic Vine

That quote on the cover comes from Green Lantern #20, the final Geoff Johns issue, which I reread recently in The End collection.  It's a standout line and immediately eye-catching to be quoted for the new Sinestro series.

Tiny problem, however, in that it's not hugely relevant in the comic itself.

I really wanted that to happen!  A whole issue where Hal Jordan and Sinestro hash out their relationship, something Johns worked on a lot during his last few years, a major legacy of the New 52 to date.  Instead, we get an issue with Sinestro...demonstrating his strong will, and Hal popping up, officially, on the final page.

It's just not what I wanted to see.  Cullen Bunn is one of the "it" writers at the moment, and seems to be getting a lot of these the-main-character-is-usually-known-as-the-villain comics assignments lately.  But I don't think he's to par with what Johns was doing.  It's great that this series exists, and certainly with the perfect synergy that came to Red Lanterns later in its run with the debut of Charles Soule as writer there's always hope things will work out, but it's disappointing that they didn't get it right first shot, especially given that Johns, who is such an important DC guy, didn't merit getting Sinestro done right first shot.  Even Larfleeze was pitch-perfect (although sadly, I didn't read it any more faithfully than anyone else, and that one's gone now) from the start.

The artist is Rags Morales, who has a lot of big credentials to his name, including Identity Crisis with Brad Meltzer and Action Comics with Grant Morrison.  Fans sometimes question his work.  I don't think there's any cause for that here, although it's such a different setting than I personally am used to seeing Morales tackle that most of what I know about his work slips into the background.  This is mostly a good thing, I guess, but it's always odd for an artist who has a distinctive style to do work that isn't immediately identifiable to that style, except in the odd image here and there.  But on the other hand, his presence on art duty in Sinestro must surely be considered a vote of confidence in the series from DC.

Sinestro #1 (DC)

writer: Cullen Bunn

artist: Dale Eaglesham

via DC Infinite

Ever since the launch of the New 52 in 2011, Sinestro's profile has been raised significantly.  After all, he was technically the title ring-bearer of Green Lantern at that time.  Geoff Johns used his final few years with the franchise focused in part on the one-time villain.  An ongoing series for the character has been all but inevitable, but it's still a little surprising that it actually...happened!

The franchise received a significant expansion in the relaunch.  One of the more debated titles from the start was Red Lanterns, which is still running and arguably stronger than ever after a recent tie-in with Supergirl.  Larfleeze ran for nearly a year.

And now there's Sinestro.  In a lot of ways, it seems more unlikely now than in the fall of 2011.  When Johns left with Green Lantern #20, he put the character back in the box, made him pretty distinctively villainous again, putting this series more in line with Red Lanterns than than one of its emerald brethren, or even the isolated antics of Larfleeze, which sadly had no real fan support.  One of the knocks on Red Lanterns from the start was that it was a curious decision indeed to focus on a pack of villains, which is still unusual in comics despite a steady stream of Thunderbolts and other such efforts.  It still seems inconceivable that The Joker existed in the '70s (for about as many issues as Larfleeze forty years later), and no doubt you're barely aware that even happened.  With good reason.

But here this is, and so what's there to say about it?  I may be biased.  I find Sinestro to be fascinating, with or without a green ring, yellow ring, what have you.  Comic book characters subsist in large part on healthy egos, but there are few to rival Sinestro in this regard.  Most of what has been done with him in recent years, almost exclusively by Johns, is to provide nuance to such a reputation, make him sympathetic.  

When we last saw him, Sinestro had gone into exile, and that's where Cullen Bunn finds him.  I have little experience with Bunn.  I really only know him from a Deadpool comic I read earlier this year, and as the writer of The Sixth Gun, the Oni series that isn't Wasteland.  And I wasn't impressed with Deadpool that time.  Surprisingly or not, Bunn settles into Sinestro seamlessly.  The panel at the start of this review is a perfect encapsulation of the character, the comic, and Bunn's understanding of both.  The ego's still there, but the guy has been humbled (as much as possible, anyway).

Since this is a series and not a one-shot, however, you can be sure the story picks up considerably from that point.  Lyssa Drak, the blue-skinned disciple from Sinestro's largely-abandoned yellow-ring-fear-based corps, shows up and soon enough he powers up again.  With a yellow ring.  And by the end of the issue, Sinestro's daughter, Soranik Natu (who debuted in Green Lantern Corps: Recharge and has been an off-and-on signature character since), shows up.  And that relationship is still complicated, to say the least.

The other thing the panel displays is the art, obviously.  The artist is Dale Eaglesham, who is making his return to DC after five years.  His signature work had been Justice Society of America, with Johns.  I'm not hugely familiar with his work in the meantime, but if anything, he has significantly improved.  The cover isn't so impressive and not really particularly indicative, but the stuff inside is truly exceptional.  I don't know how much credit colorist Jason Wright deserves for this.  It's similar to Mike Mayhew (who knocked The Star Wars out of the park) or Mike Perkins (who similarly stood out in the pages of The Stand) at this point, and as such repositions the entire series in a different light.  You don't have to approach it as a fan of the Green Lantern franchise.  It's now a kind of epic all its own.  You don't even need to have read much of Sinestro previously.  Everything you need to know is recapped within this debut issue.

So this is a heck of a thing.  I have no idea what its chances for long-term survival are, but if Bunn and Eaglesham, or creators of similar quality and motivation, remain attached to the series, Sinestro has unexpectedly become one of the better titles DC has to offer.  The character always had this potential, so it's good to see it fulfilled.