Sinestro Corps. War part 2

Sinestro Corps. War part 2

Green Lantern #23-24, Green Lantern Corps. #16-17, Tales of the Sinestro Corps.: Cyborg Superman, Tales of the Sinestro Corps.: Superman-Prime, Blue Beetle #20

Originally released in 2007

Written by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, et al.

Art by Ivan Reis, Angel Unzueta, et al.

The Sinestro Corps. War wound up being such a big event that even two parts isn't enough to cover it. (though I'll definitely finish it by the third part)  With Kyle Rayner suffering from Parallax's possession, it's up to the human Green Lanterns (particularly Hal Jordan, who has experience with this sort of thing) to free him from the control of the ancient fear entity.

Meanwhile, various other Green Lanterns are fighting to protect Mogo, since the destruction of Mogo means that the rings belonging to deceased members won't be able to find new Green Lanterns after the user dies.  It seems like an uphill battle, to say the least, and the big guns of the Sinestro Corps. haven't even entered the fray yet.

The tide starts to turn when the Guardians of the Universe rewrite the Book of Oa, adding ten new laws.  The first of their new laws is that the Green Lantern Rings can now use lethal force on members of the Sinestro Corps.  This is met with mixed responses - some of the Lanterns are eager to avenge their fallen comrades, killing without mercy.  Others like Kilowog, who has trained new recruits for a long time, refuse to use lethal force even when given the option.  Part of me feels like this could lead to a divide within the Green Lantern Corps., or maybe the group as a whole fracturing. (I'm not sure if the ten laws are meant to be a reference to the Ten Commandments and they won't be elaborated on, or if they'll be important later)

After Mogo is saved, the goal of the Sinestro Corps. is discovered, and naturally, this takes the fighting to Earth.  These issues also elaborate on the Anti-Monitor's role in the Sinestro Corps. - he is their guardian (with the Sinestro Corps. being based in the anti-matter universe that Sinestro had been banished to after losing his Green Lantern Ring), and he intends to finish what he started in Crisis On Infinite Earths by destroying Earth (and, by extension, the multiverse).

Sinestro seems to believe that he can rebuild the multiverse in his own image, while Superboy-Prime (who, for legal reasons, is now going by Superman-Prime) wants his universe back. (and, if possible, he wants to kill the Anti-Monitor, who destroyed his universe previously)  Meanwhile, Cyborg Superman just wants to die, and he believes that the Anti-Monitor can finally kill him.

Two of these issues go over the histories of Cyborg Superman and Superman-Prime.  This seems understandable - while Sinestro has his origin explained in a side story, and this was seemingly the Anti-Monitor's first appearance since his debut in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the other two (and Parallax, who was covered last time) have more complicated backstories that could use the extra time to explain. 

Both of the evil Supermen come across as being deluded in different ways - Cyborg Superman blames Superman for seemingly everything that went wrong in his life, even if it was a series of unfortunate coincidences.  Meanwhile, Superman-Prime comes across as a whiny teenager, claiming that everyone's a selfish idiot but him.

There's also a Blue Beetle tie-in that's listed as part of the event on the DC Universe Infinite app.  In it, Christopher Smith (a.ka. Peacemaker) is controlled by a Scarab (the same type of alien symbiote that's being used by the current Blue Beetle) and also getting a Sinestro Corps. Ring, and it's up to Jaime Reyes (as said Blue Beetle) and a Green Lantern to free him from the influences of both of those things.

Reading it makes me wish I'd read a few issues of Blue Beetle beforehand - I'm assuming that Peacemaker having a Scarab implanted into him had been set up earlier and I wasn't aware of it.  Still, it's got some good character moments for Jaime and Peacemaker. (it also made it clear to me that Green Lanterns really don't trust the Scarabs, considering them to be scum almost automatically)

With the action in all of the books that tie into this event ultimately leading back to one location (Earth, primarily New York City), it's easier to follow than the first part was, as the stories feel more connected. (though the first part felt more like a grand-scale war, with all of the chaos, so there's positives to both options)  Parallax was dealt with in a rather abrupt manner, but it led to a great moment for Hal.

The weird thing is that so far, despite this event being called the Sinestro Corps. War, Sinestro himself seems to be massively overshadowed by the other four main villains (Parallax, Superboy-Prime, Cyborg Superman, and especially the Anti-Monitor).  His plan seems kind of half-baked (it seems unlikely that the Anti-Monitor would even let him survive the destruction of the multiverse, and it's unclear how he'd remake the multiverse in his image), and he doesn't seem to be anywhere near as much of a threat as those four.

Still, the narrowed focus seems like it's helping, and with four or five issues left, I'm interested to see how things will turn out.  All things considered, I'm concerned that the defeat of the Anti-Monitor is going to feel anti-climactic compared to how he was defeated in Crisis On Infinite Earths (though to be fair, most things would be anti-climactic compared to that), but hopefully as the villain line-up gets whittled down, Sinestro gets more to do in the war that's named after him.