Comic Reviews by Walt

Last weekend, I had occasion to go through a number of my longboxes that have been in storage for a number of years. While going through these, I found a couple of gems that I’d expected to re-purchase in the near future, as I had no idea where they actually were within my existing collection.

The first of these was the complete 3-issue “Tales of the Green Lantern Corps” mini-series from 1981. This is the mini that’s gained some attention the last few weeks for holding the first appearance of Nekron, who looks likely to have a significant role to play in the currently-unfolding Blackest Night story.

In another box, I found an old Green Lantern Annual, from 1998. I vaguely recall this “Ghosts” quasi-crossover with the JLA-related annuals that year. I know I’ve read the Superman Annual, but I’m unsure of the others. Whether I’d bought this as a new comic or scored it from a bargain bin I’m not sure. But seeing the cover, I yanked it outta the box figuring it’d be a small treat to read, and I got quite a kick out of the cover’s blurb “The Corpse Corps.” Turns out that Nekron’s a major player in this issue as well!

I also found a copy of Green Lantern (1990s series) #100 that I acquired somewhere along the way–it featured both Hal Jordan AND Kyle Rayner. This was an issue that saw Kyle thrown into the past where he got to fight alongside a young Hal Jordan before he was corrupted by Parallax; and at its conclusion saw this younger Hal dragged into the then-present DCU for the “Emerald Knights” story. I found it rather amusing, this cover that showed both characters, because I’d just hours earlier rescued another edition of the issue from a folder where it’d been since I was in high school, as I cleaned out some boxes in a closet.

This other edition of Green Lantern #100 is the copy that I originally bought, at Capp’s Comics (my then-LCS). As seen with the accompanying photo, the cover features Kyle quite prominently. However, if you open the issue, you’re confronted with another cover, this one featuring Hal quite prominently.

I’m aware of several such comics that feature a “double cover.” As far as I can tell, these were quite intentional and not some random screw-up at the printer. They basically allow for two different covers to be presented for a comic…yet each customer is able to purchase both covers on the same issue, while only purchasing one single copy of one single issue. And if you don’t like the cover that’s on top…simply pull it off, and voila! You have a comic with the cover you actually want.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the way to do variant covers…at least as a first print. I’m pretty sure the copy of GL #100 that has both Hal and Kyle on the same cover is a 2nd print of the issue–by which point, pick one of the covers and print just that, sure. This is also part of my personal frustration AT the mass of variants offered currently…all the more when a multi-panel image is split up as 2-3 different covers, but used all on the same comic instead of multiple issues of a series or chapters of a crossover.

Along with these, I also found a 30ish issue run of the same Green Lantern series, starting at #2. Fortunately, I have a copy of #1 floating around my collection somewhere, and the first handful of issues are contained in the The Road Back tpb I have on my shelf. I’ll have to track down a few more issues, but it’s likely I’ll be able to read Hal’s adventures in his own series right up to Emerald Twilight.

Finding all of these, though, makes me want to just spend a day going through all my longboxes, and has me curious at what I’d come across that I’ve acquired and forgotten about through the last 10-15 years.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: Corpse Corps, Emerald Knights, Ghosts, Green Lantern, Green Lantern #100, Green Lantern Annual, Green Lantern Corps, JLA: Ghosts, Nekron, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps | Leave a comment »