COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART NINE]

 

[ACT IX - Mysteries In Space]

Return of Donna Troy #1 - "A Golden Age To Conquer" = 

• So Donna Troy has been resurrected by the Titans of Myth, believing herself to be one of them. Minosyss, but what is below its surface? What is the secret truth of the planet and its people?
• Coeus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Themis, Oceanus, Tethys, Thia, Crius, Mnemosyne, and Phoebe.
• History lesson! So we follow the basic Greek Mythology regarding the titans of myth, but instead of Zeus banishing them to Tartarus, they are sent to a distant moon which they terraform and call New Cronus. Since they are barren, the titan Rhea gives up her immortal life to gather orphans from across the universe as super-powered foundlings for the titans.
• So the Titans have been conquering planets and adding alien populations to their armies. That's why they have the Tamaraneans, Khunds, and Gordanians with them.
• What happened to Phoebe?
• What is this orb that has arrived at the Outsiders headquarters in LA? How does it have Donna's thoughts?

Return of Donna Troy #2 - "Stark Contrast" 

• A travel orb is sent by Athyns to Earth to summon the Titans and Outsiders so they can free Donna from the Titan brainwashing. 
• e get some history lessons regarding the time they went into space and witnessed the destruction of Tamaran at the hands of a Sun-Eater.
• Is the mentioning of the Green Lanterns and Khunds a reference to the Recharge series?
• Fascinating that Jimenez is contextualizing this mini as part of the grander cosmic playground, mentioning Rann-Thanagar War and its consequences as well as hints about the upcoming Crisis.

Return of Donna Troy #3 - "Nights of The Sun & Moon"

• Great stuff! Loved the showdown between Donna and Casse. Jimenes really hit the personal and emotional beats well.
• We learn that the secret beneath the surface is a sun-eater factory paired with the fact that Minosyss is a nexus for galactic travel that the Titans want to exploit.
• Just to briefly touch on the art, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez rocks! His panel layouts under Jimenez's direction do a fantastic job of channeling that 80's Perez signature style.

Return of Donna Troy #4 - "A Dark Fate Foretold"

• Titanomachy!
• So we finally learn the secret of Donna Troy: she's the multiverse's repository of information, the living key to the ocean of worlds that was.
• Because of that, she can access the nexus at the heart of Minosyss. However, she pulls a quick one on the Titans and sends them to Tartarus.
• Hyperion and Thia are consumed by a sun-eater and Coeus agrees to prevent his siblings from escaping. 
• Donna receives the Harbingers orb from Crisis and gets some hints as to the upcoming cataclysm that will befall the universe.
• Fun mini overall, and a nice conclusion to the threads set up back in Graduation Day.

GLC Recharge #1 - "The Gathering"

• Recruitment season!
• Mysterious black holes swallowing Green Lanterns! Where is Soranik Natu? We see her with the corpse of the lantern from the opening sequence.
• More crisis hinting as Kilowog fears for an upcoming universal change.
• Enter Vath Sarn and Isamot Kol, Rannian and Thanagarian recruits to the GLC. Fun dynamics ensue!
• For continuity's sake, I have to mention the presence of a united League here as somewhat of an anachronism. This story is being read before the Crisis of Conscience arc where the League splits up, but after Superman Sacrifice, where a huge split and disillusionment occurs between the Trinity as a result of the machinations of Maxwell Lord. Confusing as hell, but hey, at least we get to have Guy Gardner moon Batman.

GLC Recharge #2 - "Assignments"

• Mogo is forced to socialize with the Rann-Thanagar War!
• Guy and Kyle's dynamic is one of the best things about the entire franchise. We need to see this on-screen one day.
• The Lantern pilgrimage to Mogo. I wonder if this will be revisited one day...
• Once again a star has mysteriously collapsed into a singularity int he presence of Green Lanterns...
• So Kyle sees a vision of his deceased gf Alex DeWitt (sadly killed by Major Force back in the 90's) and she has a cryptic convo with Kyle about how his decision to join the Corps impact his and the lives of others. Immediately after, we see a projection of a strung up Soranik Natu.
• We see that the other lanterns hear what appears to be a distress signal from her ring.
• As Kilowog follows his allies into the singularity, Vath and Isamot awaken to find themselves within a den of the Vegan Spider-Guild!

GLC Recharge #3 - "Vega"

• Kilowog's entrance is freaking awesome!
• Bolphunga, Fatality, and some other randos work together as a bounty hunter entourage to hunt our Lantern-Protagonists!
• We see how Sora got to where she is: she ventured to the death-site of her ring's previous owner to pray for him, but the singularity ended up engulfing her, sending her to the spider-nests in the Vega system. Swallowing her ring to slow down her life support systems, Sora avoided death by the scavengers while her ring sent distress calls to other lanterns, explaining the projection Kyle saw in Mogo last issue.
• The black holes appear to be connected by some kind of network, all leading to the Vega system. Are they targeting Lanterns specifically?

GLC Recharge #4 - "Hunted"

• We get reveals of the Spider-Guild's true agenda along with some hinting towards the true significance of the space-plot of Infinite Crisis.
• The Spiders have constructed a sub-space web of black holes across the universe, explaining how the Lanterns arrived in Vega.
• We also see that for some reason Oa is not at the center of the universe anymore.
• So they weren't targeting Lanterns specifically, but they were consuming suns to garner energy for their future plans & invasions.
• Emerging from within Oa's sun, the Spider-Guild enacts a surprise assault on the Lantern capital.
• The mention of the parallax fear anomaly is interesting: since they kept Parallax in the Central Power Battery following GL Rebirth, Johns introduces the idea that the Lanterns can still use their power on yellow if they overcome parallax's influence.

GLC Recharge #5 - "Stardeath"

• John and Hal are summoned!
• The minute Guy started his rally speech and I turned the page to see "Recharge", I spent a good 30 seconds fist pumping into the air. Hell freaking yes!
• Defeating the villain via overloading their power is a trope used way too much, but drawn by Pat Gleason makes it worthwhile.
• Guy gets promoted to Honor Guard as the Guardians put together a perfect segway into the events of Rann-Thanagar War.
• I guess the Spider-Guild is extinguished? Still wonder how they got access to the singularities within every sun in the universe?
• Soranik Natu, Isamot Kol, and Vath Sarn are wonderful additions to the Lantern mythos, and I might be persuaded to read the sister book Green Lantern Corps alongside Johns main title.