Green Lantern #61

Well! That's a very nice picture of Hal on the cover of this issue, but actually, that's about the only place that he shows up, so enjoy it. I was rather hoping for a butt shot, but I suppose that one can't have everything.

Nevertheless, I have to say that I didn't particularly miss him. This is mainly a story about Atrocitus, the Spectre, and the Rage Entity, and it just rolls along very nicely.

Atrocitus really really doesn't like Earth very much. But he does appreciate that there is a lot of rage floating about. He's drawn to an execution of a particularly nasty criminal, who is getting his jollies by taunting the father of his victim, even as they strap him down for the needle. This...turns out to be a rather poor move on his part, as the poor Father is filled with Rage...and the Butcher shows up.

Well crap!

And then of course, hot on his heels, is the Spectre, AND Atrocitus! The Father is promptly possessed, and the criminal gets his. Atrocitus and the Spectre have a rather unexpectedly civil philosophical exchange, and we learn still more about Atrocitus's past. As nasty as he can be, you do have to feel a bit of sympathy for him. Oddly enough, the Spectre backs down and agrees that his vendetta against Krona is righteous... at least for now.

It's nicely done. And as usual, Doug Mahnke does a spectacular job. His version of the possessed Rage Entity is scary as heck. I did have to do a double take at that particular page however, which shows the Butcher in all of his red hatey glory...which is directly next to an in-house ad by DC for various prizes, showing Superman, Aquaman, Santa and the GOOD Dr. Light, and somehow the red energy from Mahnke's drawing flows so perfectly across the pages that for a couple of seconds it all looked like One Picture! Why, I wondered, was the Butcher angry at Santa?
Then my eyes snapped back into focus.

Things are really starting to move along nicely, with the build-up coming to the War of the Green Lanterns in a couple of months. I can hardly wait.