Red Lanterns hurts to read. Atrocitus proclaims his actions as he performs them and leaves little to be inferred or wondered about. The ultra-violence reaches an all-time high, making some of the pages hard to get through. For example, Atrocitus uses a dead body as a melee weapon. Why use that instead of, you know, his power ring? Don’t get me started. If one saving grace can be found, it lies in Miguel Sepulveda’s gorgeous artwork; I only wish his talents were being put to better use.

Writer Peter Milligan has done some excellent work in the past, but Red Lanterns proves to be an ill fit for his writing sensibilities. Terrible things happen in comics all the time, but the scenario he creates here has no resonance because it offers nothing of import for the main cast. As for the involvement of the Third Army, Sepulveda makes them look far more creepy than any other artist thus far, yet when they attack it results in nothing more than a painfully obvious information dump about their supposed weaknesses.

Peter Tomasi, writer of Green Lantern Corps, did it right by having the Third Army kill one of his supporting cast that has been around for a year. I truly felt bad as they ripped his arm off and morphed him into one of them. Milligan, on the other hand, introduces a character only to have her fall victim to the Third Army five pages later, guaranteeing that I absolutely do not care. If it weren’t for Sepulveda’s excellent art, this comic would border on being a waste of paper.

Joshua writes for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl or on IGN, where he recently admitted his love of doppelgangers. Dark Link, Darth Maul, Venom -- it all makes sense now.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com