Friday, January 25, 2013

Albert Avilla Reviews: Red Lanterns #14

Red Lanterns #14
DC Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Peter Milligan writer
Artist: Miguel Sepulveda

“Home Is Where the Heart Is” (Spoilers!)

In the “Rise of the Third Army” event this is where the action is. The Red Lanterns are fighting the Third Army. The Red Lanterns have found their weakness and destroyed the creatures through their eyes. We are not talking about let’s subdue these creatures and take them in kind of action. This is fight to the death: tear off arms, body parts flying all over the place action. The Red Lanterns are able to defeat the creatures, but not without the lost of Skorch.

Atrocitus takes the remains of one of the creatures to Ysmault to find the origins of the creatures. Using his blood magic, Atrocitus learns that the creatures come from the DNA of the Guardians. These are some really gruesome scenes; if horror is your thing, then this is the book for you. Atrocitus’s animosity toward the Guardians is increasing. Atrocitus gives his Lanterns missions to seek out the blood of the guilty to feed the Red Power Battery; a leader delegating responsibility. Then, bam! The creature regenerates from a rat; you can’t get away from those little B’s anywhere in the Universe, and it attacks. Atrocitus, being the battle leader that he is, instantly comes up with a plan to destroy the creature. Artist Miguel Sepulveda gives us another blood-splattering, gore-fest page.

Atrocitus comes up with another plan to defeat the Third Army by using a synthetic army, the Manhunters. Rankorr is sent to Earth to get his vengeance and become a true Red Lantern. Atrocitus returns to Ayutt, his home planet, where he relives the destruction of Sector 666 by the Manhunters. If you like science fiction, superhero throw-down, and blood and guts action, then, look no farther.

Milligan keeps the action rolling, and when there is a pause in the action, it’s building up to some more action. Milligan keeps the intensity level high and the story is well done. The characters are exciting and vibrant; they are not just rage-filled maniacs running around the Universe, killing the guilty, but the rage does give these characters that certain spice to their personalities. Atrocitus is quite fascinating, with his intelligence and leadership shining through the rage. This book is a punch in the gut that sends shivers down the back.

The art is horrifically wonderful, and it accentuates the writing completely. After he has splattered this bloody rage throughout the book, Sepulveda surprises us with a landscape of a beautiful country town. What did his teachers say when they caught him drawing these scenes in elementary school?

I rate Red Lanterns 14 Buy Your Own Copy. (#2 on the Al-O-Meter Ranking)


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