I don't get the trend of "I didn't understand it, but it was so good". I want my comics to be enjoyable, not work that I have to deduce what could possibly be happening.
Green Lantern: Blackstars #1
| Writer | Grant Morrison |
| Artist | Xermanico |
| Cover Price | $3.99 |
What has Hal Jordan done? Following the catastrophic events of The Green Lantern #12, no Green Lanterns can be found patrolling their space sectors...and not a single power ring lights the darkness. Across the universe, once-familiar faces now wear a different uniform and enforce a new type of galactic law. The Green Lantern Corps is dead-long live the Blackstars! Who are they? What are they? Answers will be revealed as the unstoppable Blackstars set their sights on the demons of Ysmault, Mongul...and a tiny, backwater planet called Earth. A dangerous new chapter of the Green Lantern mythology starts now!
CRITIC REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
On Comics Ground - Timothy Quail
Nov 08, 2019Green Lantern Black Stars is an incredible comic. It is almost unfair to other books on the shelf this week, as I am unsure anything else can stand up to the perfection created here. Read Full Review
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10
DC Comics News - Matthew Lloyd
Nov 17, 2019Grant Morrison's excursion into the lore of the Green Lantern universe continues to be well executed and engaging. Green Lantern: Blackstars #1 presents a creative approach to storytelling all while feeling familiar to readers. The subtle aspects of Morrison's craft are critical in making the issue a must-read for comic fans. Read Full Review
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9.5
AIPT - Ritesh Babu
Nov 06, 2019Blackstars breaks open a world of cosmic mayhem, pulling on Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill and plenty more to deliver Grant Morrison oddities with the lush work of Xermanico. Read Full Review
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9.0
Monkeys Fighting Robots - Corey Patterson
Nov 06, 2019It's refreshing to see a story with a woman taking the reigns in and of herself without a "strong man" leading the way. In fact, our strong man (Hal) in this scenario sits back and enjoys watching her taking the lead. Read Full Review
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8.8
Sequential Planet - Tariq Sims
Nov 07, 2019Morrison starts his mini-series strongly, and it can only get better from here. Read Full Review
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8.5
Geek Dad - Ray Goldfield
Nov 06, 2019This is clearly a short-term status quo, but Morrison has managed to create one of the most compelling and unpredictable GL runs in a long time. I'm sure he'll completely upend the status quo once again by the end of this miniseries. Read Full Review
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8.5
411Mania - John Pumpernickel
Nov 14, 2019A great book with great visuals. Grab this one from your comic book shop. Read Full Review
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8.2
Comic Watch - Cody White
Nov 07, 2019Green Lantern: Blackstars #1(Morrison, Xermanico, Oliff, Wands) is a gorgeously rendered narrative in which Morrison out-Morrisons himself, for better or worse. Read Full Review
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8.0
Weird Science - Reggie Hemingway
Nov 06, 2019A well-drawn opener revealing the scope ofController Mu's plan. Hint: it's not to distribute boysenberries. If you liked The Green Lantern, you'll keep readingthis series. Read Full Review
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8.0
Blog Of Oa - Myron Rumsey
Nov 06, 2019Green Lantern: Blackstars #1 is a good start to this three issue miniseries with the concession that the creative team is obligated to show us how the universe has changed. Read Full Review
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8.0
ComicBook.com - Matthew Aguilar
Nov 06, 2019While there are a host of characters to take in, it all will rise and fall with Belzebeth and Parallax, and so far there are well deserving of the spotlight, exhibiting a raw magnetism that keeps you invested in not only the big picture but also the more personal one, and it makes for a book that is simply not like anything else on stands. Read Full Review
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7.0
But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford
Nov 06, 2019While the book sports a solid visual presentation and good world-building, that is mostly all it has to offer. Luckily, comics are continuous media. This issue sets some solid building blocks with its world-building that will hopefully bear a great story as this three-issue mini-series continues to unfold. Read Full Review
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7.0
Comics: The Gathering - Olivier Roth
Nov 07, 2019Succeeding Liam Sharp on art is an artist I am unfamiliar with in Xermanico. Their style isn’t as detailed as Sharp’s, but still has a similar essence that makes all the pages really stand out. You can tell from the first page that Xermanico has a good eye for scale and perspective as we are drawn in as the reader to each image. Read Full Review
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7.0
Henchman-4-Hire - Sean Ian Mills
Nov 09, 2019Grant Morrison's Green Lantern saga continues with a gnarly, badass and pretty jumbled new mini-series. Read Full Review
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6.0
Lyles Movie Files - Jeffrey Lyles
Nov 06, 2019There's not a lot here to suggest that Blackstars needed a spin-off book as this storyline might have played better in Hal Jordan The Green Lantern. Morrison has earned enough faith to show some patience and wait to see where he's going, but this wasn't the most exciting entry point to the world of the Blackstars. Read Full Review
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3.0
Newsarama - Pierce Lydon
Nov 08, 2019Grant Morrison's work can often be impenetrable at times, and unfortunately this follow-up to his run on Green Lantern is no exception. Read Full Review
USER REVIEWS Back to Top
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8.5
Prelude: Grant Morrison's Green Lantern has split the fanbase on it's quality but I've been enjoying it. The Good: I love alternate universe stories and this one is done well. Still love Morrison grabbing all aspects of Green Lantern lore. Controller Mu and the Blackstars are really interesting here. The Bad: Bit confusing at points with the only way Morrison can do. Conclusion: A strong start to Green Lantern: Blackstars however if you haven't been liking Morrison's The Green Lantern, you won't like this either.
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8.0
Great start to essentially the stopgap between Season 1 and 2 of Morrison's GL Run. This issue takes place in the new timeline altered by Hal Jordan's use of the Miracle Machine, remaking the reality in Controller Mu's image. In this new reality the GL Corps never existed, with the Guardians having been exterminated millennia ago. Hal and Belzebeth have pretty much been just taking out every planet level threat and converting them into the Blackstar doctrine, leaving no opposition. I appreciate Morrison's references to the old Moore GL story "Tygers", with mentions of Guardian skin being fashioned into toilet seats and drums as well as the intro to the descendants of the Five Inversions, the Demons of Ysmault that Atrocitus once belon more
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8.0
Controller Mu Wins.
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8.0
Pretty good, slightly even more confusing than the main book, but it does make sense in the end. Artwork, while not as good as Sharp's, was still very good and suited the story very well.
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7.5
I feel lightly puzzled but not necessarily in a bad way, just a weird way.
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7.0
This was fine. I just don't think it's all that interesting? I never really connected with any of the characters in season one, so I'm still not invested in them here. Which is a shame, because I know Morrison can write interesting characters. I don't know, this feels archaic, and maybe that's what he's going for, but it undercuts a lot of the good build up he has going. For example, when Controller Mu shows up, there's that narration that says "Mu wished for..." and then it says "But Mu did not speak. Mu no longer needed to speak." That is cool. That's a really good way of showing how powerful Mu is. But then it's undercut by Belzebeth explaining that Mu is speaking through her. We didn't need that and that line felt so archaic in its deli more
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6.5
I think Morrison is too Smart for me
+ Like • Comments (1)• Likes (1) -
6.5
The usual esoteric Morrison fare. Eclectic references to GL lore as is the Morrison way. Lots of different faces fly by in a blur but seldom do any leave much of an impression unfortunately. Can't see this mini-series being more than a somewhat amusing distraction until the main title resumes. Art by Xermanico is good throughout.
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4.5
I am sure Morrison can explain this storyline with multiple references to Green Lantern tales from decades past. However, if every time he writes a story, his readers have to decipher meaning from a confused set of graphic panels, with new characters introduced in a manic frenzy, then maybe the enjoyment fades. Having followed Morrison over the years, I have found that there are times when I think "wow, why has no-one thought of this storyline angle before?" but you have to sift through a lot for that momentary high.
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3.0
Once again, Morrison loves to create comics where we are not sure what is happening. People love it, I don't.
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2.5
There were a lot of things I didn't like about this issue. Uninteresting characters, an almost aggressive lack of meaningful conflict, accents and affectations standing in for personality, weakly delivered dramatic beats, and so on. But the most amusing thing I didn't like was that the author seemed really eager to work in references to dong, completely non sequitur. There are at least two here that have nothing to do with anything, and the trend continues in the next issue. If you don't already bear an unconditional love for the Lantern mythos, I can't recommend this.
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2025 In Review:
