Sinestro Corps War
"Sinestro Corps War" is an American comic book crossover event published by DC Comics in its Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles.[1] Written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons and drawn by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, and Ethan Van Sciver, the 11-part saga was originally published between June and December 2007. In addition to the main storyline, four supplemental "Tales of the Sinestro Corps" one-shot specials and a Blue Beetle tie-in issue were concurrently released.
"Sinestro Corps War"
June – December 2007
Prentis Rollins
The story centers on the Green Lanterns of Earth—Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart and Guy Gardner—and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps as they fight an interstellar war against the Sinestro Corps, an army led by the former Green Lantern Sinestro who are armed with yellow power rings and seek a universe ruled through fear. A 1986 Alan Moore "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" story was the thematic basis of the storyline. Many characters were changed, killed off, or re-introduced as a result of the event.
Critical and fan reception to "Sinestro Corps War" was highly positive. Many reviewers ranked it among the top comic books of the year and the storyline's first issue garnered a 2008 Eisner Award nomination for Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team. The storyline was also a financial success, and several issues underwent multiple printings. "Sinestro Corps War" is the second part of a trilogy in the Green Lantern storyline, preceded by the 2005 miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth. The conclusion of "Sinestro Corps War" sets up the third and final part of the trilogy, Blackest Night, which was published in 2009.
Story and character changes[edit]
"Sinestro Corps War" introduced the Sinestro Corps in full after allusions to them throughout the post-One Year Later Green Lantern title. Sinestro received a major thematic overhaul as a result of his leadership of his eponymous Corps, with parallels drawn with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.[12] Green Lantern villains Superboy-Prime (later Superman-Prime), Cyborg Superman, and the Manhunters became members of the Sinestro Corps. The Anti-Monitor also made his first reappearance since his death at the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985 as the "Guardian" of the Sinestro Corps and later the power source of the Black Lanterns.[30] Superboy-Prime was renamed Superman-Prime during the event. Ostensibly to illustrate his coming of age in the story, Geoff Johns cited the ongoing legal dispute over the Superboy name as another reason for the character's new name.[20]
Some changes were also made to the heroes during the course of the storyline. The role of Ion passed from Kyle Rayner to Sodam Yat, making Yat the "strongest Green Lantern in the universe" as a result according to Johns.[10] The Book of Oa was rewritten by the Guardians to institute 10 new laws for the Green Lantern Corps, the first of which authorized lethal force against the Sinestro Corps.[20] The rebirth of Coast City, the process of which had been seen throughout Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern, as "the City Without Fear" was used to symbolically represent Hal Jordan's journey towards acceptance after his resurrection.[10] The second volume of the story's collection revealed that the original plan was for both John Stewart and Guy Gardner to be possessed by Parallax, with artwork of them facing off against Hal Jordan. However, in the midst of the story planning, Johns realized this would make Parallax's possession of Kyle less effective and the segment was dropped and redrawn.
Green Lantern #25 expanded on the "emotional spectrum" concept and introduced five new color-based corps of similar structure to the Green Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps. These corps each draw from different emotions, corresponding with the seven colors of the rainbow (red for rage, orange for avarice, yellow for fear, green for willpower, blue for hope, indigo for compassion and violet for love). Ganthet and Sayd, two Guardians of the Universe who were exiled during the course of the war, were shown as developing the corps that corresponds to the color blue and the emotion hope, while the Anti-Monitor becomes the power source for an eighth color-based corps, the "Black Lanterns", who represent death and the "absence of human drives and emotions".[30] The issue also laid the foundations for the 2009 event Blackest Night,[10] something the creators had been working towards since early 2007.[30]
Critical and financial reception[edit]
Altogether, "Sinestro Corps War" turned Green Lantern into one of DC Comics' most profitable titles.[31] Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1, first released in June 2007, sold out in a single day.[32] DC later reprinted the issue four times, each time with new variant covers by Van Sciver.[33] By August, the issue had sold over 89,000 copies, 36% of which was the result of an unusually high number of reorders.[34] The first four parts of the storyline, Green Lantern #21 and 22, and Green Lantern Corps #14 and 15, were released in July and August and also sold out. The issues went to a second printing, with Green Lantern Corps #14 going to a third printing.[33] Green Lantern #23 and Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax #1 later went on to second printings as well.[24] Blue Beetle #20 saw much higher sales than usual for the title as a result of its tie-in to "Sinestro Corps War",[35] with sales 75% higher than in the previous month.[36]
Critical reception to "Sinestro Corps War" was highly positive. IGN.com called the story a "smash hit"[33] and Newsarama referred to it as both an "action-packed DC adventure"[37] and "DC's blockbuster event of the year".[30] Comic Book Resources released an editorial in mid-October 2007 entitled "Sinestro Corps War is what World War Hulk SHOULD be", citing the former's ability to keep up and gain momentum throughout despite being both twice as large and far less publicized than the latter.[38] Comic Book Resources placed "Sinestro Corps War" on its "Best of 2007" list, and named Geoff Johns one of its "Best Writers of 2007".[39] In 2008, Ethan Van Sciver earned an Eisner Award nomination for his art in Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1.[40]
DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio praised the storyline as "the best thing that [DC Comics] put out this year. Without a doubt", and called "Sinestro Corps War" the model for crossovers in 2008 and beyond,[14] including "Final Crisis".[41] Didio has also stated that he would like to see a direct-to-video animated "Sinestro Corps War" film similar to Justice League: The New Frontier.[42] Geoff Johns suggested elements of "Sinestro Corps War" to appear in DC Universe Online, on which he was collaborating with artist Jim Lee, although the comic storyline wasn't incorporated in the game.[43]
The main story was first collected in two volumes, but was later collected in a single volume. Miscellaneous stories were collected in an additional volume:
In other media[edit]
In an interview with Newsarama in 2008, DC Comics executive editor Dan DiDio expressed interest in making an animated adaptation of Sinestro Corps War as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.[44] During the early development of the cancelled Green Lantern sequel in 2012, the main plot was based on the Sinestro Corps War storyline.[45]