Deception is the truth.
The Lanterns arrive at Daxam to thwart a imminent Durlan
invasion. And Sodam Yat, the lost lantern, returns home.
Daxam has been an interesting place since it was first
introduced, represented as inhabited by one of the most xenophobic of races
that went out of it’s way to brainwash their young into continuing their
‘honored’ tradition.
Not to mention that Daxamites are distant cousins of
Kryptonians and a yellow sun does wonders for them.
While I love what Jensen is doing with the Corps, I was less
impressed with Chang’s surprisingly disappointing artwork.
SPOILERS FOLLOW………….
The Lanterns, led by John Stewart and including Sodam Yat,
journey to Daxam, which is as unwelcome as ever.
Slight backstory...........
The Daxamites are so xenophobic that their ignorance of
alien threats led them to be slaughtered mercilessly and enslaved when Mongul,
who had recently taken over the Sinestro Corps in lieu of Sinestro’s
imprisonment by the Green Lanterns.
Sodam Yat was the only exception who was able to escape
thanks to being chosen by a Green Lantern ring. His exploits during the
Sinestro Corps war alerted everyone to the fact that Daxam possessed the same
traits as Krypton and this ability was used when Sodam, channeling Ion the
Green Lantern entity, make Daxam’s sun yellow to overthrow Mongul.
And this is the reason why the Durlans have taken such keen
interest in them. If they can replicate the Daxamite physiology, they would be
an army with Superman like soldiers.
Though Daxam seems to have learnt from its mistakes. As
Sodam Yat is shown around by his father, we see a huge arsenal of weapons and
armed soldiers prepping for war.
Back on Mogo, Von Daggle attempts a life threatening action
to give the Corps an edge. Taking out Salaak, he enters the ring battery and
corrupts it so that the rings can identity the deceptive Durlan presence using
his own DNA.
As the Lanterns debate whether it is right to hurt the
apparently xenophobic Daxamites, the rings are updated with Von Daggle’s actions
and detect everyone around them as Durlans.
Apparently, the Durlans played the Ozymandias card (i.e.
finish the plan before alerting the heroes about it) and captured the
Daxamites, taking their DNA by force. Then they waited for the Lanterns to
emerge and capture them.
This leaves Sodam, who is already in a vulnerable state
physically, all the more remorseful for having exposed Daxam to the entire
universe, making them prominent guinea pigs for predators like the Durlans.
One of the Durlan elders attempts to take Sodam for it’s
own, but fails as John’s backup arrives – a contingent of all time Green
Lantern enemies that have sided with the Lanterns for a greater enemy.
Sadly, it’s too late as most of the Durlans leave to bathe
in the energy waters of Zezzen so that they can permanently take the Daxamite
form. While the Lanterns leave to stop the Durlans, Sodam remains behind intent
to making his race invisible to the eyes of the universe again.
As I’ve said before, Daxam is an interesting subject given
the themes of xenophobia and now abuse. While Sodam rightly claims that the
xenophobia made sure that Daxam was never discovered and it’s people’s powers
abused by the likes of Mongul and the Durlans, it’s is a one-sided argument.
The fact that Daxam ensured their invisibility by committing
several horrible acts of torture to any alien who touched down on their planet
and the fact that it was something waiting to happen with or without Sodam are
valid points that Yat fails to consider because after all – in the end, he is
one of them.
Still, overall, I like that Jensen still gives time for the
little touches – one of which was Feska concerned that her planet had turned
against the Corps (and by proxy branded her a criminal and most likely her
family as well) and Jruk’s constant ‘Hulk’ moments.
SPOILERS END……………….
This issue had a lot going for it, but was unnaturally
bogged down by some below-par artwork.
Still, this is turning out to be an engaging and deep event,
and I cannot wait to see how it resolves.
So, I give it 8.0 out of 10.
+The character moments
+A good social commentary of Daxam
+Some good action pieces
-The artwork is below par
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