Green Lantern/New Gods Godhead #1 Review: New 52 New Gods

Darkseid and Apokalips have been a part of the New 52 DC Comics universe right from the start. I mean that literally too, since we saw Parademons back in Justice League #1.

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What we haven’t seen as much of is the other side of the equation, and by that I mean the New Gods of New Genesis. Godhead fixes that in a hurry, putting them right in the middle of the Green Lantern family of books thanks to their discovery of the various ring corps and the belief that using them together will help them end Darkseid once and for all.

That’s a noble goal, to be sure, but the first part of this crossover establishes that Highfather and the gang act very much the part of gods, seeing everyone, even the lantern corps, as far beneath them. There’s also a question of whether their information about how using all seven rings together will allow them to penetrate the Source Wall and/or provide them with the Life Equation — the opposite of the Anti-Life Equation Darkseid is always after — but that’s an answer we probably won’t get until later in the event.

As with most opening chapters, this one primarily just sets the table, and in slightly disjointed fashion from a visual standpoint since five different artists with vastly different styles are involved. Two of them are Ethan Van Sciver and Pete Woods though, so there’s only so much complaining one can do.

Something longtime DC fans might take exception to is that there are new New Gods, as familiar faces like Metron, Orion and Lightray are joined by the likes of Uggha and Hyalt. I actually didn’t mind this development, and I’m anxious to see what they bring to the table.

It’s also nice to see the status of New Genesis and Apokalips clarified within the New 52 DC Multiverse. They are unique, exisiting above and beyond the 52 dimensions. That they seem to have no knowledge of the rings is a little strange, as we’ve certainly been led to believe there are at least Green Lanterns on some of the other Earths, but we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.

All told, not a bad introduction to a more antagonistic group of New Gods who believe the ends justify the means, and it looks like the Green Lantern Corps will have its hands full.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

On an information-gathering trip out to that cosmic tourist destination known as the Source Wall, Highfather and Metron manage to get some info from Relic, who’s become part of the wall. He tells the New Gods that together, the lanterns were able to penetrate the wall and learn the final answer (I’m assuming Relic isn’t talking about Jeopardy here), but he also warns of “the one” that was loosed.

The scene shifts to a more militaristic New Genesis than we’re used to seeing, where the entire populace is constantly being prepared for war with Darkseid. Highfather informs his generals that they are going to seize one ring of each color to enact his plan, and they manage to grab most of them fairly easily, even from the lone Red and Orange Lanterns. They even have the cojones to take the green ring from Mogo, despite Hal Jordan’s best effort, which looks like it could have dire consequences for the living planet.

Highfather has had Hyalt forge him a scepter of some sort that holds all seven rings, and he brags to the people of New Genesis that they now have the Life Equation. As proof, he decides to test out his new toy on the most populated planet in the universe, figuring that the light from all seven rings combined will turn the beings there into proto-New Gods, or something to that effect. Instead, it turns them into monsters, and Highfather’s reaction is sort of, “My bad, we turned you into monstrosities instead of gods. Oh well, I’ll have Uggha give you a quick death.” Nice.

Undeterred, Highfather still figures the rings are too powerful to be left in the hands of mortals, and he sends most of the New Gods out on a dual mission to stop all remaining lanterns and to find the White Lantern, if he still exists, because maybe they need his white ring instead of all the other ones together. Of course we know that he does, even though the Green Lantern Corps thinks he’s dead, so that part could get interesting.

Favorite moment: Orion, master of the obvious: “They … don’t look like gods to me.”

Final thought: It’s kind of a shame there are so many other things going on in the DC Universe right now, or this could have expanded to encompass everyone just like Blackest Night did. Godhead will have to dig deep to live up to that story, but this wasn’t a bad start.

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