Of all DC’s Lantern titles, I like Red Lanterns the best - at least, in terms of concept rather than execution. Hateful monsters who spew blood, live off rage and want to kill everything AND have Lantern rings? That should be a slam-dunk of silly fun but Red Lanterns, Volume 3: The Second Prophecy (wait, what was the first prophecy…?) is unfortunately an overlong and boring read.
Most of this book is taken up with the Rise of the Third Army crossover, which was plain rubbish, but even in the non-crossover issues writer Peter Milligan doesn’t quite know where to take the series. Atrocitus’ origins are explored wherein his family is murdered by killer robots called Manhunters created by the ironically named Guardians (really, those little blue guys are the WORST - nearly everything they ever do to help goes stupendously wrong!) and he’s forced to relive the Massacre of Sector 666. That description alone almost makes me laugh - everything about the Red Lanterns is so comically OTT emo!
Meanwhile Rankorr, the human Red Lantern, is on Earth to resolve his hatred of blah blah and pursue a romance with blah blah. Bleez is blah blah and the others are blah blah. Blah blah… Yeah, nothing to see here!
There’s the intermittently interesting scene scattered here and there and I like the idea that their home planet Ysmault is vampiric and living off the Lanterns’ blood because, yet again, it’s SO ridonkulously emo! The resolution to Atrocitus’ story arc is also suitably nihilistic and bonkers. But most of this book isn’t at all interesting to read, especially the Turd Army garbage, of which there’s too much.
I hope DC give the Red Lanterns another shot because I think there’s potential for a great series with these characters even if Peter Milligan, and his successor Charles Soule, failed to realise it. As it is though, The Second Prophecy, like most Lantern books, is unfortunately a sprawling mess of forgettable nonsense.
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