Green Lanterns #31

Writer: Sam Humphries

Artist: Ronan Cliquet

Colourist: Hi-Fi

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Finally, the Volthoom story ends. This story has been going on since a little bit after the first arc of the series, but it feels like we've been dealing with Rami and Volthoom for years now, mostly because of the fact that Sam Humphries kept pushing the story to the side in favour of other stories. I haven't been a fan of this series and I've been outspoken about it, but this issue pleased me in ways I didn't expect. There was genuine heart and emotion in the conclusion of the story, which is mostly what I look for in comics. If a page can send chills up my spine, I classify that page or issue as a complete success. And that's what this issue is: successful.

What I admired most about this issue is the lack of action. The story is a lot simpler than I thought it was going to be, though I would've liked to see more scenes between the Lanterns since this is their final issue together as one whole unit.

I had a serious distaste for Volthoom, mostly because of the despicable things he's been doing over the past few issues, as well as his intentions. He's just insane, but here we see a dimension of him we haven't seen since meeting his younger self in those flashback issues I hated so much. His relationship with Jessica grows a bit more here, but Humphries doesn't really explain how Volthoom isn't able to recognise Simon and Jessica in the present day since he interacted with them in the past. Perhaps we're supposed to fill in the blanks and assume he forgot them in the 10 billion years since. He does become a completely different person after all, but this is just me guessing.

A strong aspect of this book is the wonderful art by Ronan Cliquet. Cliquet isn't on the book enough, and their art fits the characters and the style of the book so well. He really nails expressions and character interactions, and his art is just detailed enough while also coloured very well by Hi-Fi.

Sam Humphries isn't done with this book yet, as his next issue is his last. If this issue was his last, I would be immensely pleased with the way it ended. This issue was a lot of fun to read and looks gorgeous to boot.