Warning: Contains spoilers for Dark Crisis #2!
The Dark Crisis, the latest D.C. event following the death of the Justice League, is in full swing, and the Green Lantern Corps has just taken the stage in an important way. It seems that in a world without the Justice League, the Green Lanterns will protect the multiverse while the rest of Earth’s heroes unite.
Dark Crisis begins after the death of the Justice League. In Justice League #75, the League fought an army of its villains controlled by the Great Darkness, an omnipotent evil entity led by a corrupted Pariah with plans to destroy the Multiverse. Now that the Justice League is gone (with the exception of the still-living Black Adam), villains around the world are starting to commit various crimes. Jonathan Kent’s Superman and other heroes have formed their own New Justice League in response, while Wally West and a group of other Speedsters try to save Barry Allen, thinking he may be the key to repelling the Great Darkness.
Related: Justice League: Every DC Hero Who Turned Down a Spot on a New Team
Dark Crisis #2 was created by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere. The episode ends with Kyle Rayner trying to escape from a prison ship in space before being picked up by fellow Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Joe Mullane. When Hal takes Kyle off the ship, he discovers a large group of heroes from the Green Lantern Corps ready to fight the Dark Army, picking up where the Justice League left off. While the Dark Army is the most powerful team of villains in D.C. history, including figures like Darkseid and Necron, if anyone can match them in power, it’s the Green Lanterns.
The last page of the issue is a huge victory for all fans of the Green Lantern Corps. Almost every famous Green Lantern appears in a full-page image, with Jordan, Mullane and Rayner joined by Earth-born Lanterns Guy Gardner, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, among many others. Earth Lantern Jon Stewart was an active Justice League member who died along with the rest of his team, while Alan Scott will appear in Dark Crisis #3 with the Justice Society of America. The arrival of the Green Lantern Corps gives this issue a hopeful note on which to end, as the universe struggles to find a dominant team to replace the Justice League after their recent demise, and the next issue teases the confrontation between the Green Lantern Corps and the Dark Army.
In a new world without the Justice League, many DC heroes are struggling to pick up the pieces and protect the universe from both an attack on Earth and a threat to reality itself. Dark Crisis #2 brings a natural replacement to the Justice League, allowing the Green Lantern Corps to enter the fray, promising a full-scale brawl between the Lanterns and the Dark Army of the Pariah in future challenges.
