Shop For Green Lantern: Agent Orange

Agent Orange was a fun read with the only downside being that it was short. Unlike most stories that directly lead into a big event (I'm looking at you, Captain America: Road to Reborn), this book was not filler; it added to the GL mythos by giving us the origin of the Orange Light and Larfleeze, expanding on the Blue Lantern Corps, and setting us up nicely for Blackest Night. It was even new reader friendly for those of you wanting to jump on for Blackest Night, there are some supplemental back-ups in this book that tell you everything you want to know about all the different Corps.

The story starts out with the Controllers trying to take the Orange Ring so they can start their own Corps, and Larfleeze (thinking the Controllers are still connected with the Oans) sees this as the Oans breaking their treaty they made with him billions of years ago. The treaty between the Oans and Larfleeze consisted of the Oans letting Larfleeze keep the Orange Light for himself, making the Vega sector offlimits to Green Lanterns and Larfleeze not bothering them. He annihilates the Controllers, and after their deaths he consumes their souls as constructs of his Ring, making them apart of his Corps.

The twist that Larfleeze is the only "real" Orange Lantern is interesting, and it makes sense that he carries his Orange Power Battery with him , even using it as a blunt-force weapon. Humorously, he won't let Hal Jordan touch it and wants it to stay in "mint condition". We see more of "Scar", the Oan that is hell-bent on bringing the War of Light to fruition, and he declares war on Larfleeze, changing even more rules in the Book of Oa to allow this. Ultimately, the clash between the Green Lantern Corps and Larfleeze is another stalemate, and Larfleeze is sent to attack the Blue Lanterns at the very end (which is probably what Scar's intention was from the start).

Hal's main struggle in this book is dealing with the Blue Ring of Hope that's been forced on him, he finds it difficult to have any hope, seeing hope as useless (you can hope all you want but you have to use willpower to actually get something done, according to Hal). He eventually manages some hope in a cynical and humorous way, and we see the kind of power the Blue Ring holds.

The art's not as good as Ivan Reis but it more than suffices, Philip Tan brings some good character designs to Orange Lantern Corps.

I'd recommend this, even to new readers (though I'd suggest you going back and reading everything due to its high quality).Get more detail about Green Lantern: Agent Orange.