Green Lantern/Tangent - In the Tangent universe things are not what you may think, familiar names belong to completely different people.  This is a world where the Joker is a super hero and Nightwing is a covert government organization.  There are many changes in this universe, for example the Vietnam conflict was over very quickly, but war broke out in Czechoslovakia between the US and the Russians.  In this world the Green Lantern is an object that brings restless souls back to life in order to finish one last task.  It's bearer is an asian woman who, although appearing young, is beyond the limitations of time.  This book, however, is more than just a tale of the Green Lantern, it is a compilation of tales beginning with one of the greatest heroes in the Tangent world: Captain Comet.  The good captain was given strange powers - including flight and strength - but met with a tragic end.  While trying to save Americans from the threat of a biological weapon, Captain Comet was distracted and the missile he was fighting went off, killing him.  Thirty years later he is brought back to life to revenge his death.  It turns out that what distracted him was a bomb going off in an army base below him.  The bomb was planted by a Soviet spy, a man who was so far undercover that he was able to become a US senator.  Comet has returned from the grave to take revenge upon this man, but knows killing him won't be enough, so he does the next best thing and destroys the only thing the senator really loved, his large collection of priceless art.  After this, Captain Comet rests peacefully, and we're on to the next story.  King Faraday was the world's greatest detective, and a writer for a mystery magazine until a plane accident took his life.  He had solved the final case of his career and was taking it to his publisher when the plane he was in had trouble and he and the pilot had to eject.  Upon ejection, Faraday's neck snapped.  His revival came about because he needed to tell his last story.  The mystery was the murder of one Ralph Digby, shot in the head.  Mr. Digby was in the business of hostile take-overs, and he had many enemies, but the man who killed him was none other than Faraday's publisher, Roy Raymond.  Digby was trying to take over Raymond's company and Roy just wouldn't stand for that, so he killed Digby.  There is no evidence, but both Faraday and Roy know the truth.  However, Faraday was content to simply tell his story, he left it up to Roy to do the right thing, or nothing at all.  The final story involves Ace fighter pilot, Arthur Curry.  Arthur is a member of the most elite squadron of fighters in the world, the Boomerangs, led by Captain Boomerang, and in this story is being interviewed for an article in the immensely popular magazine World's Finest.  Arthur tells of the glory days of the Boomerang Squad, how they operated in every major conflict since World War II, how Captain Boomerang himself has been genetically altered to remain young, how the squadron is still working for the common good.  The story then turns to Arthur himself, and how he always wanted to fly planes with the great Captain Boomerang.  He tells of how his mother, a reporter for World's Finest magazine died when he was very young and he lived with his aunt, never knowing how his father.  It's here that the reporter interviewing him pulls out some new discoveries: pictures of Captain Boomerang with Arthur's mother as well as a letter that effectively states that Arthur was Boomerang's son.  The book ends with Arthur running off to show Boomerang the news, and the reporter returning to her grave.  Yup, you guessed it, she was really Arthur's mom the whole time, but she didn't want to get in the way of the Father/Son reunion, so she left, content with the knowledge that her son is happy.  In the end we're left with a bit of a mystery, who is the mysterious keeper of the Lantern, and what kind of tales could be told about her?  More of the mystery may be answered when Tangent returns and a second Green Lantern book is penned.

Batman: In Darkest Knight - What if Bruce Wayne had been chosen to be the Green Lantern for Sector 2814 instead of Hal Jordan?  That is the basis for this fascinating Elseworld tale.  After a disastrous first night out fighting crime, Bruce Wayne is visited by the ghostly visage of Abin Sur, who leads him to a crashed ship and the Green Lantern ring.  Immediately he begins to fight crime, but Commissioner James Gordon doesn't seem to like this new-comer.  After his first major victory, Bruce is sent to deal with a Green Lantern who has abused his power, Sinestro.  Bruce takes care of him very easily, but through unconventional means that the Guardians don't really care for.  Bruce takes Sinestro to Oa for trial and Sinestro is sentenced to life in prison, which on Oa means banishment to the alternate universe Qward.  The citizens of Qward knew of Sinestro's coming and have prepared for it with a yellow power ring to help in their conquest of both universes.  Sinestro comes to Earth in an attempt to destroy the Green Lantern that destroyed him.  He finds the man that killed Bruce's parents and kills him.  In doing so, Sinestro absorbs the mans mind and becomes crazy, starts dressing in a purple tuxedo and adopts a huge grin (sound familiar anyone?).  Bruce discovers this and goes after the madman, which causes a great deal of consternation from the Guardians.  His obsession with stopping Sinestro is getting in the way of his duty and they threaten to strip him of the ring.  He says they'll have to take it from him, and they send their best to do so, which isn't enough.  At that point the Guardians send an envoy to give a few of the more powerful Earthlings power rings.  Clark Kent, Diana Prince and Barry Allen are all given rings to try and stop Bruce.  Even they aren't enough to keep Bruce from his mission, and in the end, the Guardians leave the new Justice League of America in charge of Sector 2814, and let Bruce Wayne complete his mission.  I thought this was a great book, and it was very hard to find.  I would highly recommend it.

Green Lantern Annual #5 - This is a collection of tales from the far future.  In one story a Green Lantern falls to an alien world and seeks out a new bearer for the ring (sound familiar?).  Unfortunately, the chosen one belongs to a race of people that believe that anyone who is more powerful than another is evil, so the most powerful weapon in the universe is wasted.  However, when this planet is attacked by an aggressive race, the chosen one decides to take action, something unheard of in his world, and becomes Green Lantern.  He disposes of the villains and overthrows the government that kept everyone equal.  However, his people are not ready for such a radical idea as individuality and proclaim him a god and bother him with every triviality their meager lives can come up with.  The other story involves another Green Lantern who is badly injured and needs to find a temporary replacement.  Apparently the old qualifications for being a GL are still in place, only someone completely without fear can be a Green Lantern, and there is only one person on this planet who fits that description.  He is given the ring and told that there is an alien menace approaching.  The new GL manages to stop the invaders quite handily and returns to his home planet where it is discovered that he is completely insane.  The only person on the planet without fear is also crazy.  This is probably my least favorite Green Lantern tale, but it had it's moments...

Iron Lantern #1 - In the Amalgam universe, Hal Stark is the owner of Stark Aircraft and many years ago during the testing of a simulator he was whisked away to the site of a crashed alien craft.  The alien died while Hal was in transit and Hal was fatally injured.  He managed to build a suit of armor that kept him alive and powered it with a strange battery that he found in the ship.  He later learned that he could use the power of the battery to create anything he wanted.  Back to the modern day, Hal hosts a reception for a visiting senator who happens to be the father of Hal's test pilot.  Earlier in the day the latest test was sabotaged, but the senator won't believe it was sabotage, he thinks that it was incompetence.  The test pilot, Pepper Ferris, storms off, only to find a strange glowing crystal.  When she touches it she becomes Madame Sapphire, a being of pure evil, who resurrects a dangerous foe of Iron Lantern's, Great White, a giant mechanical shark.   In the meantime, Kyle O'Brien, a one-time substitute for Hal, decides that he wants more power and tries to steal the battery from the underground complex that it's hidden in.  As Hal takes on Great White in space, Kyle manages to steal the battery, which leaves Hal powerless.  Hal decides that he has to stop Great White, so he uses the last of his reserve power to destroy the shark, but that leaves him to fall from space and presumably burn up on re-entry.  While this is going on Madame Sapphire kidnaps the senator and takes him to a distant place for who knows what reason.  In the end, it is shown that all these events are the design of one Mandarinestro.  All in all, this wasn't too bad, but I think there have been better Amalgam tales.

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