Fictional group history
The Red Lantern Corps are first mentioned during the "Sinestro Corps War" storyline. Former Guardian Ganthet reveals the Blackest Night prophecy to Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner, which describes a War of Light among the seven Corps powered by the emotional spectrum. [4]
Before recruiting sentient beings to the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians of the Universe created the Manhunters, a group of robotic peacekeepers. However, the Manhunters massacre the inhabitants of space sector 666, with the survivors forming the Five Inversions, a terrorist cell bent on destroying the Guardians. [5] Inversions member Atrocitus is consumed by rage, becomes the first Red Lantern, and kills the other members. [6]
Blackest Night
During the Blackest Night event, the Guardians are shown observing the War of Light unfolding among the various Corps of the emotional spectrum; one of the scenes depicting the Lost Lanterns confronting the Red Lantern Corps to retrieve Laira's body from Ysmault. As the seven Corps battle one another, a new eighth group powered by death is introduced to the DC Universe: the Black Lantern Corps. Black Hand, the leader of the Black Lanterns, releases black power rings that reanimate the deceased as Black Lanterns, including Laira and the four deceased Inversions. [7] [8] Atrocitus works with Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Carol Ferris, Indigo-1, Saint Walker, Ganthet, and Sayd, representatives of the other Corps, to battle the Black Lanterns, as their powers combined will create a white light that will destroy the Black Lantern Corps. [9]
During the Black Lantern siege of the Green Central Power Battery, Kyle and Guy release the Red Lantern Vice from prison so he can help them battle the Red Lanterns. Believing that Vice has escaped rather than being released, Chaselon kills him. Vice's ring later attaches to Guy, who has become full of rage following Kyle's supposed death. [10] Mogo removes most of the Red Lantern energy from Guy's body and informs him that the only way to completely cleanse him is to bathe in the light of a Blue Lantern. [11]
The New 52 and solo title
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Red Lantern backstory, despite having not been radically altered, was explained and expanded in the eponymous series written by Peter Milligan. [12] [13]
After the end of the War of the Green Lanterns , disappointed at the fact that he was not the one who killed Krona, the culprit of the Ryut massacre, Atrocitus, feeling his rage dimming, is left without a purpose. [14] He chooses Bleez to be his equal and right hand and restores her mental faculties. [15] [16] Bleez becomes the Red Lanterns' representative in the New Guardians, consisting of representatives from the seven Corps working together for mutual interest. [17]
The New Guardians investigate a mysterious Orrery in the Vega system, traveling back to Earth with Kyle Rayner to recover his power battery after he is officially discharged from the Green Lantern Corps – while retaining his ring and access to the Oan network – to protect him if the Guardians should try and capture him. [17] [18]
Following the defeat of Volthoom, Hal Jordan sends Guy Gardner to join the Red Lanterns as an undercover operative to keep them in check, with Guy swiftly defeating Atrocitus and taking command of the group. It is revealed that part of his decision to join with the Red Lanterns is feeling as if he has never fit in as a Green Lantern. [19] As a Red Lantern, Guy manages to keep his rage in check, successfully leading most of the Red Lanterns; Atrocitus leads a splinter group and allows new Red rings to cause murderous justice-based rampages to continue. After joining with the Green Lanterns to defeat the cosmic terrorist Relic, Hal promises to give the Red Lanterns a sector for them to watch over after Guy rejects the initial offer of being released from his new role in the Corps. However, this sector becomes Sector 2814, where Earth resides, giving guardianship of Earth to the Red Lantern Corps. [20]
DC Rebirth
As part of DC Rebirth , it is revealed that Atrocitus and Dex-Starr are Red Lanterns once again, with the former regaining his title as their leader, and Bleez is once again allied with Atrocitus. Atrocitus wishes to bring forth the Red Dawn and obtain a mysterious new power ring that has been recently discovered. [21] Atrocitus begins to bring forth the Red Dawn by implanting a Hell Tower within Earth and converting humans into rage conduits, waiting until the Hell Tower is ready to insert a Rage Seed. [22] The Red Lanterns head to Earth to make sure their plans proceed on schedule and Bleez heads off to deal with Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Simon heals Bleez, restoring her to her original form. Bleez reveals Atrocitus' plan to Simon but when Jessica intervenes and attacks Bleez, she succumbs to rage once more and returns to her Red Lantern appearance, deciding to go into hiding from the Green Lanterns and Atrocitus. [23] Jessica Cruz inadvertently becomes a rage conduit and attacks Simon. Simon is able to purify her in a similar way he did to Bleez, and the two are then confronted by Atrocitus and a group of Red Lanterns. [24]
Entity
The red rage entity is called the Butcher and takes the form of an Earth bull with a forehead bone structure resembling the Red Lantern symbol, created by the first act of murder. As with the other emotional entities, the Butcher is attracted to Earth by the Life Entity and is hunted by Krona. [44] Atrocitus searches for Butcher alongside Dex-Starr and Sinestro. [45]
During the assault on Oa, Krona allows the Butcher and the other entities (except for Parallax) to take one of the six remaining Guardians as hosts. The Butcher is freed from Krona's control after Hal Jordan defeats and kills the rogue Guardian and is left to roam the universe once again. [40] During the "Green Lantern: Lights Out" event, the Butcher and the emotional entities are weakened by the emotional spectrum being drained and sacrifice themselves by passing into the Source Wall to repair the spectrum. [46]
However, a new rage entity is born from the excess rage left on Earth from the war with Atrocitus. [47] During DC Rebirth, Atrocitus enacts a scheme to take Earth as a new homeworld for the Red Lanterns. [21] The rage entity gestates in the center of the Earth's core, growing and feeding on humanity's wrath until it is mature enough to bring about what Atrocitus has envisioned. [48]
The original Butcher returns in Green Lantern Corps (vol. 4), where the Green Lantern Corps free it and the other entities from the Source Wall to help combat Starbreaker. [49] [50]
Oath
Like other Corps in the DC Universe, Atrocitus created an oath for the Red Lanterns to use when recharging their rings. [26] As the other members of his Corps are rarely seen as being capable of speech, it is unknown how often they use it (if they are able to at all). However, it has been shown how Atrocitus is able to restore intelligence and abstract thought, along with full speech capabilities, to his fellow Red Lanterns by the use of his shamanistic magic, making them able to recite the full oath. [16] The Red Lantern Corps oath is recited as follows:
- With blood and rage of crimson red,
- Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,
- Together with our hellish hate,
- We'll burn you all, that is your fate!
— Green Lantern (vol. 4) #32 (June 2008), inAtrocitus
Reception
Critical reception for the Red Lantern Corps has been mixed. Their first appearance, during the Final Crisis event in 2008, was met with a mostly positive critical response. Jesse Schedeen, writing for IGN, remarked that "the Red Lanterns are an excellent addition to the increasingly crowded Lantern mythos." [52] J. Montes, writing for Weekly Comic Book Review, noted that "The Red Lanterns are vicious and make the relentlessness of the Sinestro Corps almost wimpy by comparison." [53] Likewise, Red Lantern Bleez's origin story, as told in Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2, received widespread praise, particularly for Eddy Barrows's artwork. [54] [55] [56]
Their solo series, launched in 2011 as part of the New 52, initially received a negative response. Most reviewers praised the artwork by Ed Benes and Miguel Sepulveda, while criticizing the weak plot, inconsistent characterization, and uneven pacing.
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