Red Lanterns #0

Whelp, here it is. Page One of Red Lanterns tells the entire story. It's the first domino being knocked over.

What more needs to be said? Domino knocks down another domino knocks down a few more dominoes and before you know it: Wham! Genocide.

I think I should just end this final Zero Issue commentary with a short commentary on this singularly perfect page. Everything Atrocitus did stemmed from the Manhunters killing his wife and his people and, most especially, his little girl. And the image of his daughters doll falling from her dead hands is the image he always comes back to. Here we have the gray skies sweeping in as if a storm were brewing. The civilization, still standing, probably prosperous, off in the background. And the defiance of a proud people unwilling to live beneath the shackles of the Guardians robots. The sun is setting, the fist is clenched, and the doll is precariously perched.

And the next thing you know: Oh, wait, I already said that.

More comic books should do this. This is a splash page that works. The size differential is an important focal point of the power here. And because the reader knows the tragedy that's about to unfold, you have a shift of power at least three times over in one static image. The robot is large, dour, and well-muscled. At first glance, he has all the power. Yet the little girl stands up to him as a small child is wont to do with a petty insult. Power shifts to her. But knowing what happens next shifts the power immediately back to the Manhunter. It's a wonderful image. And it's the only part of this comic I'll comment on.

Red Lanterns #0 Rating: If anybody else wants to comment on the other 19 pages, feel free! I'm done with Zero Month!