With so many characters to choose from, even just the ones from Earth, any Green Lantern story was going to have to miss someone out, luckily, Future State: Green Lantern brings together three separate stories, so that multiple heroes get the chance to shine.
The first story, written by Geoffrey Thorne, sees John Stewart leading a group of Lanterns into battle against an army of Khund laying siege to a peaceful world. The only problem is, none of the rings have power anymore (something that will be a factor in all our Lantern stories). Instead of being able to rely on their rings, these heroes have resorted to guns and swords to help those in need, coming across as more of a mercenary unit, rather than the space cops that they were before.
This makes for a very different type of story from what we'd normally get with these characters, as they're fighting for their lives, and having to kill to do so. You've got John cutting people down with an energy sword, Salak shooting people in the head, and Gnort biting into people and tearing them apart with tooth and claw, more like a werewolf warrior than other depictions of the character. We get little teases as to how the group have ended up in this position, about the rings loosing power, but the main focus is on them having to fight against an overwhelming army, and the story is a grim and violent one because of this.
The second story in the collection takes on a much less grand and violent tone as it follows Jessica Cruz, who's ring ran out of power whilst she was aboard the Sector House in Sector 0123. Trapped alone on the station, she's been repairing the place the est she can, whilst trying to keep the peace on multiple planets using the stations communications equipment. Unfortunately for her, three members of the Sinestro Corps have their eyes on the Sector House for their own ends.
Thus begins a story that's essentially Jessica Cruz doing Die Hard in space, picking off the various members of the Sinestro's one by one, using the various tech around the station to create traps, whilst using the vents to sneak around. Not only is it a ton of fun, but it feels like a really good evolution for the character. She's gone from being alone and scared, to alone and not frightened of anything. Rather than letting the Sinestro Corps frighten her and just hiding away she's become an efficient hero, one who doesn't need her ring to do the job.
The final story is quite a bit of fun, focusing on everyone's favourite GL douche-bag, Guy Gardner. Arriving on an alien planet where two forces are on the brink of war over an artefact that they consider to be holy, Guy's ring runs out of power, literally dropping him out of the air in the process. Over the course of years and decades we see Guy being hailed as a prophet from the gods, and using his position to try and bring peace and prosperity to the people.
Guy seems like the last person who would use this kind of power for good, and there are moments you see the old Guy shining through, such as getting the inhabitants to build him a new bar and a Foosball table, but he uses his knowledge to end hunger and thirst, to stop violence, and to make the living conditions better. It's a nice journey to see him go on, and one that shows a side to Guy that rarely gets the chance to shine.
There are a couple of fun cliffhangers in these stories too, which raise some interesting questions as to what might be coming next for the Lanterns in the second issue. Hopefully we'll also get to see more about some of the other characters too, such as Kyle Rayner, and perhaps even discover why their rings no longer function.
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