Sinestro Corps War



""In Blackest Day, In Brightest Night

Beware your fears made into light

Let those who try to stop what's right

Burn like his power... Sinestro's might!""

- Sinestro Corps Oath

Following his defeat in Green Lantern: Rebirth, Sinestro has retreated back to Qward, where he has taken over and started to amass an army of Yellow Lanterns capable of "instilling great fear." Modeling his army after the Green Lantern Corps and allying himself with the Anti-Monitor, he launches an all out war against the Green Lanterns. What follows is an epic with one Crowning Moment of Awesome after another.

A Bat Family Crossover between Green Lantern, issues #21 through #25, and Green Lantern Corps, issues #14 through #18 with a prologue in the form of Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (plus a single tie in with Blue Beetle #20), the Sinestro Corps War is the critically acclaimed second part of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern "trilogy." (preceded by Green Lantern: Rebirth and succeeded by Blackest Night.)

The story entered production in 2006 and was released following the Sinestro Corps Special in June 2007. It proved to be a massive success, financially and critically. Fans consider it among the best Green Lantern stories and it is easy to see why. It introduced new storyline concepts including the variously colored Lantern Corps and the emotional spectrum. It also brought back many Green Lanterns not seen in over 20 years such as Mogo and Sodam Yat.

This crossover contains examples of:
"Maybe it's the sound of Sinestro throwing Green Lantern into a vat of acid. Eepaa!"
 * Anthropomorphic Personification: It's established that "Ion" is actually the embodiment of willpower, just as Parallax is the embodiment of fear. The rest of the emotional spectrum weren't covered for some time.
 * Ascended Extra: Many of the Sinestro Corps members. An example? Low and Maash have their own action figures now. "Who are Low and Maash?" you ask? They appear in the background of a few scenes.
 * Ascended Meme: It didn't quite reach meme levels, but there's a rooftop fight with the sound effect "eepaa". The sound effect's origin? A one off gag in The Simpsons Movie. (This is lampshaded in the commentary in the back of The Sinestro Corps War Volume Two.)

"Sinestro: As long as there is life, the universe will never be without fear!"
 * Sadly, no vats of acid were involved.
 * As Long As There Is Evil: Sinestro makes this boast while he, Hal, and Kyle fight.

"John: That'd take the grenade the size of a moon.
 * Beat Them At Their Own Game: John forms a sniper rifle construct to take on Bedovian.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Repeatedly. The Lost Lanterns on Qward, Kilowog's squad on Mogo, John and Guy on Qward...
 * Breakout Character: The Green Lantern franchise as a whole, in the larger DC universe. Most directly, Sinestro Corps' success got its sequel Blackest Night expanded from a Bat Family Crossover to a full-blown Crisis Crossover.
 * Bring It: After Hal, Kyle and Sinestro have all had their rings drained and end up on a rooftop, Sinestro just glares at them. "Come on, then. The both of you."
 * C List Fodder: Particularly, who Geoff Johns admits was killed for being "Guy Gardner-lite".
 * Cold Sniper: Bedovian
 * Colony Drop: When discussing how to defeat the Anti-Monitor:

Guy: Hey, Johnny Boy... [points to Warworld] ...what do ya think that is?"

""Despised is one thing, but abandoned? That the Green Lantern Corps don't do.""
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Obviously, but subverted by Parallax, who wears green while possessing Kyle.
 * Combat Breakdown: Sinestro vs. Hal and Kyle, after all three get their rings drained.
 * Death Seeker: Henshaw / Cyborg-Superman, who only works for the Anti-Monitor because it's promised to kill him once and for all.
 * Unwanted Revival: He almost gets his wish, but is revived by his Manhunters at the very end.
 * Demonic Possession: Parallax does this to Kyle, and the resulting monstrosity
 * Despair Event Horizon: Coast City was already suffering from morale problems after being destroyed in The Death of Superman, and Sinestro intended to hit the event horizon by razing it again. Averted when the people support the Green Lanterns and refuse to evacuate.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Hannu PUNCHES The Anti-Monitor. Without his ring.
 * Dragon With an Agenda: Henshaw, who just wants to die, and Superboy-Prime, who wants revenge for losing his Earth.
 * Earth Is the Center of The Universe: Technically it's not; Oa is. But played straight because of:
 * The Earth Prime Theory: The Sinestros don't want the center of the universe, they want the center of the multiverse.
 * Five-Bad Band
 * Big Bad and The Dragon: Sinestro and the Anti-Monitor, though YMMV which is which: the Anti-Monitor has far more power and officially holds the higher position of Guardian; but it's Sinestro's corps, his plan, and he's calling the shots. That the "lower" one could be a Dragon-in-Chief just complicates things further. Seems to fall just shy of being a Big Bad Duumvirate, though.
 * The Evil Genius: Hank Henshaw
 * The Brute: Parallax
 * The Dark Chick: Superboy-Prime - as powerful as any of them, but the most unstable. Becomes the Sixth Ranger Traitor by the end.
 * Foreshadowing: When the Guardians of the Universe decide to rewrite the Book of Oa, they tore out the "Blackest Night" prophecy. Ganthet and Sayd, fellow Guardians who objected to this and are thus kicked out, later explained the prophecy.
 * Genius Loci: Mogo (sentient planet), Ranx (sentient space-faring mega-city).
 * Good Old Fisticuffs: It's established that Sinestro can handle himself well in a fist fight.
 * Hero Killer: Superman-Prime and the Anti-Monitor, when they showed up on Earth. Shit got serious.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: Bedovian and John Stewart.
 * I Take Offense to That Last One: Amon Sur mocks Hal for being despised and abandoned by his Corps. Enter the Lost Lanterns (who hold a grudge against Hal / Parallax for leaving them for dead in space) to correct him.

"Sodam Yat as Ion: Now where were we?
 * Legion of Doom: Sinestro, Parallax, Cyborg-Superman, Superboy-Prime, and the Anti-Monitor? ...Mother.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: This is DC, so of course, but there are tons and tons of Sinestro Corpsmen with distinct appearances, names, and backgrounds who really only appear for a page or two.
 * Monumental Damage: The Sinestro Corps destroy the Statue of Liberty and, somehow, replace it with a statue of their leader while they're busy invading Earth. Kyle and Guy fix it during the epilogue. Averted with the bit at Mount Rushmore, as the mountain doesn't take any damage.
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When Superboy-Prime does away with the Anti-Monitor,.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe: Henshaw
 * Omnicidal Neutral: Superboy-Prime stops caring about sides, deciding he'd really rather just kill anything that moves. "I'll take EVERYONE! Both Corps! Bring it on!"
 * Orcus On His Throne: Superboy-Prime sits on the Moon watching Earth for much of the Sinestro War. When he finally gets involved, he does whatever he wants including punking his own teammates. (Though who knows why Sinestro thought Prime would work alongside the being who destroyed his universe.)
 * Presumably, Sinestro thought that since there were now 52 (known) universes, Prime would be able to find one to suit him, not to mention the fact that he misjudged Prime's hatred of the Anti-Monitor to that of the DCU (as it turns out, Prime hates the Anti-Monitor slightly more than Earth-0).
 * It's more than that. The Anti-Monitor wanted to destroy all the earths, which would have ruined Sinestro's plans. Superboy-Prime wanted to destroy the Anti-Monitor and find his way back home. Cyborg Superman had incredible resources and means to control them efficiently, wanted to die, and the Anti-Monitor was his only way to do so (and then, only after everything else was done -- the Cyborg had been planning on pushing the issue earlier). Sinestro picked three Omnicidal Maniac teammates for their raw power, and then had them pitted against each other so that they'd likely destroy each other once their plans advance to a point they'd threaten Sinestro's.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Its War, so quite a few, a notable one however...

Superman-Prime: Ion huh? you act tough, but you don't look so special to me."

"Guy: You ever see "Red Dawn"? [makes constructs of] "Wolverines!""
 * Psycho Rangers: The Sinestro Corps. A handful of Lanterns even have specific Evil Counterparts: Arkillo for Kilowog, Ranx for Mogo, Superboy-Prime for Sodam Yat, Enkafos for Salaak, even a guy called Romat-Ru for Tomar-Tu!
 * Punched Across the Room: Most of the Superman fights had this, with everyone being punched across cities and whatnot.
 * Retcon: Just like Rebirth established Hal Jordan and Parallax as two separate beings, Sinestro Corps reveals that Ion is an entity separate from Kyle Rayner.
 * Sealed Evil in A Can: Ganthet and Sayd dissect Parallax and seal him in four separate prisons - the Lantern batteries of the Earth-based Lanterns. The Anti-Monitor also becomes trapped in the Black Lantern Battery.
 * Sequel Hook: Before the climax, Ganthet and Sayd explain that more Lantern Corps will be emerging, and at the end they begin laying out the foundations for the Blue Corps.
 * The Stinger: Another Hook: The Anti-Monitor's body is drawn to a dead planet and becomes the Black Lanterns' Power Battery. We also see black-ringed hands rising from graves, but that's just metaphorical. For now.
 * Shout Out: When Karu-Sil comments that Earth's beasts are weak:


 * Also to the University of Michigan - said wolverines are wearing U of M armbands, and Guy's got a U of M sticker on his lantern battery.
 * Plus during the fight on the US West Coast, Kilowog and Arkillo go through the San Diego Comic-Con.
 * Space Whale: Ion's true form.
 * The Dead Have Names: During the epilogue, Vath insists on reciting the names of every Lantern killed in action.
 * They Died Because of You: Kyle's life was already the trope namer for "Women in Refridgerators", but now it turns out that the disease that killed his mother was a sentient virus who joined the Sinestro Corps. Sinestro lets him know this to weaken his mental defences against Parallax.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: During the invasion of Earth, Salaak tells other Lanterns not to get involved in Kilowog vs. Arkillo.
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: No longer enforced. (Hey, if real-life cops can shoot to kill, why can't Space Police?) Rather than take it too far in the other direction, debates over proper use of this power continued being discussed within the Corps even after the war. Most Lanterns (including the human leads) make it a point to leave killing as a last resort.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Every GL still alive after the Battle of Mogo, but particuarly a young Daxamite named Sodam Yat. Who was a simple nobody until he was given the Ion Entity to increase his powers 100 fold (Oh and Daxamites have all the powers of Superman).
 * What Could Have Been: The commentary in the second collection reveals that Parallax was going to take over Guy and John in addition to Kyle. This was rejected because it distracted from the rest of the story and would've led to Villain Decay by making him less unique.
 * Xanatos Gambit: Sinestro set things up so that no matter what the outcome was, he would win. Either he and his troops gained control of the Multiverse, or he forced the Green Lantern Corps into adopting more aggressive tactics that he feels would be more suitable to bringing order to the Universe.