title: "Escalation of Hostilities"
writer: Michael Jan Friedman
penciler: Mitch Byrd
inker: Ken Branch
colorist: Steve Mattson
letterer: Albert De Guzman
editor: Brian Augustyn
Recap: Several planets came under attack by mysterious, powerful beings. After Green Lantern encountered one, he returned to Oa and explained to the Guardians what happened. They recognize the name of Quarra and were terrified that it meant the return of the Triarch, a race of Gods from Maltus, the same homeworld as the Guardians. Long before the Guardians or Controllers existed, the Triarch slayed their own father, Daalon, on Maltus. The three that made up the Triarch were Quarra the Creator, Archor the Sustainer, and Tzodar the Destroyer. They departed Maltus but promised to one day return and lay waste to the planet, which would supposedly renew the universe.
On the planet Elyrion, the Darkstars battled Archor the Sustainer and suffered several casualties. Meanwhile, the L.E.G.I.O.N. were setting up a new base on Maltus when they come under attack by Tzodar the Destroyer. Green Lantern arrived to help but did not fair well and Lobo rescued Hal by pulling him out of the battle. When Hal awakened, he found a very angry Vril Dox awaiting him. They argued and Dox ordered Lobo to subdue Hal. Dox also ordered Lady Quark to battle Tzodar while he investigated his own suspicions. Eventually, Comet interrupted Lobo's battle because they received new orders and were told to leave Jordan to the newly arrived Darkstars.
Hal expects that the Darkstars are coming for him but they are focused on avenging the deaths of their comrades. Led by Colos, the Darkstars attack Quarra the Creator, but the diety easily defends herself.
They fear that blasting her free may injure Carla so Green Lantern offers to help. He creates a drill that is able to break through the covering and she emerges unharmed. In return, the Darkstars make Hal an offer.
Elsewhere, Sleer Prigatz, a Regional Administrator for the Darkstars, informs Director Jeddigar that he dispatched several dozen Darkstars to prevent a Green Lantern from attacking the Controller Gods. Jeddigar is angry that such action was taken without his consultation, but Prigatz explains that it was in response to a warning from Vril Dox.
On Maltus, some of the L.E.G.I.O.N. battle Tzodar the Destroyer with little success, while others are focuses on protecting the Maltusians.
Jeddigar consults the Controllers to learn more about the so-called Gods and what is happening on Maltus. They explain the history of the Triarch, including the murder of their father and the vow to return and lay waste to Maltus. Jeddigar assumes from this tale that the trio must be stopped and is surprised when the Controller says otherwise.
Jeddigar disagrees but decides to bow to their wishes for now, if only to thwart whatever plot Vril Dox has in mind.
Green Lantern and the Darkstars continue to strike at Tzodar but are interrupted by the group of Darkstars that were sent by Sleer. Colos and his team are told that they have been ordered not to oppose the Triarch. Hal Jordan is furious at their decision but and attempts to continue the battle against Quarra on his own. He is stopped by Bron and the other new arrivals, who were told to stop Jordan as well.
At the same time, Dox, Stealth, and Phase, have tracked the path that the Triarch are following to a mountain. Dox orders a scan for life, which is detected about a hundred feet below the surface. Dox checks in with Bek to see what is happening with Green Lantern and the Darkstars. When he is told that several new Darkstars attacked Jordan, Dox says that everything is going according to plan. With the Green Lantern and Darkstars occupied, Dox proceeds to take their ship inside the mountain, where they discover a very old tomb. He informs his teammates that they are there to see the Father of the Triarch, which their sensors have just confirmed is still alive.
Colos and his team are furious and decide to ignore their orders to leave Tzodar alone, which puts them in conflict with Bron's team.
Hal tries to lend a hand but he and Colos' team appear outnumbered. Fortunately, some reinforcements arrive to help.
Well, this was a better installment than the last one in that we at least got some progression in the overall story. Particularly with respect to the revelation at the end that the Triarch's father is still alive. And the tension between the Darkstars was interesting, even though I knew virtually nothing about the Darkstars going into this. The L.E.G.I.O.N. segments to the issue were well done and very consistent in characterization with what we get in their own title.
On the other hand, one of the things I've tried to consider in reviewing issues of this crossover is whether the issues tempt me to start reading the title. After all, that is the point of a crossover. As I mentioned before, I did not read the Darkstars title so I was very curious what my reaction would be to this issue. Unfortunately, this one did not give me any big interest in going back and rereading the Darkstars. The issue did convey the very basics of the team, in that they are a galactic police force overseen by the Controllers. And we got a glimpse of their command structure. However, there was not much to distinguish them from the Green Lantern Corps beyond their physical appearance, and this issue tells us virtually nothing about any of their team members. Even Colos and Bron, who lead the different factions, are put into those positions by their leadership and nothing really grabbed me about any of their characters. Yes, as I said, the tension between them was interesting as a plot device, but that was it. Its just my opinion, obviously, but I do not think this issue would likely have drawn in many readers who picked it up because of the Trinity crossover.
Again, the L.E.G.I.O.N. segments were well done and probably my favorite parts of the issue. So I think a L.E.G.I.O.N. reader who picked this up would be fairly pleased in that regard, even if they were not drawn to the Darkstars. I just wish we got a better feel of some of the individual Darkstars as characters, which is always difficult in the context of a crossover but can be done. For the record, I do know some people who love the Darkstars and I have been intending for a while to check out the book. I still do. I am only saying that if I was a reader who picked this up at the time because of the crossover, I would not really have felt the desire to start collecting it.
So with that, please check back with me next week as we learn more about Dox's revelation and see if things may start to finally pick up steam!
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