Comic review: Red Lanterns #36 (Godhead Act 2, Part 4)- A decent shift by Mr. Soule

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: J. Calafiore
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 26th November 2014


This is the second time that writer Charles Soule has written a part of the ‘Godhead’ arc, and it’s a lot more enjoyable than his first effort in Red Lantern #35.

That first effort was terrible. His characters came across as American idiots, completely unaware of what was happening in the world. That was because the backdrop to the story was the real country of Dubai. In Soule’s story the country was portrayed as a luxury holiday resort where the heroes go to have a bit of a break. The real-world reality of a country owned by one billionaire dictatorship family that uses slave labour and has no regards for human rights was not mentioned, probably because that family is western friendly (to the banks and corporations that own the west that is), much like other western backed human rights violators like Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Witnessing one of DC’s superheroes sunbathing in Dubai and enjoying an alcoholic drink was a stark reminder that to American eyes some dictators are good, and that some dictatorships are not even seen as dictatorships at all. It was depressing, and the story that Soule attached to it was brief, lazy, uninteresting and no fun at all.

There is no mention of western friendly dictatorships, or human rights violators in Red Lanterns #36, so already it’s better than Soule’s first attempt on the Godhead arc. If you can’t be honest about the real world, then leave it alone. That’s what he does here, constructing a story about the personalities rather than anything that is going to insult the intelligence of the reader. The story is chunkier as well. More effort has been put in, and as a reader it felt less throwaway, less inconsequential.

As far as story progression goes, it’s not exactly a must buy book, however, something fairly important happens, and you see why it happened, from beginning to end. I also understand the motivations and personalities of the two main characters a lot more than I did before reading this book. It’s probably also the first time that I’ve seen a verse of the Quran used in a comic book. It’s a fairly uncontroversial verse, but I do appreciate the fact that Charles Soule was brave enough to use it in a mainstream comic book in the first place. In a world where mainstream comic book writers are usually in career mode it’s nice to see somebody stick his neck out, even if it’s only a little bit.

I also have to mention, and applaud, another line put into the mouth of one of the characters in this book. That line being, ‘There are no truly good rulers.’ That says it all. That’s why the human race is in the position that it is today. We voluntarily give away our power and freedom to rulers who don’t give a damn about us. They care about our votes, but once they have them, they serve the agendas of the real behind the scenes (corporate and banking) rulers of this planet. When we stop giving our power away to these puppet rulers things will change. Until then, the human slavery business will continue as usual. Charles Soule puts it out there in this book that all rulers are bad. I like that. I noticed it. I appreciated it, and I just want to thank him here for doing so.

So another review where I don’t even talk about the art? Yeah, that’s how I do it. I always put up a couple of samples next to the review though, so at least you’ll know what you get if you buy the book. I had no problem with the art, but I’m not an artist, so I’ll leave detailed analysis of art in comic books to people who actually know what they are talking about.

Red Lantern #36, or Act 2, Part 4 of the Godhead arc, is a character based book that has some moments of interest, story development and a couple of jokes as well. I enjoyed it. There’s quite a lot in there, no mention of western backed dictatorships like Soule’s previous Godhead book, and as a whole I give it a big old anarchist thumbs up. It’s not great, but it’s a lot better than I thought it would be, with writer Charles Soule putting a good shift in, and largely succeeding in creating an interesting and readable comic book experience.

Rating: 7/10