Second Life©, created and produced by Linden Labs, provides a virtual platform for the vibrant community of individuals from around the globe, who socialize, create products and deliver services in a 24/7 visual virtual world.

The American Cancer Society is one of the most visible and successful communities in Second Life, closing in on $2,000,000.00 raised over the past 7 years through Relay for Life of Second Life and other related events.

Since 2008, the “Lanterns for Life” team has been the Official Relay for Life team of the “Green Lantern Core” and has continued striving making new goals each year following.

Last years Relay in 2011 theme “Seasons of Hope”, The Lanterns for Life set sailed to new highs sponsoring a sim for Relay for their first time and raising over $2,500+ USD.

This years Relay for 2012 theme “Time for a Cure”, the Lanterns for Life has became 1 of the 6 Premium Sponsors and will strive to blow last years team total out of the water.

You can donate to the team below by going to the “Lanterns for Life” link to help us reach new goals, and ensuring that the cure for cancer will continually be funded until their is one.

Back at the hospital William is awakened by his name being called, once again from the many trophy fish mounted on the wall while the bully is about to puncture his bubble.  The voice says to take up arms in his name and William somehow kills all the children that were threatening him in a sick and violent manner, their bodies looking much like victims of the insects from the previous issues with blood coming from their orifices.  An attitude change comes over William as the doctor rushes in, he goes from frightened to almost overconfident, from shaking with fear to calm.  William orders the doctor to wheel him out, commenting that the doctor shouldn’t smoke which makes the doctor cough up blood.

Abigail and Alec are discussing the boy, Abigail says he can control dead matter.  Just as Alec is connected to the Green, this child is connected to the Rot. She mentions her uncle Anton cultivating the Rot, how she is different now than she was back then because back then she couldn’t hear the Rot but now she can and its calling to her.  Theswamp dampens the voice because the Rot is weak there, but she knows its calling to her and the boy. As they arrive at the hospital Abigail says when Alec becomes Swamp Thing he is the most powerful Green Knight on the planet and the boy is the same thing for the opposite side, if he bonds with the Rot he’ll be a force of disease and decay not seen since the Biblical plagues.  They encounter the doctor now with a tumor the size of a small child emerging from his mouth as he falls down dead at their feet.  Abby says she brought the boy here so he’d be safe because he’s her brother, but it seems he wasn’t safe enough.  We then see William Arcane walking down a road wearing the doctor’s scuba equipment to protect him from the chlorophyll in the air.  Abby says that if William joins with the Rot then it will be Hell come to Earth as we see the tagline “Come Hither, Child” and the issue comes to a close.

WHOAH!  So it seems that the Rot, the force Seethe is working for or that works for him (not sure on how it works yet) has its own avatar and that its going to be a child.  This is getting really interesting really fast. The overly obvious foreshadowing about the kid being allergic to chlorophyll was easy to see, i figured he’d have something to do with the Rot right off the bat, but this is totally awesome.  Will William become an evil Swamp Thing?  Abby having been in a relationship with the former cabbage-head while it was using Alec’s body comes as a surprise to me, i don’t remember that from the previous comics but I admit i didn’t read every issue back then and maybe its a change for the New 52 but whatever it is i like it.  It brings back memories of Anton Arcane who is one of my favorite DC villains so i’m ok with it.  Will young Willliam join with the Rot?  Will Alec and Abby find him and stop him in time?  Will Alec ever go Green and save the planet?  Guess these are just questions that we’ll have to plant now and hope the answers grow in the near future.

Meanwhile Vandal Savage is counting the ways the people are going to die and claims “seems the plan is to leave an exquisite corpse.”  Gotta love Vandal’s optimism.  He takes it upon himself to get the defenders in place and ready for when the barrier drops.  Al Jabr is making siege engines while the villagers call him a “bringer of woe” and a sorcerer and Exoristos and Shining Knight are helping put up a wall and talking about how Xanadu is playing both sides of the love triangle.  Upon a comment about how it’s a bad way to represent “our sex”, Shining Knight comments “our?”  Maybe its a guy, maybe its a girl pretending to be a guy…i dunno at this point. The horde is coming down the path towards the barrier with mechanical dragons and other oddities and from her stronghold the Questing Queen and Mordru note that Vandal Savage is going to be a problem, they seem afraid of him almost.  The Villagers are tired of Vandal’s berating and one decides to stand up to him, to which Vandal is overjoyed because it shows they have a backbone after all.  He starts laughing and trying to cheer them up.  We then see one of the Horde barbarians taunting the villagers by holding up a severed head and saying they caught their spy as the issue comes to a close with the tagline “Merlin watches the storm”.

What spy?  Where did this come from?  All in all this is a slow issue giving us a lot of exposition and setting up for what looks to be one hellish fight, but in a comic that has such hardcore characters it was very subdued.  Its great that Xanadu gave some of her life to put up a barrier, but how is she going to get that back?  We now know that when Etrigan is on earth Jason Blood is in hell and that could get interesting.  This issue just served to add more questions into the mix while giving a few answers and very little action.  Personally i can’t wait until the next issue to see what Merlin has up his sleeve.  Is he going to get involved or will he stand back and watch the events unfold?

From the start, Second Life represented something to me that I had not had the chance to do up until that point. It gave me the ability to bring together two things I loved: Helping people, and Green Lantern comics. Founding the Green Lantern Core became a mission and I set myself to bring together the best, brightest, and kindest minds in Second Life. Together these Emerald Warriors and I would tackle as many problems as we could.

We started off teaching new residents how to build, texture and script. We eventually moved towards helping out in all aspects of Second Life: Charity, community organization, and yes even the somewhat hot button issue of parcel security.

My goal was to set us apart from other groups that also did “parcel security”. Their methods tended to lean more towards skirting the Linden Lab Terms of Service, while the Green Lantern Core played it very by-the-book. We knew that to lead, you had to be the example. The tradition of this style still stands strong in the core from what I have seen, and I am very proud.

Green Lantern is not what originally brought me to Second Life though. No, if you want to know the real story, it is much less interesting. I was at a party with some friends and as the night was winding down the topic of video games came up. A friend of mine mentioned seeing something about a game called “Second Life” on CNN. A week later it popped back in my mind and I decided to look it up.

I would never have guessed it would change my life as much as it has. Second Life has opened my eyes to a lot of social, political, and environmental issues all over the globe. Interacting with people from just about every country in the world has that effect. Once you start listening to one person’s story, you want to hear more. I couldn’t help myself from wanting to get more involved, so I started volunteering more in first life. I give blood, work in soup kitchens, teach computer classes at a community center and help out in any other way I can. And I trace back all of this desire to the people I met in the Green Lantern Core.

The short amount of time I am in Second Life anymore, I am usually working on other projects that grab my interest. I love making things from the 80′s, it brings back so mush nostalgia from my childhood. I am working on a Ghostbuster’s proton pack right now, and it’s some of the most fun time I have had in Second Life.

My fondest memories though, would have to in 2006. I remember Guardian Jeff and I being up to our neck in scripts and power rings, trying to create something wonderful and fun for all of the Green Lanterns to have. Those days seemed like frontier days, no one else was making power rings like today, and all of the ideas that seem to be standard issue on rings were brainstormed by Jeff and myself.

As for the future of the Green Lantern Core, I see it as only growing brighter. They have survived what very few groups in Second Life have been able to, their founder leaving the group. I honestly believe it has only made them stronger and of more resolve. Their power doesn’t manifest itself from the rings, it comes from their ability to adapt and survive. And though I am no longer part of the Green Lantern Core, I hope they know that no one watches with more pride and joy at all of the things they accomplish than myself.

Gardner, Stewar, Isamot, Hannu, Sheriff, Brik and Vandor are facing off against the army that has encompassed them. They are barely holding them off and quickly losing ground. When we last saw Isamot, he had lost his arms and legs, but he is still in the fight with his power ring on his tongue now.

Gardner uses his ring to contact Salaak and request reinforcements. Knowing that Gardner would never request help unless absolutely necessary, Salaak summons all available Green Lanterns. It’s a three hour ring-flight to get to Xabas, but luckily Lantern Porter is on hand. Porter is able to teleport the entire group of reinforcements to Xabas in under 5 minutes, just in time to save the day.

The cavalry increases the defenses, but they are still losing ground. These new enemies are almost entirely resistant to willpower. Stewart decides to analyze one of their prisoners for information on their weaknesses. He quickly discovered they had the ability to “shutdown” and will themselves to death. With some fast thinking, he knocks one of them unconscious to stop the process.

The Green Lanterns are now almost completely overwhelmed; Porter decides to teleport the Green Lanterns back to Oa. As soon as they arrive, Porter collapses from the strain of moving so many people. Gardner notices that Stewart and some of the other Lanterns were left behind. In an act of compassion, he tells Porter to save his strength and that he didn’t miss anyone.

We close with Stewart and the other Lanterns left behind being surrounded.

This issue is packed with action. The new enemies are one of the most powerful the Green Lanterns have ever faced, and they seem to take pleasure in making it very personal with the Green Lanterns. With the revelations about a “Third Army” in the previous weeks Green Lantern title, perhaps this is the group the Guardians were referring to. There are hints that they have tapped into the Green Lantern energy with some of the power batteries present in some previous scenes.

Then again, this could also be a ploy by Zardor, who still seeks to build his army to wrest complete control of the Green Lantern Corps from the Guardians. We can only hope that issue 4 will keep the same pacing and intensity seen in the previous issues as it reveals more about the dangers facing the Corps.

After some reflection on this little mission, Gardner recalls the deal he made with Ganthet and Atrocitus and decides it’s time to take a more proactive approach.

We then see Gardner face to face with the Guardians. He outlines his plan for going into the uncharted sectors to head-off threats that may be outside of the Corps sphere of influence. Almost as a complete shock to Gardner, the Guardians agree and tell him to start his mission immediately.

After a quick cut-away to a scene of Sodam Yat falling through Daxam’s atmosphere and having his body hidden by a group of children, we return to Oa.

We see Ganthet making his way through the subsurface of Oa towards a massive door with a Black Lantern symbol on it. As he enters, we see the Book of Black that Scar used during Blackest Night. Gathet opens the book and sees a picture of Gardner and Jordan battling one another.

Gardner surprises Ganthet and asks what he is doing. Ganthet explains that the Book of Black may contain help in their coming mission. Both of them notice Lyssa Drax is still imprisoned in the Book of Black.

After Gardner explains that he does not trust Atrocitus, Gathet tells him that they will have to work together to use each other to their advantage. They are now allies and will have to set aside differences for now.

Meanwhile on Ysmault, Atrocitus is creating a Wall of Rage, comprised of the skulls from all of those slaughtered by the Manhunters in the Massacre of Sector 666. He tells Bleez that she must join Gardner on his new mission, but that soon they will be able to destroy the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians. Bleez dutifully flies off.

We see Gardner finishing his video recording. He is explaining that the motives for why he is doing this may seem unclear, and that anyone questioning it should dig deeper because nothing is really what it seems. He finishes with explaining that this was all done for the Corps. We then see Gardner cough up a little blood, perhaps Red Lantern energy.

In the very last scene, we see two Green Lanterns, positioned in the Unknown Sector, contacting Sallak and the Guardians. They note that they have the prisoners in custody and will be heading back to Oa shortly. The Green Lanterns then land on the planet below and enter a giant temple. Inside we see a warlord with an orange construct sword. He speaks to them, “Long live the Corps.”

This issue was very solid and ended on a very dramatic cliffhanger. Tomasi did a magnificent job in creating a very tense atmosphere where paranoia and fear could breed in the readers mind. Exploring unknown space is both exciting and dangerous, and who better to lead that charge than Gardner. The attempt to tie up some lose ends with Sodam Yat makes for some interesting plotlines in this title as well.

If you are a Gardner fan, this is a very tough no-nonsense book styled completely after Gardner. It’s defiantly worth picking up and is still fresh enough to be very relevant to what is happening in the current stories.

As the comics start we see what’s happened to Alec Holland since the end of Brightest Day Aftermath.  He’s forsaken the power of Swamp Thing and his life as a chemist and become a construction worker.  He still has all his memories of being Swamp Thing, and even gives medical advice based around plants to some fellow construction workers.  Well when someone is having trouble because of coming back from the dead, apparently Superman has to come give them advice because he shows up at the construction site later that day and talks to Alec about how a little bit of work can make you realize how important everything is.  Alec thanks Superman for his advice but admits that even though he feels lost he doesn’t want to be found.  Cut to dig site of a mammoth skeleton, the skeleton has gone missing and the scientists there are attacked by insects that seemingly reanimate the dead bodies of the scientists and attack other scientists. Meanwhile Alec is at home asleep having a nightmare about how he became Swamp Thing, he wakes up to his room full of flowers and plans and as he runs out of the room into the woods he is confronted by Swamp Thing as the issue closes out.

Issue 2 starts up and we learn that this is not the Swamp Thing that was bonded to Alec Holland but a different one.  We learn that throughout time The Green has chosen people to be Swamp Thing.  This one is from the 1940′s, a downed fighter pilot named Calbraith Rodgers.  He tells how he was chosen to be Swamp Thing and that he has a message for Alec Holland that is of great importance.  Alec agrees to hear it but first he has something to say to Swamp Thing and The Green.  Alec is angry that his life was stolen, that everyone he loved is dead.  He tells Swamp Thing to leave him alone, that he has had enough.  Swamp Thing says that if after hearing the message Alec wants to be left alone that neither he nor the Parliament of Trees will ever bother him again, but he must listen to the message first.  Alec agrees and is shown a vision of Seethe.

Seethe is introduced as a being that is responsible for the many plagues that have decimated mankind since life began.  He is the enemy that the Swamp Thing was created to stop, and he is gathering an army.  Seethe is heading towards the Badlands to make his kingdom, a place where the Green has no hold because of the lack of plant life.  Alec is told that even though he didn’t know about Seethe, Seethe knew about him and most likely will seek him out and destroy him.  After learning this Alec still doesn’t want to be Swamp Thing again but is told that even though he has memories of being Swamp Thing, it wasn’t him only his body.  A true Swamp Thing is a symbiosis between the entity and the person down to a genetic level.  Alec’s body didn’t survive the burns he suffered that night and the Parliament of Trees decided to allow that Swamp Thing to work without a human side.  The explosion prevented Alec from becoming a true Swamp Thing because it killed him, in short.  We then learn that the Rodgers’ Swamp Thing is decaying because in order to give Alec this message and warning he had to uproot himself from the Parliament of Trees and once that is done the time he had was limited.  After encouraging Alec to take up the mantle again he decays into a pile of rotting plant matter.

Alec goes back into town and is attacked by Seethe who has taken over the inhabitants with his disease carrying flies.  As Alec is running he is saved by a mysterious woman on a motorcycle who carries him to safety.  After getting away from the Seethelings (my term for those infected by Seethe’s diseases) she removes her helmet and reveals herself to be Abigail Arcane and that she is going to watch Alec Holland die as she points her gun at Alec and the issue ends.

Holy Crap! I’ve always been a fan of Swamp Thing ever since I saw the movies and TV show but this takes the character into a whole new light!  Alec was never Swamp Thing because he died, that if nothing else is a huge shakeup to the old comics but in a way that makes sense given the New 52′s influence on things.  We’re introduced to a new enemy, Seethe, and a relative of an old one, Abigail Arcane (somehow related to Anton Arcane i bet).  We learn the true purpose of Swamp Thing, to stop Seethe and protect humanity, plus we’re given cameos by a few of the JL big wigs like Superman who confronts Alec and the intro pages of Batman, Aquaman, and a few others in the first issue.  If the rest of this series keeps up this intense pacing and emotional conflict I will keep reading.

Will Alec get away from Abigail and will he ever choose to become Swamp Thing again?  Will he stop Seethe?  Only time, and The Green, know for sure!

These comics take place in the Dark Ages,  long before the rest of the current DC comics.  Initially we’re introduced and given the backstory for Etrigan and Jason Blood, which I won’t spoil here because its very good and I want you to go read the comics yourself.  I will say its different slightly from the old one.  If you’re familiar with Etrigan, you pretty much know that these comics are going to be very violent, and that fact is drilled into you with the introductions of Madame Xanadu and Vandal Savage (one of the classic villains in DC comics who in this series becomes allies with Etrigan through bizarre circumstances).  You also are introduced to the town of Little Spring, a small village directly in the path of the Horde, lead by the Questing Queen and Mordru (another classic DC villain).  The Horde is a gathering of barbaric creatures and savages who have been rampaging through the country killing anything that gets in their way.

In the town of Little Spring, Etrigan/Jason Blood and Madame Xanadu meet up with Vandal Savage, Shining Knight (a gaelic knght of ambiguous gender), Al Jabr (an inventor and ambassador from a nearby country), and Exoristos (an amazon with a violent temper) while stopping in the local inn for food and drink.  While there the outriders of the horde burst in causing trouble.  This does not go over well with Blood and the rest of those gathered and of course a fight breaks out, its a tavern after all.   This triggers the first time you hear the Rhyme of Etrigan (which has changed to a new variation) and see Jason transform on his own into the demon.  During the violence you learn that even though Madame Xanadu is acting as if she loves Jason, she is in truth in love with Etrigan and using Jason for some other purpose.  Before the heroes (if you can call them that) can finish the fight a dragon busts in and Issue 1 ends with a cliff hanger.

Issue 2 picks up with the dragon and more outriders heading into town.  When Vandal Savage sees the dragon he says one of the best lines i’ve seen in the comics so far “Excellent!  I haven’t eaten one of these in centuries!” and immediately attacks it while rhyming as if mocking Etrigan (who is famous in comics for speaking in rhyme).  The group continues to beat down the baddies until there is a slight lull in the battle. We get a few scenes where the group learn more about the Horde from the townsfolk and encounter a mysterious horse woman who lives in the hills and is the town’s early warning system.  We get a great  sense of Etrigan displaying his morhpic abilities by growing wings and taking to the air for a spectacular aerial battle where Shinig Knight joins him with his/her (did i mention they haven’t said if its a guy or girl yet and the face is very ambiguous?) pegasus mount as they combat some more beasts that look like a combination of dragon and pterodactyl.  The issue ends with the Queen demanding the entire village be fireballed and the tagline for the next issue is “The Maleficent Seven”.

As a HUGE fan of Etrigan i am thrilled they brought him into a comic that lets him be as violent as he wants without being completely out of his element.  The addition of Vandal Savage as a savage barbarian with a rage problem is the perfect counterbalance to Etrigan’s calculating yet violent personality and they work very well together.  The love triangle between Xanadu and Jason Blood/Etrigan looks to be an interesting complication while the innumerable Horde and Mordru provide an unlimited amount of enemies for the “heroes” to fight.  I say “heroes” like that because I’m betting at some point Vandal Savage is going to show his natural bad-guy stream and Etrigan is really more an Anti-Hero.  The artwork is what you’d expect in a DC comic, and the way they handle the fight scenes shows that they’ve got an eye on making them flow without being distracting.

Make no mistakes, this is going to be a violent and bloody comic and I’m going to love it every step of the way!  From the new background for Jason Blood, which no matter how i describe it you have to read to understand, to the relationship complications and the interesting choice of Vandal Savage as a heroic character i think this will be one of the breakout comics of The New 52.

Gone gone the reviewer of comics…until next issue.

Meanwhile, Jordan is fighting his own insecurities and wanting to go say goodbye to Carol before leaving with Sinestro to protect Korugar. Sinestro reminds Jordan that he has failed in romance as he failed at being a Green Lantern, and his only hope of doing anything right is to forget his own petty problems and join him in a battle against the Sinestro Corps.

We then return to Oa, only to see the Guardians discussing the emotional lobotomy they performed on Ganthet. He has lost all of his feelings and is now ruled only by cold logic.

The subject quickly turns towards a more pressing matter though. The Guardians believe the Green Lanterns, much like their predecessors the Manhunters, are flawed. They suggest it’s time to start a Third Army and replace the Green Lantern Corps.

Refocusing on Jordan and Sinestro, they begin to close in on Korugar. Sinestro then reveals the key to destroying his corps. He holds a power battery out to Jordan. By flying a power battery into the Sinestro Corps Central Power Battery, it should defeat them.

The two then firm up their attack plans, with Sinestro playing decoy while Jordan takes the power battery to the central battery. Sinestro tells Jordan to turn his uniform black to disguise themselves, something Jordan wasn’t even aware could be done. They then sit and wait for nightfall, but as they do a young girl is attacked by a Sinestro Corpsman. Sinestro springs into action to save her and Jordan takes off towards the central battery.

As Jordan approaches the central battery, he is faced with a Sinestro Corpsman that he makes quick work of before entering the battery to shut it down. As he enters though, the central battery detects him and begins disintegrating Jordan. With his dying breath he blames Sinestro of setting him up.

This story is easily one of the best of all of the Green Lantern titles since the reboot. The writing is action packed and keeps you on the edge of your seat. At some scenes, such as when Sinestro leaps into action in the defense of the Korugarian, you can feel the tension and sense of urgency.

The biggest shock was obviously that the Guardians are planning on replacing the Green Lantern Corps. Who knows what they could be replaced with though. The Guardians have tried robots and sentient beings. Perhaps they may try planets like Mogo who are completely obedient, or maybe even start to patrol the universe themselves as Ganthet did.

The major question though is: Is Jordan really dead? They couldn’t kill him off after reviving him so soon, and certainly not in this manner. It looks very similar to how Sinestro traveled between universes to reach the anti-matter universe. So hopefully we will find more answers there.

The artwork in this issue was amazing, and the variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver is out of this world. You could feel your own chest puffing out along with Sinestro and Jordan’s when they sparred with each other. Everything seemed to come together perfectly for this issue. This is absolutely worth picking up, and I would suggest getting a copy of the beautiful variant if you have an opportunity.

Salakk and Ch’p are traveling through deep space in the first scene. Ch’p is explaining to Salakk that he has been erased from the history of his homeworld due to the Crisis on Infinite Earths and has no reason to stay in his sector. He has decided to patrol Sector 2814, home of his good friend Hal Jordan. Salakk has agreed to patrol 2814 as well. He say’s it’s for a change of scenery, but in reality it’s probably to hang onto the sense of community he has built with the Green Lantern Corps, and to avoid being lonely.

As they meet the other Lanterns of Sector 2814: Jordan, Stewart, Tui and Arisia, they learn that Kilowog has decided to join them as well, this being his very first appearance. They immediately get to work on planning a new method of operation for patrolling in 2814, and get to work on establishing a base of operations.

While the group is getting settled into their new home, the villains Sonar and Doctor Polaris meet. Polaris suggests that Sonar and his henchmen join Polaris and his minions in an alliance. Sonar agrees and they set out to destroy the Green Lantern Corps.

Meanwhile, Gardner is being shown his new home – on planet Maltus. No sooner than he can think of resting his head, Maltus is attacked by giant starships. After an unusually short battle, Gardner roundly defeats many ships and the enemy is forced to retreat.

Back on Zamaron, Star Sapphire returns to plot the demise of the Green Lantern Corps. Heartbroken that the Zamarons have abandoned her to travel with the Guardians, she vows to not rest until she has wiped out the Green Lanterns.

The new Earth Lanterns have now completely assembled a new headquarters on earth. But just as they take a moment to relax, the new alliance of Sonar and Polaris attack. The overwhelming power of multiple Green Lanterns easily defeats Polaris and Sonar and they are forced to run away.

This issue is a pretty good introduction to the Corps as a stand alone title. It is still very Earth-based, so no space opera except for the scenes with Gardner. Overall though, it is a very good issue, and worth the 3 dollars to pick up a copy on eBay.

Although the title reads “Green Lantern Corps”, this issue is still technically part of Green Lantern Volume 2. It is not until issue #206 that the series officially becomes “Green Lantern Corps.”

Staton does very nice work on the issue overall, but the cover seemed a bit rushed. Englehart delivered a lot of punch for this issue, he packed in 3 major stories in a seamless fashion. And this issue handles the transition after Crisis very well. This issue is probably not the sole reason the title really took off, issues #202 – #224, the end of Volume 1, really make this title shine. But if you are in any way shape or form a Kilowog fan, pick it up, you will not be disappointed.

Kilowog and Superman have faced off before, but who do you think would win in a matchup in the current series? Comment below!