First off, before I start this review I just wanted to apologize for pulling a bit of a disappearing act. Long story short is that between work and some personal issues I had to step back for a little while. That said, I’m back and will be playing catch up for the rest of this month and doing my best to provide you with the the same level of content that you’ve come to expect from The Blog of Oa.
The first order of business is to review Green Lantern #25, the first issue published following Lights Out and one in which Hal Jordan makes his first major order in his role and Corps Commander. Writer Robert Venditti puts Hal in a situation that plays off of his flaws as a human being and he makes a unilateral decision to go after the rest of the users of the emotional spectrum. Should Hal not reverse course his hastily made plan will undo much of the hard work spent to get the Corps to work together and will do nothing to show that things have changed since the Guardians were in charge.
The notion that the emotional spectrum is finite is still one which I don’t agree with as a long time reader, but I’m not so turned off to it that I don’t want to see how things play out for a very simple reason. There is simply no way that this is going to stick as a long standing way of operating without undermining the very structure that the Green Lantern mythology is built upon. My own gut feeling is that the finite reservoir is a misperception and at some point down the road this will be undone.
For now Hal has a made a decision with doesn’t settle well with Carol Ferris who finds herself at odds with Hal and heads for Zamoran. A subtle detail that I noticed on subsequent read through are the four winged birds which fly overhead and watch on as Hal converse with Graf, Tomar-Tu and Hannu about their decision; knowing that Durlans are about and lurking in the shadows made me think that they may be on Mogo and spying on the Corps in form of animals.
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| Kilowog and John provide Hal with the kind of ongoing counsel that Hal will need if he’s to succeed. |
Hal, John Stewart and Kilowog share a nice scene as they begin to discuss Hal’s directive in greater detail and the scene underscores what the new Corps needs more than anything else and that’s a group of lanterns who serve as Hal’s counsel. Hal is capable of making great decisions when he’s backed up against the wall, but long term decisions with long term consequences is not his forte and the sooner he surrounds himself with others who he will listen to the better off the whole Corps will be.
Hal and Kilowog set off in search of Nol-Anj, in part to life morale and in part to provide Hal with a distraction and a reason to hit something. Upon arriving on Dekann Hal gets the fight he wants when Nol-Anj’s clan proves to be worthy of more ring energy that Hal thought would be warranted. Kilowog has a great moment that calls back to his own tragic past which is a nice piece of continuity, but by issue’s end the two Green Lanterns find themselves surrounded by a significant number of Nol-Anj’s clann.
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| Billy Tan leaves no doubt that Kilowog is one angry Poozer! |
Billy Tan’s artwork is well done as usual, however I do wish there was a little more consistency on things like how high the green section on Hal’s torso seems to rise. There are scenes where it’s just a bit too high up for my liking. Likewise Kilowog’s proportions sometimes make him appear more portly than he should, but those minor quibbles aside the issue looks great.
All in all the twenty-fifth issue of Green Lantern is very good and sets the tone for the future of the Green Lantern corner of the DC Universe. Four out of five lanterns.
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