Green Lantern #32 marks the half-way point of Uprising and at this point of the story arc things seem to be going all in favor of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, but the revelation at the end of the issue, coupled with what we learned in Green Lantern Corps #31, creates the potential for things to go very, very wrong.  If the Durlans succeed in their plan to take on the forms of Daxamites then not only is the Corps in trouble, the entire universe may find themselves under the rule of the Durlans.

This Durlans’ master plan calls for a split with their short term allies once the Clann and Khund begin to doubt the questionable strategy that has led to one defeat after another against the Green Lanterns and once the Durlans have made the decision to drop any pretenses about their alliance all the Khund ships go kablooey.  The Durlan double-cross has a wide reach, creating an explosive display while Hal leads a number of Green Lanterns against a Khund garrison.  

Writer Robert Venditti’s script dances back and forth between the Corps’ assault on the Khund and the unraveling alliance nicely as the self destruct commands simultaneously cripple the entire Khund military, minimizing their capacity to retaliate, and create havoc for the Green Lanterns.  Fortunately Hal’s forces escape unharmed as does Nol-Anj’s Clann and before long their paths cross when she decides the only profit she’ll claim comes from bargaining with Hal.

Venditti continues to demonstrate some evolution in Hal as a leader once the scene shifts to the interrogation of the Prixiam of the Clann and it’s here that Hal discovers the grave truth about the Durlans’ plan and how they’ve played everyone against each other while they position themselves to become the greatest power in the universe.  There’s a humility in Hal’s self evaluation and a little more thought behind how he interacts with Nol-Anj that shows good character growth.

Billy Tan’s artwork is engaging for the most part, however I do continue to find myself less of a fan of his work on Hal Jordan than the rest of his work on the series thus far.  Hal’s body is too wiry for my liking and his head is a bit too round.  I’m a huge fan of Ethan Van Sciver’s work on Green Lantern and while it might not be fair to compare their work I do find myself wishing that the character design was more like Ethan’s style.  Like Neal Adams, Van Sciver’s work has defined the overall look for the character and the more off-model it goes the less appealing I find it.  Otherwise the rest of the book looks great in my opinion.

The issue’s close and the revelation about the entirety of the Durlans’ end game are foreboding and finally puts a threat clearly in front of our protagonists.  Up until now things have been a bit too rosy and now that all the cards are seemingly on the table the conflict will no doubt heat up.  Unfortunately the commentary about how the rest of the universe feels about the Green Lanterns has quickly faded into the woodwork, something which created the opportunity for some interesting commentary.  I don’t believe that Venditti is dropping this particular plot point all together, however, and hopefully we’ll revisit it before it sits on the back burner too long to have any weight.  Ideally the uprising of the rest of the universe would reach a fever pitch, creating a major obstacle for the Corps to overcome while they prove themselves once again worthy of the respect of the universe at large when they manage to expose the Durlans’ for what they plan and defeat them.  We’ll see how it all plays out, but that’s how I see it potentially playing out at this point.

Green Lantern #32 balances some nice character work with a considerable amount of action and dialog, leaving the reader to ponder the fate of the people of Zezzen as the Durlans move in to execute their final gambit.  It’s a great read, however it you haven’t been reading both this title and Green Lantern Corps (shame on you if you aren’t!) the game changing information might not carry the dramatic weight it does if you are reading both series.  Four out of five lanterns.

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