“They can’t bring themselves to address the sense of broken loyalty between them”
Most Green Lantern fans have been patiently looking forward to the eventual reunion between Sinestro and Hal Jordan since Geoff Johns concluded his run with Green Lantern #20. Cullen Bunn answers the call by bringing the Green Lantern Corps leader into issue five of Sinestro, not only providing us with all the great interactions readers have come to expect from these two iconic characters but also answering the question that most of us have been wondering, what happened to Parallax?
Bunn does a superb job in having Sinestro question himself at first, thinking that Jordan is nothing more than a residual effect of the Paling. Once that misconception is out of the way the fun really begins as these two best frenemies pick things up right where they left off, albeit with the passing of time to have formed new scabs on old wounds. The dialogue is sharp and it’s clear that the time spent apart since they two became partners near the end of Johns’ run has put them both in a place where the what friendship they have has taken a backseat to the roles they find themselves in now.
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| While Dale Eaglesham’s pencils look great this issue, the clear star is Cullen Bunn’s dialogue. |
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| Dez’s observation is spot on |
There are a few moments that lighten the tone of the issue, most humorously is Hal’s labeling of Rigen Kale as Danzig Lantern, noting the similarity in his appearance to Glenn Danzig from the heavy metal group Danzig. While they provide a few moments of brevity this issue is clearly a character piece which is designed to show how Sinestro has evolved since that wonderful moment when he called Jordan by his first name. I suspect few readers will have figured out where Parallax disappeared to and the revelation here is well played, taking everyone by surprise and elevating Sinestro significantly as a character. The dialogue between the two is very, very well written and the added observation that Dez Trevious makes illustrates that Bunn has clearly done his homework.
What doesn’t work for me is Hal’s portrayal once we get the big reveal and he is once again faced with the entity of Fear. One of the biggest mistakes writers have when they bring a guest star into a book is to lessen the guest in order to elevate the star of the book, and in my opinion Bunn falls into that trap of making Sinestro look good at the expense of Hal Jordan in a way which compromises the character. This is, after all, the guy who stood toe to toe with Parallax in Green Lantern: Rebirth and commanded Nekron all on his lonesome when Volthoom was at his peak. While I’d fully expect Hal to have a difficult time of it against a Parallax in fine form I think it’s quite a stretch to think that he’d fall so quickly and react so poorly given that Parallax isn’t even in full-on taunt mode here. I realize that Bunn has to wrap the issue up to make way for next month’s event, however the rushed nature of the reveal and the fast sprint to the end of the issue weakened what could have been one of the most talked about Green Lantern moments of the year. I ended up wishing that this could have been given the extra page count that an annual would have allowed for and in the end it affected my overall impression of the issue.
Dale Eaglesham’s work on this issue retains the classic look we’ve come to expect. While there is a panel where a power ring goes missing the issue is visually easy on the eyes. Sinestro looks far less muscle bound than in the past, providing the visual counterpoint to Hal’s more physical nature. His take on Parallax is more feline in nature which artistically alludes to the entity’s new status quo as a more of a pet that has no apparent free will.
Sinestro #5 is fantastic issue in terms of Cullen Bunn’s insightful dialogue and unexpected revelation about Parallax’s current state. Unfortunately is loses a bit of appeal for me based on how poorly I think the issue was wrapped up and turns an issue that I would have given five lanterns into one that gets four out of five.
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