ACW #625 – Green Lantern
Action Comics Weekly #625 (Green Lantern)
“The Law”
Writer – James Owsley
Pencils – M.D. Bright
Inks – Jose Marzan
Letters – Albert DeGuzman
Colors – Tony Tollin
Assistant Editor – Dan Raspler
Editor – Denny O’Neil
Another week, and another new cover. I gotta say, growing up into this fandom when I did, it’s still a bit weird for me to see an issue numbered a multiple of 25 without a “zhuzhed up” cover! I mean, this might be the most pedestrian one we’ve seen yet!
It’s also a dirty lie (or it just ran a week early)… but, we’ll get to that in a few days!
—
We open with a hooded figure sitting in an arena full of larger blue-skinned, and smaller yellow-skinned aliens. The leaders of these two groups (Hedron and Janel, respectively) are making an attempt at ironing out some differences they have over some long-standing disputes. This doesn’t appear to be going all that well.
As the tension continues to mount, our hooded figure recites a familiar refrain… and leaps into action as the Green Lantern. He is immediately sighted and attacked by just about every security robot… alien… critter present. He finds himself encased in a sort of mesh net. This distraction has also managed to raise the hankles of the alien leadership… causing a full-blown riot to break out. I gotta assume that’s not what Hal intended here. Least I hope not.
Hal busts out of the net, and figures it’s now time to stop screwing around. And so, he (literally) blows the roof off the arena, and threatens the alien leaders that they’d better coexist amicably from this point on… or else!
They agree… and so, Hal leaves with his chest puffed out like he just made a real difference in the world. Naturally, all he’s really done is give Hedron and Janel an enemy in common. Together, they vow to kill Green Lantern.
—
Not a whole heckuva lot to talk about here… this is one of those days where I feel as though I’m “shortchanging” you all.
Hal trying to keep the peace for Priest is… well, it’s kind of dull. There just isn’t much to it. We’ve seen several (probably too many) Green Lantern stories over the years (involving a few different GLs), where the hero is sent into a war zone to bring about order. There’s usually an attempt at political intrigue… or at least some twisty-turny moral ambiguity wherein the hero isn’t entirely sure which faction to align with.
Here, though? It’s a pair of groups meeting to reignite some long-standing disputes… and Hal tells ’em to knock it off. That’s it! He also destroys the roof of an arena, which could’ve ended in an ugly way. He doesn’t come across as a “voice of reason” here, just a jerk. What’s worse… he’s a stupid jerk, as he happily leaves assuming that these two entire alien races would “make nice” because a man in the green outfit told them to. C’mon Hal, you’re smarter than that.
The “twist” ending, with Hedron and Janel playing the ol’ “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” routine is leading to a story that, if I’m remembering right, we’re not even going to see in the pages of Action Comics Weekly. I’m almost 100% sure this leads into Green Lantern Special #2, several months down the line!
Oh well, at least this leg of the journey is coming to a close… I think, at this point, we’re just one overlong Green Lantern/Captain Atom story away from finally setting eyes on… Malvolio!
Tomorrow: Captain Nazi… alive!