Green Lantern (vol.4) #1 (July, 2005)
"Airborne"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Art - Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver & Jesus Merino
Colors - Moose Baumann
Letters - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Peter Tomasi
Cover Price: $3.50
Last week, we took a look at the first issue of Green Lantern in The New-52!, and I was pretty surprised to discover that he hadn't already covered this Green Lantern #1. Could'a sworn we had.
I was actually hoping to cover all of the Green Lantern #1's... but, we won't be able to cover vol.3's... for obvious reasons. You can probably do some Googling if you're unaware.
Anyhoo... who's ready for a "Cooler than Most" Hal Jordan?
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We open in the way back when, where we meet Hal Jordan of Ferris Aircraft. A couple of pilots are discussing some stunt he'd pulled... and how it's pretty clear that Carol Ferris has the hots for him. Also, they don't think Hal will ever be cleared to fly again. Little do they know that he's about to be zapped by an emerald beam... and delivered deep into the desert. As he is nyoinked, a voice tells him that the Brightest Day will become the Blackest Night. Hmm...
We know where this is headed, right? Hal is plunked down right before a dying Abin Sur, who offers him the gig... and he takes it. I feel like I've gotta mention, Hal comes across as almost too cool during the post-Green Lantern: Rebirth retelling of his origin. This was one of the bigger criticisms at the time, though, I'm sure those arguments have been lost in the digital sands by now.
We jump back to the present, and join a five-card dogfight between Hal and his buddy Shane. This whole thing seems like the absolute worst way to play a hand of cards... but remember, this Hal is too cool for school.
We jump ahead a bit, and join Hal and Shane at a bar inside Edwards Air Force Base. They catch up a bit, Hal learns that Shane's done some "adulting" since their last visit... got married, started a family, ya know... that sort of stuff. Shane mentions that they'd all thought Hal perished during the decimation of Coast City... which is, probably the best way to casually write off Hal's disappearance.
Later on, Hal retrieves his ring from his locker... just as John Stewart is attempting to get a hold of him. Apparently, there's an abandoned spacecraft lingering in orbit, and so Hal decides to join him to check it out.
With Hal away, we head over to Barstow, where a Private is hauling a covered load. A waitress playfully inquires about what's under the tarp... and it's one'a those "If I tell ya, I'd have to kill ya" sort of propositions. The waitress's meathead fiance, Chris (no relation) butts in to make sure the flirting ceases.
Back outside, the Private checks in with an associate named Johnson, who is trying to get a peek at the cargo himself. He claims that there's a "moaning" sound coming from it. The Private pulls the ol' "If I tell ya, I'd have to kill ya" once again... and they leave.
We rejoin Hal (with John) deep in space. They discuss such matters as restarting the Green Lantern Corps. Hal thinks it's a silly idea, considering there are only five Green Lanterns left (Hal, John, Guy, Kyle, and Kilowog... if I'm remembering right). Eventually they come across the abandoned spacecraft... and it's completely yellow. Hal posits that whoever it is didn't realize the yellow impurity was a thing of the past.
The Lanterns bust in, and discover... nothing. Just blackness. Not even a seat to sit in. Hal checks the fuel cells... and they're empty. Looks like whoever used this rig was only planning on it being a one-way trip.
Back in Barstow, the waitress and her meathead fiance get into an argument. Eh, I guess they're not actually engaged... more like, engaged-to-be-engaged... which sounds kinda "high school" to me. Anyhoo, they are approached by... a strange-looking fella, who kills them both! Kills the dude first, probably because he doesn't want to be accused of "fridging".
Next stop, Coast City... which is in the middle of it's grand rebuild. Hal's narration clues us in that there are big government incentives to live there... but, not so many people have taken the bait. Really can't blame 'em, considering. Also, there's gotta be some radiation still lingering, right? Not all of us have Power Rings to protect us.
Hal heads inside his apartment, and is greeted by his brother, Jim. They have a touching, though contentious, reunion. They talk about their parents, as well as the all-new Coast City. Jim ain't keen on moving the family back to town... which, again... can't blame him!
Suddenly, a low-flying plane produces a sonic boom that shatters all of the windows. Hal scurries off to Lantern-up and check out
what's goin' on.
Hal takes off, and catches up to the damaged aircraft. Upon getting a closer look, he deduces that the engine on this rig is clearly of extradimensional origin.
After helping it to land safely, we meet the pilot... Captain Jillian Pearlman, otherwise known as "Cowgirl". They flirt for a bit, because that's kinda what Hal does.
We wrap up back with that tarped load coming out of Barstow. From under the cover, we can see a glowing-red eye. Then, we hear it... "No Man Escapes--" Oh dammit.
--
Alright... not a bad start to the new volume!
Gotta get it out of the way. It's been said, and it's certainly true, Hal does come across a little "too cool" here. He doesn't seem like a dude who goofs up from time to time... a guy who second-guesses himself, which I guess works in that it makes him a more fitting Green Lantern candidate... but, it also causes him to become a little less relatable. This is the "Fonzie" Hal Jordan, less a guy you'd wanna have a drink with, and more the dude you mutter under your breath about anytime he walks by.
Even in our opening pages, we've got a couple of pilots coming across as very jealous of Hal... his ability, courage, and how much it seems that Carol has a "thing" for him. I mean, I don't need Hal to be a complete boob... but, this feels like something of an over-correction.
I'm guessing that much of this has to do with undoing Emerald Dawn... ya know, the whole drunk-driving incident. That's fair enough, I suppose. I wasn't around when that series came out, so I couldn't say how it was received, at least initially. Not sure how the Hal-Faithful cottoned to the idea that he'd nearly killed a bunch of folks while driving drunk. I'd imagine it'd be at least somewhat divisive.
I'm somewhere in between, I guess. On one hand, I don't mind heroes having flaws... but on the other, actually driving drunk is a choice one has to make. It's such a stupid thing to do... and I could totally see people coming away from that miniseries with some pretty hard feelings toward Hal. Especially those affected by some jackass who chose to drive drunk.
So, while I'm a big "lore" guy... and a proponent of "everything matters", I get why that story might be a problem for some/many. I suppose at the end of the day, I don't have much of an issue with them wiping that bit away.
Hal's disappearance after the decimation of Coast City is handled about as well as it could be here. Basically, after the event in question, Hal just "hit the road". It's an easy enough excuse, that sorta fits with his character. I mean, old Hal was something of a roaming vagabond from time to time, right?
This issue does a great job of setting the table for what's to come. I mean, there's a mention of Blackest Night... a story that wouldn't actually happen for nearly a half-decade. Bits and pieces of Hal's "Secret Origin" are dropped... which is a story that would be fleshed out like 2-3 years later too! I mean, there's just so much planning going on here... which, to me, is a great thing!
What's never so great is... the Manhunters! Now, we've discussed these goofy robots a whole lot here over the years... but, I don't think we've ever looked at them under Johns' watch. I look forward to revisiting this era, to see how he handled them.
Overall, despite some of my misgivings about Hal's "coolness", this was a really good issue. It's been collected in Green Lantern: No Fear, and is available digitally (for 99-cents!).
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Green Lantern (vol.4) #54 (July, 2010)
"The New Guardians, Chapter Two"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Doug Mahnke
Inks - Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen, Keith Champagne & Doug Mahnke
Colors - Randy Mayor w/Gabe Eltreb
Letterer - Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Since yesterday's look at the Green Lantern book was mostly an advertisement for "what's to come", I figured we may as well check out the next issue.
This is a weird one. You ever pick up a random issue of a comic you read a long time ago... and you remember every thing about it? For whatever reason, this is one of those issues for me. It's been nearly a decade since I've picked it up... and I might've read a comic or two in the interim, but... somehow, this one stuck out to me. Weird.
--
We open in the subway in New York City where a trio of nogoodniks are holding up all of the law-abiding citizens for their loot... before hopping on a train themselves. Suddenly the lights go out, and the car screeches to a halt. One of the baddies looks to see what just happened... and is shocked to be greeted by, Dex-Starr the Rage Kitty?!
Well, it's not just Dex-Starr...
We shift scenes over to Silver City, New Mexico where the White Lantern Battery has appeared. Seems like Johns might have Silver City confused for Mayberry or something, cuz these down-home folks sher toke funny. Anyhoo, Hal goes to attempt to lift the Lantern.
And, he can't... but we already knew that. This scene is pretty much the same as the one we already read in Brightest Day #1... even down to the "Sword in the Stone" comparison... and lesson. Star Sapphire then decides to give it a try, and is also unsuccessful. Then, the trio of Lanterns try and lift it together...
... which triggers an unexpected reaction from the Battery! Suddenly, all of the resurrected heroes appear in the white light emission. It looks really cool. After they subside, the Lanterns can see the entities representing each color of the emotional spectrum appear... with the request to "find them".
We next pop over to Daxam, where the mystery man we met yesterday is in the midst of drawing the Ion entity from Sodam Yat. Back at the pillars, it would appear as though this mystery fella is collecting emotional entities.
Back with Hal and the Gang... the White Lantern speaks. It tells them that Atrocitus will help, and with that... they are teleported to New York City. They follow the horror into the subways, and find the Red Lantern... who they learn is also seeking out the Entities. Before a fight can break out, Star Sapphire notes that she believes him to be sincere.
Well, they still fight a little bit anyway... until, the Main Man shows up?!
--
A fun issue... even if we've already read a few pages of it in Brightest Day.
I'll hand it to the editors... at least it matches up, right? I normally wouldn't put money on that. It seems as though the more editors you list, the more mistakes show up. So, ya know... good on 'em here. If this were a Marvel book (with 6-7 editors listed), I'd wager that one of these scenes would have Sinestro teaching Hal about King Arthur.
I dig the idea that there's a race to track down the Entities. It's sorta "easy" storytelling, but it keeps the Lantern-family occupied while Brightest Day rolls on throughout the line. It's smart... because without this "task", it would be difficult to keep the spotlight off of Hal and the Gang. This is a wise way of handling that.
I like Star Sapphire suggesting that Atrocitus might just have a little love in him. When they first introduced the "Skittles Corps", a lot of the new color-coded characters were pretty boilerplate... and, even maybe a bit dull. I feel like this ambiguity adds some much-needed "flavor" to the Red Lantern.
Overall, a fun issue. Feels like things are moving forward at a decent clip... and our Lobo cliffhanger is a pretty cool "capper". I mean, we're almost certainly going to get a fight between Rage Kitty and the Main Mutt, right? I'd recommend checking this one out. Fun story, great art... leaves us wanting more. Can't ask for a whole lot more than that, right?
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Green Lantern (vol.4) #53 (June, 2010)
"The New Guardians, Chapter One"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Doug Mahnke
Inks - Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin & Doug Mahnke
Colors - Randy Mayor
Letters - Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Sometimes I forget that Brightest Day (and the Blackest Night that proceeded it) are, at their core (corps?), Green Lantern stories.
Sooo... today let's take a look at the Lanterny-leg of the dawning of the Brightest Day. And lookit that title "The New Guardians"! I was wondering whatever happened to Extraño!
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We open in Belle Reve Prison with a look at Hector Hammond. He's kinda upset, on account of his being, ya know... hideous. Especially when compared to one Hal Jordan. Suddenly, there's a second voice in his head. We shift to the planet Ryut in the "Lost" Sector, where the person that second voice belongs to walks shrouded and alone. He claims to have protected the universe long before the Lanterns... and even the Manhunters. Just who could this be?
Whoever he is, he plans to once again protect the universe... and he won't let anybody get in his way. He approaches pillars marked with each lantern "symbol"... and, izzat Parallax floating above?
We shift down to Earth where Hal and Carol are having a drink at the Ferris Air bar... and it's just a regular "Hal and Carol" talk... a bit of passive-aggression, a lot of non-committal statements. Eventually Carol tires of this, and suggests they hit the skies.
They fly 'n flirt for a bit... we're reminded that Hal is currently involved with another pilot called "Cowgirl". Suddenly the pair notice an "incoming" force... which flies straight through both of their crafts. Why, it's Sinestro! Luckily, Hal and Carol are, ya know... ring-wielders, so they survived the impact, just as Sinestro knew they would.
Hal's questions Sinestro's presence... after all, they agreed on a truce after Blackest Night. Sin insists he not there for a scuffle... he just wants to report that he located "the entity" (the White Lantern Power Battery, that is)... and to inform him that it's asking for him (Hal). I'm assuming this scene occurs between the ending of Brightest Day #0 and the opening pages of Brightest Day #1.
We next hop over to Metropolis, where Lex Luthor is running some tests, hopeful that he may perhaps be able to locate (and procure) a Black Lantern Ring. He is then visited by his former Agent Orange comrade, Larfleeze... who wants something. Something that everybody wants. Luthor suggests "power"... but, Larfleeze is all stocked up on that. Then Luthor suggests "land". Fleeze doesn't even know what "land" is... but, whatever it is, he knows he wants it!
Next stop, the Hand Mortuary... where Blue Lantern Saint Walker is attempting to un-desecrate the upturned corpses.
Then Ysmault, where Atrocitus is sitting next to a pool of lava. Seems to be one of his favorite past-times, dunnit? He is approached by somebody... who has, like him, pitting themselves against the Green Lantern Corps.
We wrap up with the reveal... this is Ganthet, flanked by Guy Gardner. It's almost like we're splitting all of these stories out... well, no... that's actually exactly what we're doing!
--
Definitely a "springboard" issue... not that that's a bad thing.
Kinda feels like a Brightest Day #0 "lite" with all of the vignettes... again, not a bad thing... but if you're reading them in succession like I am, there might be a little bit of vignette-fatigue.
I suppose we could go one-by-one, but there won't be a whole lot to say about most of 'em.
Let's get the biggie out of the way... Hal, Carol, and Sinestro. I was wondering how Hal and Carol arrived in Silver City so quickly for Brightest Day #1... and, now we know. The scene proceeding that was... I dunno, kinda weak? I feel like the Hal and Carol relationship is to the point where, even if they were to announce they were getting married... at this point, I wouldn't care. It's just so played out... and samey.
Neither of them want to commit... and by now, I can't be bothered to care either way. Also... the fact that Carol kept calling Hal by his "Highball" nickname? Lame-o. I don't care if that's "how they do it" in the air... these two shouldn't be calling each other by their nicknames.
We meet a mystery man at the open... and, even though most of us know (and knew immediately) who this is, we'll play along and save the "spoiler" for another day. I gotta say, I definitely dug all of the imagery on Ryut... the multi-colored lightning... the etchings... the pillars. Such cool visuals!
The Luthor/Larfleeze scene was pretty neat, and gives us an idea of where Lex's Action Comics arc is headed. It might've been helpful to leave a footnote to follow along or something, but whattayagonnado? Nobody's thinking about people reading single issues a decade later, right? I mean, who does that anyway?
Saint Walker gets a brief, but sweet scene. A really cool visual of the Flash tidying up the graveyard while Saint does the un-desecration thing. Probably the best use for the character at this point in time.
The Atrocitus/Guy/Ganthet bit at the end was a great way to "spin" everything out. DC was launching that brand-new Emerald Warriors book (which I recall annoyed many of us at the time, simply for it's $3.99 cover price), so this was as good a place as any to let us know what was going to be happening in it.
I gotta say, I can get behind "spin-out" pages every now and again... but they've gotta be used sparingly. Even though I dig where these stories are going, I can't help but have the wind pulled out of my sails when I see a page like this... makes me feel like I've just read an advertisement, rather than a story (probably because it is). Here in 2018, we just had a "Pretend to Care About Comics Day" (otherwise known as "Free Comic Book Day")... and I'm looking at this book thinking... why didn't DC use this issue for 2010's FCBD? It came out at the right time of year!
Oh well. Even with all of my complaints, I still think that was a pretty good "setting the table" issue. Unfortunately, it's hitting our reading rotation at a time where we're getting a whole lotta "setting the table" issues... which kinda hurts its impact. Worth checking out? I suppose... just know that, to follow the continuing story, you'll have to buy four more titles. If you're down with that, you'll be down with this.
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Green Lantern (vol.4) #10 (May, 2006)
"Revenge of the Green Lanterns, Part One"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Ivan Reis
Inker - Marc Campos
Colorist - Moose Baumann
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Michael Siglain
Editor - Peter Tomasi
Cover Price: $2.99
Waitasec, more One Year Later? It's weird... when I was wrapping up my notes on "Up, Up, and Away!" yesterday, I thought to myself how this era of DC is just so muddy in my mind. I honestly can only remember blips and blops of it... none of which I could go on about at length (minus, the Superman books now).
Then I remembered Green Lantern's One Year Later book having a wonderfully striking cover. Not a cover that tells you much, but a beautiful one nonetheless... I mean, just look at it! That's a nice cover! This was also during DC's push to sorta "boutique up" the Green Lantern book a bit... so the cover is of a much nicer/thicker stock than everything else on the shelf.
Anyhoo... I guess I'm taking the scenic route all to say that I'm reacquainting myself with this post-Infinite Crisis era... and if you'd be so kind as to indulge me, you're more than welcome to come along!
--
It's One Year Later when we join Hal Jordan. He is in Russian airspace attempting to detain the Igneous Man. His internal monologue suggests that something pretty heavy went down five months earlier... but doesn't say much more than that. His attempt to snag the I-Man is unwittingly thwarted by... the Rocket Reds?! Well, we did say he was in Russian airspace...
The Reds are pretty ticked off that Hal is breaking some sort of treaty (more on that in a bit). Jordan comments that while he's in uniform he doesn't represent the United States, but the Green Lantern Corps... and they really ought to back off and let him do his job. He then smacks one with a construct hammer and sickle for good measure.
Remember the Igneous Man? Well, he's still lingering... and he's decided to use his powers to melt the wings off some Russian jets... and also start cooking the Rocket Reds inside their armor. Hal is able to capture the baddie in a bubble... while keeping a jet in the sky... and fighting off a gaggle of angry Reds. Wow, Hal Jordan is the coolest guy ever! I mean, that's what we're going for right? More on that later...
Suddenly we're swept into an emerald flashback... a jet crashes in the woods. Out crawls a ring-less Hal Jordan... he never wears his ring when he flies, donchaknow. He calls out to a fellow pilot before collapsing before some masked terrorist-types.
He then wakes up in a panic... I'm assuming back in the "present". Well, what happened to the Rocket Reds? Did he land that jet? I guess that's for us to find out. On the television, the... ay yai yai, Global Guardians are being interviewed about Green Lantern having violated the Freedom of Power Treaty by heading into Russia. You'd figure if they wanted folks to take the treaty seriously they'd have a better spokesteam than the freaking Global Guardians.
In case you forgot how cool Hal Jordan was, a woman enters the room. She calls him by the wrong name... and he replies in kind. I guess one-night-stands are cool... right?
Jennif-- Julie leaves to go to work, and Hank... er, Hal is now joined by the Mayor of Star City himself, Oliver Queen. The Hard-Traveling Homeboys go out for a stroll, so Ollie can do what he does best... lecture Hal. We learn that there's a price on Hal's head... and with an enemy list as long as his, he doesn't even know where to start. It's alluded to that Alan Scott has had a rough time of late, but they don't go much further. The contentious chat wraps up with Ollie telling Hal that he should have never taken his ring off.
Next, a brief aside to space Sector-674 where Arkillo of the planet Vorn is welcomed to the Sinestro Corps.
Back on Earth, Hal and a few fellow pilots are being awarded Prisoner of War Medals at Edwards Air Force Base. I'm guessing this has something to do with what went down in that flashback five months earlier. Hal is joined by Colonel Shane "Rocket Man" Sellers and Captain Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman... they each have a short length of chain to show their bond.
The ceremony is interrupted by a jet crash-landing right in the middle of the proceeding!
Hal approaches the smoldering craft and is shocked to find it inhabited by... Tomar Tu! Ya know, the birdfaced Lantern Hal "killed" during Emerald Twilight!
--
Wow, Hal Jordan is the coolest guy ever...
... is something I could say if I wanted to be pithy. I mean, at first blush... Hal has gone "full Fonzie" here. Taking care of business in and out of costume. If we look a bit deeper, however, we can see that he's actually processing some pretty heavy stuff here.
From the flashback scene and the awards ceremony we can likely deduce that at some point during the "missing year", Hal was taken Prisoner of War. He chooses not to wear his ring when he flies (jets), and finds himself unable to protect he and his fellow pilots when the masked terror-types took them captive.
So, what we have is perhaps a Hal Jordan who is dealing with a bit of Post-Traumatic Stress. A different lady every night to keep his mind off things... all the while trying to keep his Sector of the universe safe. It's a much deeper story than I think I'd initially given it credit for. I'm pretty sure I dismissed it completely my first time through.
Back then, I was a Kyle guy... and really saw Hal as something as a usurper. The fact that he was constantly depicted as the coolest guy in the room really compounded my disinterest... I hated that this dude who did really bad stuff was able to just stroll back in like nothing happened. Kyle, who actually "grew up" in the costume was just shunted to the background... and really never got his due.
It's only after really "getting to know" Hal that I can truly appreciate this volume. When you come right down to it, Hal is still a very broken individual. It's just that he doesn't really project that brokenness like he used to. This isn't a slump-shouldered Hal who needs to crash on your couch... this is a Hal who keeps his insecurities on the inside, and projects (exudes really) a confidence and aloofness.
Hal really isn't a stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. The Powers Treaty is an interesting wrinkle... one I'd either forgotten about or never knew of to begin with. I think this is another bit that I likely dismissed as Hal being "too cool for rules" or something the first time through. This time, however, I was cool with it. The Igneous Man was trying to collect a bounty... and after the year Hal has had, he really doesn't appear interested in dealing with anybody's/any country's crap.
We get a bit of Claremontian subplot-dropping here, which is always good to see. I feel like in recent years we've become so accustomed to the "six and done" method of storytelling... with subplots being a relic of the late 20th Century. Having the Sinestro Corps scene here really excited me, and shows that this series is an ongoing narrative and not just a collection of six-part vignettes. The ending was pretty cool too in bringing back Tomar Tu. I suppose this serves to add to the Corps, and to assuaging Hal of his murderous guilt. Like I've said before, this is a bit of a cop-out, but one I'm willing to allow.
Overall, had more fun with this issue than I expected... I definitely recommend checking it out.
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