The Revolution loves us some Green Lantern. Johns and Reis are kicking so much butt on this title. I’ve my copy of Green Lantern #12 and a plate of hot fried platanos and an ice cold cerveza. I’m ready for this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with Cyborg Superman wielding 5 power rings on one hand. Cyborg Superman takes out Guy Gardner. He then tells Hal that changed the Manhunters objective of killing all life to controlling all life. Cyborg Superman then injects Willhunters into Hal. Willhunters are nanite bio-technology that controls the subject’s mind.
We then shift to Alan Scott watching a news report of Crimson Fox stating that she is glad to be a part of the Global Guardians. That they are independent from the U.N. and Checkmate. That Green Lantern must be stopped since his actions are prompting countries to uphold the Freedom of Power Treaty. The Global Guardians have been created to show the world that meta-humans can work together and act responsibly. Alan Scott then calls Oliver Queen.
We then cut to London, 600 feet below the Thames River. There we see a den of intergalactic bounty hunters. An alien hires a particularly deadly bounty hunter to kill Hal Jordan.
We shift back to Hal Jordan under the influence of the Willhunters. Hal is reliving all of his past mistakes. Hal then concentrates his will-power and has his ring burn away the Willhunters in his blood stream. Hal then punches out Cyborg Superman. In dire need of backup, Hal frees Ke’Haan, Laira, Honnu, Chance, Graf Toren, General Kreon and Boodika. Boodika is missing her ring hand and power ring. Hal cut it off back when he was Parallax. The freed Green Lanterns still believe that Hal Jordan is evil and immediately attack him. They beat up on Hal and Hal refuses to fight back. Finally, Toren tells the others to stop. The fact that Hal is not fighting back means that he may not be evil. During the brawl, the Lanterns all descended into a lower cavern. Hal tells the other Lanterns that Guy would vouch for him being good. Hal then notices a body out of the corner of his eye. It is Arisia. She is supposed to be a dead Green Lantern. Suddenly, the Lanterns light up the cavern and notice hundreds of Green Lanterns all around them attacked to the sides of the cavern.
Suddenly, the Lanterns are attacked by Cyborg Superman’s Highmasters. The Highmasters are his newest creations. They are giant Manhunter-ish robots powered by a Green Lantern trapped in the torso of the robot. The Highmaster in the lead of this fight is powered by Guy Gardner. End of issue.
Comments:
The Good: What a fantastic issue! Green Lantern #12 absolutely rocked! The scene with Cyborg Superman taking on Guy and Hal was sweet. Cyborg Superman with a fistful of Power Rings makes for one wicked villain. The addition of these new Willhunters and the Manhunter’s new directive to take over all life rather than kill it is a pretty interesting twist.
The scene with Hal summoning his mythic will-power to defeat the Willhunters was nice. Even though Hal has really been drug through the mud with the entire Parallax debacle, it is nice to see Johns strip away Hal’s mistakes and show the reader that Hal is a true hero.
The scene with the Global Guardians was interesting. Johns is starting to get me a little more interested in this storyline. I’m curious to see what these Guardians are up to. Then Johns does a nice job teasing us with Alan Scott calling Oliver Queen to discuss something. Both of them are great characters and I’m interested to see what Johns does with this storyline.
Johns then dangles another new plotline in front of the reader with this bounty hunter, Hunter Dog, taking the job of hunting down Hal Jordan. Hal certainly has no shortage of enemies who want to see him dead.
I loved seeing Hal free the Green Lanterns who were thought to be dead. Johns has them react in the proper fashion by attacking Hal. Then Johns takes this entire story to another level by revealing hundreds of captive Green Lanterns deep in the cave. They were all thought to be dead including Arisia. Talk about a stunning development. And then Johns continues to ratchet up the intensity by ending the issue with the new Green Lantern powered Highmaster robots. Very cool.
I am thrilled to see Johns slowly sweep away all of the ridiculous things that were done to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corp during the Emerald Twilight and Parallax storylines. First, Johns has worked hard in reconstructing Hal back to his original heroic form. Johns has brought back Hal’s mythic will-power and his heart of a true hero. Now, in this issue, Johns not only gives us back the seven Green Lanterns who were all thought dead. Oh no. Johns goes ahead and reveals that hundreds of Green Lanterns who were thought to be dead are still alive and being used as a power source by Cyborg Superman and the Manhunters. I love it. Johns is slowly but surely wiping away all the horrible things that DC did to ruin Hal and the Green Lantern Corp. Johns is restoring Hal and the various supporting Green Lanterns back to their former glory. It definitely is making this Green Lantern fan very happy.
Johns is doing such an incredible job on Green Lantern. It is so obvious that he dearly loves Hal and all of the other characters in the Green Lantern Corp. Johns treats all the characters with respect. You can tell that Johns loves writing this comic book. I haven’t had this much fun reading a Green Lantern comic book in forever.
Johns does a great job creating an exciting storyline full of various plotlines. The dialogue is well done. The pacing is perfect. Johns has Green Lantern firing on all cylinders and it looks like we have several interesting sub plots being planted in this issue that should be pretty entertaining in the future issues.
Ivan Reis is an art god. Seriously, Reis is cranking out some jaw dropping artwork. Reis must never leave this title! Nobody draws a more wicked Green Lantern than Reis. Green Lantern #12 is a gorgeous issue to look at. Reis’ art just pops off the page. It is panel after panel of incredible shots. Cyborg Superman looks incredible. Hell, everyone looks incredible! Reis’ incredible art wonderfully compliments John’s fantastic story.
The Bad: Dude, are you kidding me? What is not to like about this issue? I have no complaints at all.
Overall: Green Lantern #12 is an awesome read. Johns is writing an exciting and wonderfully paced story. Reis is turning out some of the nicest art in the industry. It is so rare that a comic book combine the rare mixture of excellent writing and incredible art. Green Lantern is definitely one of those rare comic books. I recommend this title to anyone.