Finally! We have a new issue of Green Lantern! It has felt like forever since I have read this title. Hopefully, Green Lantern #11 will be a good read and worth the wait. It is a sweltering hot night here at the Bunker. So grab an ice cold cerveza and let’s check out this issue.
Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with the Green Lanterns examining Tomar-Tu to figure out what happened to him. Tomar-Tu starts yelling how he must kill Hal Jordan.
We cut over to the Green Lantern Mess Hall (Which looks cool) where Guy and Hal are grabbing something to eat. Hal is blaming himself for Tomar Tu. For having to rebuild the Green Lantern Corp. WE then go down memory lane about how Hal became possessed by Parallax and nearly destroyed the Universe. Hal tells Guy that he if Tomar-Tu is alive then the others that he attacked may still be alive. Suddenly, a large alien Green Lantern shoves Hal and tells him that he has a lot of nerve showing up here after everything he has done. The alien Green Lantern said that Hal left his predecessor to die. That he promised his predecessor’s wife and kids that he would make Hal Jordan pay. Guy’s response is a right cross to the alien’s face. And we have a braaaaawwl!!! The other Green Lanterns join in on the fight against Guy and Hal. Kilowog then enters the Hall and snaps. He pulls all the rookies off Guy and Hal and tells them that they all earned demerit points.
We then cut to Hal meeting with the Guardians. Hal asks them to allow him to lead a strike force to Sector 3601 to find out if anymore Green Lanterns are alive. The Guardians say that Sector 3601 is beyond their universe. That is where The Manhunters live. If they don’t disturb them then the Manhunters will stay there. The Guardians deny Hal’s request and tell him to return to his sector. That they will assemble their own strike force when time permits.
We then shift to Hal meeting up with Guy. Guy asks Hal what the Guardians said and Hal responds that they said to go. (That Hal. What a trouble maker.)
We then cut to Paris where the new Crimson Fox is battling Double Dare. Suddenly the Global Guardians show up and take out Double Dare. They then ask Crimson Fox that she will make an excellent addition to the Global Guardians. Crimson Fox says that since they constantly threaten Green Lantern for doing his job and since Green Lantern was a friend of her predecessors then that makes him a friend of hers as well. She declines the membership offer. The leader of the Global Guardians then tells Crimson Fox that she misunderstood her. That Crimson Fox has no choice in the matter. She is now a member of the Global Guardians.
We then shift back over to Hal in a flashback to when he was held captive by the rebels when he crashed in Chechnya. He snaps out of the flashback when his ring tells him that hibernation mode has been disengaged and that they are at their destination. They are now in Sector 3601. They fly to Biot, the Manhunter Homeworld. They are detected by the Manhunters and we have another braaaaaawwwl! The Manhunters are coming fresh off the assembly line. At first, Hal thinks that the Manhunters are bleeding oil, but they are not. It is blood. Hal and Guy then make an escape down into the center of the planet. There in the core, they find a large green lantern with the missing Green Lanterns hooked up to it. They appear to be powering Biot. Suddenly, Hal is blasted from behind. Out steps Cyborg Superman! (Oh snap! Didn’t expect to see his ugly mug.) End of issue.
Comments:
The Good: Overall this was a solid issue. I did enjoy see Biot. Manhunter are always fun. And Cyborg Superman was a nice twist at the ending. It has been a while since we saw that ugly bastard. It will be interesting to find out what Cyborg Superman has been up to and to see what he is currently planning.
Johns is actually getting me to like Guy Gardner. I have never enjoyed Guy’s character, but the way Johns is handling him works for me. Guy standing by Hal’s side is a surprise, but it shows that Guy is a man of integrity and loyalty. He knows that Hal is a good man and one of the best Green Lanterns ever. First, Johns is getting me to like Ravager and Kid Devil over in the Titans and now he is getting me to like Guy Gardner over here in Green Lantern. Good job, Johns!
I also like how Johns writes Hal. Hal has the heart of a hero and Johns really shows that to the reader. I like that Hal decides to go ahead and go to the Manhunter Homeworld even though the Guardians said no. Hal is a hotshot and a bit of a rebel. He definitely doesn’t slavishly follow authority. I like that aspect of his character. I’m glad that Johns is playing up that side of Hal. It makes him a more interesting character.
Ivan Reis’ artwork is simply fantastic. I love it. His art helps bring Johns’ story to life and makes Green Lantern a great read. I just like how Reis draws any of the Lanterns. His style of art fits the Sci Fi feel of Green Lantern. Even if the story is only average, Reis’ art will still make the comic fun to read.
The Bad: I thought this issue was solid, but it wasnt’ great. I thought that the dialogue was just average. I don’t know if it is because he has been so busy that something had to give and that something was Green Lantern. But, I thought that Green Lantern #11 was not as good as some of the previous issues of Green Lantern. I read Teen Titans #36 right before I read Green Lantern #11. I feel that the Titans was much better written and I have a feeling that an overworked Johns kind of turned out a solid but not great issue of Green Lantern.
I was bored with the fact that we have to rehash the Hal feeling guilty for being Parallax storyline. We have to rehash the new Lanterns being wary and not liking Hal because of his past. Never mind he was possessed. We have been through all of this before. I don’t know if we had to do it again. There are plenty of other storylines to address that would make for a more interesting comic book. For example, what about addressing what Hal did when he was captured. All we got in this issue was a one panel flashback. I thought that we would be exploring that storyline a bit more by now.
At this point, I can’t say that anything about the Global Guardians storyline interests me. And for heaven’s sake, somebody get Freedom Beast from South Africa some freaking clothing. He looks like a total moron wearing a full mask and nothing else other than a teeny little wrap around towel. Sheeeesh.