Green Lantern is a title that The Revolution always looks forward to reading. Johns and Reis are an incredible team. They consistently put out a quality comic book every month. I’m confident that Green Lantern #15 is going to be an enjoyable read. On to the 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: We begin in Space Sector 3601 where we see a Guardian grabbing Cyborg Superman’s remaining part of his cyborg head. The Guardian says that the Guardians of the Universe want Cyborg Superman to tell them everything he has learned with Space Sector 3601 and what he knows about the 52.
We cut to Green Lantern fighting with the Global Guardians. Suddenly, two alien telepaths known as the Faceless Hunters appear. They have been controlling the minds of the Global Guardians getting them to apprehend Green Lantern for them. The Faceless Hunters say that it is time to take Green Lantern and collect their bounty.
We shift to Southern California where Amon Sur is notified that the Faceless Hunters have captured Green Lantern. Amon Sur says that once they bring Green Lantern to him then they will kill Hal Jordan and the power ring will immediately select Amon Sur as the new Green Lantern of this Sector.
We cut to Salisbury, England where a male and a female hiker are hanging out at Stonehenge. The guy starts to try and get in the girl’s pants. Suddenly, the girl hears a voice. A stone appears and fuses with the girl and transforms her into Star Sapphire. She kills the male hiker and then says that this female host is not the body that the chosen Earth-Mate desires. That she must find the body that is.
We zip to Cowgirl breaking free from her terrorist captors.
We then cut to the Antimatter Universe, planet Qward. There we see workers feverishly constructing a massive yellow lantern for the new Sinestro Corp.
We shift back to the Faceless Hunters carrying Hal Jordan to their ship. Suddenly, they are attacked by Rocket Red Brigade. The Rocket Red Brigade takes down the Global Guardians and the Faceless Hunters. Green Lantern frees himself and then begins brawling with the Rocket Red Brigade. Hal refuses to leave Russia until he has found Cowgirl.
Suddenly, Green Lantern is blasted by a green energy beam. We then see Alan Scott with the entire roster of the Justice League of America behind him. Alan tells Hal that he is coming home with them. The leader of the Rocket Red Brigade responds that the Green Lantern is theirs.
Comments
The Good: Nice. Geoff Johns does it again. Green Lantern #15 was another fantastic read. Johns continues to weave one hell of a story arc. The pacing on Green Lantern #15 was fast and created the feeling of a wild roller coaster ride. Even though there was a lot of shifting between different scenes, Johns managed to do it seamlessly in order to give this issue a pleasant flow. Johns also serves up plenty of his strong dialogue.
Johns does a masterful job throwing several twists and turns at the reader. Each moment the reader is about to catch his breath, Johns would just crank up the intensity of this story. First, we have Green Lantern battling the Global Guardians. Then the Faceless Hunters appear and reveal that they have been controlling the Global Guardians in order to capture Green Lantern. Then, once you think that the fighting is done, the Rocket Red Brigade appears on the scene. At that point, the reader thinks that all the players are present and this is the final brawl. However, Johns drops another bomb on the reader by having the Justice League of America appear along with Alan Scott informing Hal that they have come for him. Of course, the Rocket Red Brigade isn’t letting Green Lantern go with the JLA without a fight.
That is a great ending. Johns hooks the reader and gets them anxious to read the next issue. What a wonderfully structured issue that captivates the reader’s attention, constantly increases the intensity as the story progresses and then ends with an ending that forces the reader to want to buy the next issue.
Of course, being the talented writer he is, Johns has his eye on a couple of future story arcs as well. So, while dealing with this wild current story arc, Johns proceeds to tease us with a future story arc involving the Sinestro Corp. We get to see the massive power source for the Sinestro Corp. being finished. I love the idea of a Sinestro Corp. Sinestro is a villain who desperately needs a makeover. His character needs a fresh new take in order to re-establish him as Green Lantern’s preeminent nemesis. Superman has his Lex Luthor. Batman has his Joker. For Green Lantern it is Sinestro. Johns is doing his best to reconstruct Sinestro into a massive force to be reckoned with. This is going to be an interesting plotline.
The second plotline that Johns hints at is the return of Star Sapphire. And the star mentions that it must find the body of the woman that the Star’s chosen Earth-mate desires. Hal Jordan is the chosen Earth-mate. And who does Hal desire the most? Cowgirl. So, we are looking at Cowgirl being the new and improved Star Sapphire. Now this should be highly entertaining.
Of course, I’m still looking forward to the showdown between Amon Sur and Hal Jordan. It is impressive that Johns has managed to create four equally captivating and intriguing plotlines. Writers often struggle to come up with one or two very good plotlines. Johns, being the stud he is, has managed to create numerous plotlines that will make sure that we have plenty of look forward to with the future issues of Green Lantern.
As always Ivan Reis’ artwork kicks ass. Reis is incredible. And Johns allows for Reis to get at least two double page splash shots in order to show off his incredible skills. I dig his creativity in his panel layouts. Reis constructs an appealing comic book
The Bad: Johns still hasn’t been able to get me to like the Global Guardians. I still think they are a pretty lame collection of characters. I’m sure most of that is my bias against characters whose names and powers are based on their heritage. I mean, c’mon, Freedom Beast? A black guy whose costume consists of him barefoot and in a skirt? What a horrible costume. And the name is just terrible. Freedom since he is from South Africa and Beast since there are lots of wild animals in Africa. Just horrid.
Overall: Green Lantern #15 was another wonderful read. Johns and Reis are a phenomenal team. They are cranking out what is certainly one of DC’s best titles. I strongly recommend that you give Green Lantern a try. There are few titles that have this combination of wildly entertaining stories and strong artwork.