Green Lantern #18 Review

Green Lantern is a title that The Revolution can always count on to be a quality read. Johns has done an amazing job on this title crafting some wildly entertaining storylines. We get a guest artist on this issue. Daniel Acuna replaced Ivan Reis. I dig Acuna’s artwork, but will certainly miss Reis’s always impressive artwork. Having said that, I am positive that Green Lantern #18 will be another great read. Let’s do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Daniel Acuna

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We start with Carol Ferris racing around in an airplane on her way to a meeting at Ferris Air. Carol thinks about her relationship with Hal Jordan. How there was so much tension when Hal first came to Ferris Air. Hal got to fly and Carol didn’t and she always wanted to be in the air. She thinks how they fell in love and then Parallax happened and she thought Hal died. Carol then married someone else.

Carol is about to land at Ferris Air when Star Sapphire crashes into the plane’s cockpit. Star Sapphire then transfers itself into Carol and flies out of the plane leaving the woman it first possessed in the cockpit of the crashing plane. Star Sapphire takes over Carol’s body and says it is time to find their love.

We cut to a bar on Edward’s Air Force Base. Hal and Cowgirl are having a beer with each other. Hal tells Cowgirl that General Stone is the only other person who knows that he is Green Lantern. Hal says he hasn’t told Rocket-Man, yet. Hal says he owes Rocket-Man an apology. Hal says that if he had been wearing his power ring then they wouldn’t have been captured in that camp for more than two minutes.

Cowgirl responds that Hal didn’t shoot them down or lock them in the camp. That he liked to the rush of flying without a safety net. Cowgirl says that she doesn’t blame Hal at all.

Cowgirl then says that she and Hal are a lot alike. Hal comments maybe too alive. Cowgirl retorts that the big bad super hero can’t be scared of her. Hal replies maybe a little.

Suddenly, Star Sapphire smashed through the window of the bar. Star Sapphire picks up Hal and gives him a kiss. Cowgirl then attacks Star Sapphire. Star Sapphire blasts Cowgirl. Hal then transforms into Green Lantern and shows that he digs the bondage scene as he puts Star Sapphire into shackles.

Green Lantern and Star Sapphire then take their fight up into the sky. Star Sapphire breaks free from Green Lantern’s ring and then senses Hal’s desire for Cowgirl. Star Sapphire leaves Carol’s body and possesses Cowgirl.

Green Lantern grabs Carol and saves her. Carol tells Hal that she knows what the Star Sapphire is. Sector 1416. They come from Sector 1416. The Zamarons and Sinestro.

Suddenly, Star Sapphire in Cowgirl’s body flies up to Green Lantern and asks him if he wants this body instead? End of story.

We get a Sinestro Corps back up story. We see Amon Sur on the planet Qward which is the center of the antimatter universe and the home of the Sinestro Corps. Amon enters the Archive Tower and meets Lyssa Drak of Talok IV. (Who looks like Shadow Lass from the Legion of Super Heroes. Even has a similar costume to the one that the Levitz era Shadow Lass wore.)

Lyssa is the keeper of the Book of Parallax. Lyssa tells Amon that he must sit in a Gear Lodge until he embraces his own fears and light his own ring. Only then will he find his chosen path of terror as others of the Sinestro Corps have.

Lyssa then tells Amon a story about Sinestro Corps member Despotellis who is the most terrifying member of the Corps. That he can turn entire planets into graveyards. Lyssa tells Amon that the story begins with a Green Lantern named Reemuz who was very dutiful and his tours in his sector would take him from his home planet for months at a time.

After being gone for ten months, Reemuz finally returns to his home planet only to find everyone in his city dead. Even his wife and children were dead. Reemuz’s power ring scans the area and finds no survivors. Reemuz then spies a yellow lantern. Reemuz grabs it since he knew the owner of it would have to return to it at some point to recharge.

Reemuz then began touring his planet. Everyone was dead. Suddenly, Reemuz grew tired and sick. Reemuz begins coughing up some yellow junk. Reemuz collapsed to the ground. As he drew his last breath, he finally saw the Sinestro Corp. member responsible for all the death. We see Despotellis fly out of Reemuz’s mouth. Despotellis is smaller than an ember. Despotellis is a sentient bio-virus. Despotellis uses his ring to carry his lantern away with him.

Amon then tells Lyssa that before he enters the Fear Lodge and chooses his own way that he would like for her to tell him another story. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Johns does it again! Green Lantern #18 was another good read. It wasn’t quite to the insanely good level of the past several issues, but it was still a damn good issue. Johns is firing on all cylinders with Green Lantern and just can’t seem to miss. I am so impressed with the consistent level of quality writing that Johns keeps turning in on this title.

Green Lantern #18 was a well paced issue. Johns does a nice job mixing in plenty of action with the dialogue heavy scenes. This issue had a nice flow which made for an enjoyable read. Green Lantern #18 was well plotted and it is nice to see a writer who has a clear vision for his storyline and has such direction for his title. Johns manages to just roll in each new story arc with seamless transitions. The stories naturally unfold themselves with each and every issue.

As always, Johns delivers good dialogue. I like how Johns handles Hal’s character. The banter between Cowgirl and Hal was perfect for two aggressive adrenaline junkies. I can’t imagine how stable of a relationship these to characters would have with each other. They are so similar that I have a feeling that any relationship they would have together would burn intensely for a short time and then spin wildly out of control and crash spectacularly. It should be fun to watch!

The addition of Carol Ferris to the mix was a nice move. Nothing stirs the point with a potential new love interest like the ex-girlfriend making a big splash onto the scene. How will Carol’s return into Hal’s life impact his feelings for Cowgirl? How will they impact Carol’s feelings for her husband? This has all the makings of a nice love triangle that will have a lasting impact on everyone involved.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Star Sapphire. I dig the character and I have always loved the concept of Green Lantern’s girlfriend also being one of his greatest enemies. Johns raises the complexity of Star Sapphire by having the gem hop from Carol to Cowgirl in an attempt to see which one appeals more to Hal.

And finally, it looks like Johns is going to give us some insight into this new Star Sapphire. DC has had various versions of Star Sapphire dating all the way back to 1948 when the character made her first appearance. I’m curious to see how Johns is going to re-imagine Star Sapphire for this new DC Universe. It should be interesting.

I dig that Johns is taking the time to deal with Hal’s guilt over not wearing his power ring during the mission over Russia. Hal is continuing to beat himself up over not having the power ring and being able to break them out of the prison in just a couple of minutes. It is understandable that Hal blames himself for Rocket Man’s injury.

Johns uses this scene to show that regret and guilt are a reoccurring theme on this title. Hal has the regret and guilt over the events of Parallax and what he did to his teammates in the Green Lantern Corps. Now, Hal is doing the same with what happened to his fellow pilots on their mission.

Johns uses Hal’s guilt and regret to show that Hal is a true hero, but not perfect. Hal will make mistakes, but his heart of a true hero will not allow him to accept making any mistakes. This is why Hal continually pushes himself each and every day. And this is also why Hal is the greatest Green Lantern. He just can’t accept mistakes and will always be willing to shoulder the blame for anything that goes wrong under his watch whether it was his fault or not.

Johns gives us an excellent back up story. Normally, I can’t stand back up stories. They are usually time wasters and pure filler. Not in this case. Johns is using these back up stories to give the reader some valuable insight into the inner workings of the Sinestro Corps.

Now, obviously, you know I love Lyssa. I dig that Johns has a female from Talok IV make an appearance. And the fact that Lyssa is sporting a costume very reminiscent of the Levitz Era Shadow Lass is also pretty cool.

I love how Johns has set up the infrastructure of the Sinestro Corps. I dig that they follow the Book of Parallax and that Lyssa is the officially assigned keeper of that “holy” book. The Archive Tower on Qward is a pretty cool place to house the base of the Sinestro.

And the concept that every member of the Sinestro Corps first has to spend time in a Fear Lodge until the member embraces their own fear and lights their ring and then gains their unique method of instilling fear. That is a cool concept. It is reminiscent of Native America culture of a sweat lodge which is a method of connecting with the spiritual realm.

I’m impressed at how quickly Johns is able to establish nicely detailed customs for the Sinestro Corps. This insight to the Sinestro Corps and their customs just gets me even more interested in this group and the upcoming story arc involving them. I hope that Johns keeps the Sinestro Corps around for a good long time. It is such a cool concept. And after all, everything in the universe has to have its natural opposite. And now the Green Lantern Corps has its own.

And what a great character Johns delivers with Sinestro Corps member Despotellis! Fantastic. Despotellis is a really cool and creative character. The idea of a sentient bi-virus is wild. I dig how Despotellis takes out the entire planet and then traps the Green Lantern and easily takes him out. Despotellis is certainly going to be a serious force to be reckoned with.

Daniel Acuna does a great job as the fill-in artist. Normally, I don’t enjoy fill-in artists. And Ivan Reis is a tough act to follow. I adore Reis’s art so it is tough for me to enjoy anyone else filling Reis’s spot on this title. Acuna is no Reis, but Acuna is still a talented artist.

Acuna has an interesting and distinctive style. I understand that many people probably don’t dig his heavy lined and heavy painted style, but I like it. And man, can Acuna draw one lip smacking good version of Star Sapphire! And for the record, Carol as Star Sapphire is way hotter than Cowgirl as Star Sapphire.

The Bad: I will admit that having Carol display a Cowgirl style personality with her hot dogging in her airplane was a bit annoying. I mean, honestly, does everyone have to have that stud pilot adrenaline junkie attitude? One is enough. Two is a pushing it. But, Three? Just like the old TV show, three is simply a crowd.

Overall: Green Lantern #18 was another good read. Johns continues to impress with the high quality of work he is putting forth on this title. Green Lantern is certainly one of DC’s strongest titles on the market. I definitely recommend giving Green Lantern a try. Very few books can consistently put forth such well paced and plotted issues like you get in Green Lantern.