Green Lantern #13 begins the tie-in to Absolute Power for this series. Unlike other tie-ins we saw the previous story arc for this series end with a direct lead into Absolute Power. That is all thanks to Thaaros and Amanda Waller building an uneasy alliance that led to Hal Jordan’s capture by Waller’s Task Force VII. With Hal starting off the latest DC Universe event already in the hands of the bad guys what role could he even play in Absolute Power? And while that is going on will we continue to see how things are going with the United Planets continuing their reign of terror on the DCU? Let’s find out with Green Lantern #13.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jeremy Adams (Absolute Power: Defenses Down); Marc Guggenheim (The Patient Blade)
Artist: Fernando Pasarin (Absolute Power: Defenses Down); Matthew Clark (The Patient Blade)
Inker: Oclair Albert (Absolute Power: Defenses Down)
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Absolute Power: Defenses Down); Matt Herms (The Patient Blade)
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
GREEN LANTERN #13 SOLICITATION
“BACK ON EARTH, AND ON THE RUN! HAL JORDAN IS THE LATEST CASUALTY OF AMANDA WALLER! De-powered and back on Earth, Hal needs to find a way to get to the new power battery and recharge — but Thaaros has other plans, and now Hal is being hunted by the most dangerous aliens on the planet! PLUS: The secret origin of LORD PREMIERE THAAROS, ruler of the United Planets, is at last revealed!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
For as much as this is a tie-in to Absolute Power, Green Lantern #13 carries the momentum of the long-term storytelling this series has been doing since the first issue. By doing so Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin are able to have the Absolute Power storyline play a complimentary part to the greater narrative of this series.
The connection between Thaaros and Amanda Waller is the key to Green Lantern #13 success. The agreement they came to in the previous issue establishes the high stakes that Hal Jordan finds himself in his role for Absolute Power. Specifically centering it around how Hal gained his new Green Lantern Power Ring makes his role in Absolute Power feel the most important. Because if Thaaros and Amanda Waller learn that there is a Power Battery hidden on Earth that can create Green Lantern power rings it changes everything.
At the same time, emphasizing that Amanda Waller has zero trust in Thaaros furthers her character arc in Absolute Power. Even the leader of the United Planets will not intimidate or make Waller deviate from her plans for complete control. Waller’s statement makes it clear that part of her vision is to make Earth itself the ultimate power in the universe. Which creates yet another angle to plant the seeds for an Earth vs United Planets down the line.
Hal escaping being locked up was a predictable thing to happen. While predictable it does set-up the question of how Hal will survive without his Power Ring. Like so many heroes, Hal will need to be creative and utilize his fighting training to survive to figure out how to beat Waller with the other heroes. The prison escape element of Hal stealing weapons and a ship to get out of Waller’s prison should be fun to see how that is done.
With Hal spending most of Green Lantern #13 locked up it was a great decision to have other characters also get some focus. Specifically, showing Alan Scott and the Justice Society fighting Failsafe’s Amazo was a cool surprise. Focusing on Alan Scott utilizing his incredible willpower and control of Starheart to save Stargirl, Hourman, and himself after the rest of the team are captured was well done. It builds hope that this is set-up for us to see Hal and Alan team-up, something we rarely see happen.
While Earth is the focus, Adams does spend some quality time making sure the United Planets story is still focused on. Sinestro continuing to be consumed by rage after seeing what happened to New Korugar furthers his wild card status in this story. The bigger development is finding out more about why Kyle was in the weak mental state Jo Mullein found him in. With the Thaaros and United Planets gaining greater control of the Emotional Spectrum to create a new power Kyle, as a former White Lantern, is feeling all of this. The multi-color effect Fernando Pasarin does to show this makes you sympathize more with Kyle’s plight, while also making you wonder what his role in the story will be.
Marc Guggenheim and Matthew Clark’s back-up story diving into Thaaros backstory was well done. It does give us details about Thaaros survivor mentality of believing in the strong reigning over others and his cunning being his greatest strength. It is all done in a way that further develops him as a villain rather than make you sympathize with him. That’s a delicate balance that Guggenheim and Clark are able to walk to the other side of.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Green Lantern #13 is a tie-in comic book at its best. Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin maximize their page count to both further the long-term narrative of this series and what’s going on with Absolute Power. This is absolutely the example that should be used of what a tie-in comic book should do amplify the journey we see the characters of the series going on.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
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