Saturday, April 2, 2011

One Good Thing And One Bad Thing About Green Lantern #64 (War Of The Green Lanterns, Part 1)



GOOD THING: Geoff Johns is frequently credited as a "Master Storyteller" on the backs of his graphic novels. Issues like this one show why that label isn't marketing hyperbole. Quite a lot happens in this book that changes the rules and the current status quo of the Green Lantern universe but Johns has been setting things into motion for a while now in the main Green Lantern title. This makes the changes seem more the result of a calculated, criminal plan than the sudden arbitrary whim of a writer wishing to shake things up, which is a difficult trick to pull off.





The net effect of this issue is that Hal Jordan, who was already wanted for questioning regarding his apparent alliance with hostile members of the other Lantern Corps, is left without any allies at all. The rest of the Lantern Corps leaders are trapped inside a Black Lantern artifact. The remaining Guardians of the Universe are captured by Korona and forced to serve as vessels for the various Emotional Entities that exemplify the seven powers. And the rest of the Green Lantern Corps (as far Hal knows) have been taken over by Parallax.


BAD THING: It is a minor thing, but it seems somewhat out of character for Salaak to be quite so gung-ho about capturing Hal for trial and not giving him a chance to explain himself, particularly in light (no pun intended) of there having just been a big explosion and several other power rings falling on the ground in front of Hal just seconds before they arrived.





While Salaak has always been portrayed as being very orderly and rules-obsessed (small wonder then he was chosen to act as mission control and Seneschal for The Guardians) he's also been portrayed as being loyal to The Corps even above the Guardians and trusting his fellow Lanterns to do the right thing.



The Final Verdict: An excellent start to the latest Green Lantern Corps saga.

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