Green Lantern Corps #22 – Review

By: Van Jensen & Robert Venditti (story), Bernard Chang (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: No time for homesick crying—there’s Lantern work to be done!

The Review: In Green Lantern #22, I took offense at Hal Jordan’s insensitive berating of several frightened recruits dragged against their will to the middle of a Lantern battle.  Even in context it seemed unnatural because of how out-of-character it was for Hal.  Since when was he such a militaristic jerk?  At his worst, he’s stubborn and arrogant, not mean.  The fact Venditti failed to recognize this basic premise of Hal’s character says volumes about his respect for continuity.

If anything, Venditti paired with Jensen produces even worse results, which is truly unfortunate, as John Stewart has been mishandled so much already that he can ill afford any more writing defects.  In Jensens-Venditti’s attempts to liven up John’s personality, they make him seem like—and pardon my French here—a complete douchebag.  Again, this is not to say a superhero can’t have an awful personality, but just not when it contradicts the personality he had before.

Green Lantern Corps #21 – Review

By: Robert Venditti & Van Jensen (story), Bernard Chang (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Nothing like dating the lone survivor of the planet you murdered to add some spice to the romance.

The Review: I must admit, the discovery that Venditti has his name on both of the biggest titles in the Green Lantern franchise filled me with no small amount of consternation.  Green Lantern #21 was a pedestrian read by most standards, despite its attempts to shake-up the status quo and hit the ground running.  To think that issue’s writer will get to plot this series as well (admittedly with Jensen’s help on scripting) is discouraging, to say the least.

I hoped this issue would prove me dead wrong, but instead it only proves me sick-but-rapidly-recovering wrong.  If it functions at all better than GL #21, it’s probably because the choice of ensemble, and what Venditti-Jensen do with them, is slightly more interesting than whatever’s going on with Hal in his starring title.  I applaud the decision to make John Stewart the central figure of the series, with Salaak and Soranik Natu as features; these guys (and especially this girl) have not had much love since the DCU relaunched.

Green Lantern Corps #18 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Chriscross (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: John displays a tradition of planets dying on his watch.

The Review: No one who works in a creative field can produce greatness all the time.  We all know that, and yet it’s still a little shocking how someone can produce a masterpiece one day, then deliver a total dud another day.  It’s even more baffling when someone actually does both in the very same day.  A couple days ago, with Batman and Robin #18, Tomasi delivered what is now widely regarded to be one of the finest Batman issues of his or anyone’s career.

That same day saw the release of this issue of Green Lantern Corps, which presents Tomasi at his absolute worst.  This is unfortunate on a lot of levels, not the least being that it reinforces John Stewart’s status as DC’s least-favored Green Lantern.  In a title where he’s ostensibly co-leading with Guy Gardner, he already has a tough time competing with the more flamboyant and memorable antics of his partner.  This was an opportunity to give readers an idea of what makes him tick, and Tomasi almost completely fails in that regard.

Green Lantern Corps #16 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: Can a jailbird, a felon on the run, and an alien marsupial save the day?

The Review: You know, with Hal Jordan out of commission and a new guy in his place over in Green Lantern, that leaves his usually second-banana pals to deal with the Guardians’ crazy plan on the living side of things.  My hope is that Tomasi and Tony Bedard use this opportunity to show that Lanterns like Guy, John, and Kyle are just as crucial to the mythos, that they’re not just the dudes clearing the way for Hal to steal all the thunder in the end.

At least the Guardians see Guy as a major threat nearly on par with Hal.  If their current shenanigans don’t make them seem malevolent enough, they underscore their malice even more by continuing to target Guy even after they succeeded in taking everything away from him.  “It seems his tribulations continue unabated,” one Guardian muses.  “Guy Gardner’s fall is complete.”  And then to seal the deal, they send the Third Army after him specifically.

Green Lantern Corps #15 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Fernando Pasarin (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gabe Eltaeb (colors)

The Story: America just added one more to its unemployed statistics.

The Review: You know what I’ve realized from all this drama around Guy leaving the Corps?  Green Lanterns don’t really retire, do they?  The closest they ever get, going from events of the last year or so, is either outright dismissal or resignation (which is still dismissal, but sneakier).  That means the Lantern survival rate is effectively zero; once the ring comes to you, prepare for an early death, and probable a pretty horrible one at that.

So maybe Guy should be thanking his lucky stars that he got out when he did.  Resigning in disgrace doesn’t seem half as bad as, say, getting assimilated by a mouthless creature in the dead of space.  But that’s just me being a total wuss.  Guy is a cop without fear, not to mention something of a thrill-seeker with a lot of unaddressed anger issues; he lives to put these kinds of threats in their place.  Without that channel for his energies, retirement means death for him.