Green Lantern #33 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan (penciller), Rob Hunter with Batt and Jaime Mendoza (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: “Remember being young and not knowing the universe can end?” “Barely. Lately all the universe does is almost end.”

The Review: “Uprising” has been a great boon to Green Lantern, providing a well written and engaging crossover for the Corps. Without an annual to cap things off, as has been the case with other recent Green Lantern crossovers, this issue seemingly marks the end of Hal Jordan’s involvement in the Durlan War. Unfortunately it seems as though he’s going out not with a bang, but with a whimper.

As the Durlans assemble on Zezzen, Hal and the Corps make one final stand, but I never expected it to be such a literal one. Indeed, much of the climactic battle is literally the Corps making a wall. It is, of course, a reasonable strategy but narratively it lacks a feeling of excitement or escalation.

Hal and the Durlan Elder are both pretty cool this issue, but their actions can’t live up to their bluster. “Your simple stratagems cannot outwit me. My mind has spanned millennia,” the Elder sneers late in the fight and I find myself wanting to believe him. Nevertheless, Hal’s response – “I don’t have to be a genius to see that one plus one equals- –you’re screwed” – doesn’t exactly do credit to either of them.

It’s actually kind of interesting; Hal Jordan is one of the more straightforward heroes of the DC Universe. He’s not known for being a brilliant strategist, just a sincere and courageous airman. I kind of like that he’s finding ways to win military campaigns without being forced into the mold of other heroes, but it feels like Venditti could have conceived a scenario that would have played to Hal’s strengths more. And that’s without considering the theme of Hal having to be more thoughtful and responsible as Corps Leader that’s been central to much of Venditti’s run.

Green Lantern #32 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan (penciler), Rob Hunter with Jaime Mendoza (inkers), Tony Avina (colorist)

The Story: The Durlans discover that the cultural melting pot doesn’t interest them half as much as a culture living in a melting pot.

The Review: With Guardians of the Galaxy swiftly approaching, there’s really no denying the power of Marvel’s cosmic universe. Space has been the place to be for Marvel’s cult hits for years, from Nova to Runaways to Captain Marvel. Despite some of their biggest characters hailing from space, DC’s cosmic stories have lagged behind in recent years. Certainly there have been gems, but the rich intergalactic world building of the Silver Age has fallen largely by the wayside. This issue is yet another step on the path to correcting this.

Though there’s definitely some Lantern action in this issue, the real attraction is the interplay between the rapidly fracturing anti-Lantern coalition. I suppose it’s not surprising, given the consistently strong writing that Robert Venditti has brought to the Corps’ adversaries, but this month they really get the screen time such writing deserves.

Green Lantern #31 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: A Durlan is everthing. A Durlan is everywhere…

The Review: I’ve generally enjoyed Robert Venditti’s run on Green Lantern, however I must admit that there has been something off about it that I’ve been struggling to put my finger on. Is it the balance between internal Lantern matters and the greater universe? Is it decompression? Event fatigue? The needs of the issues vs. that of the overarching story? Perhaps a bit of all of them but, regardless, this feeling of being not quite right has been a leach on the story. I’m honestly quite impressed at how Venditti has handled the nigh impossible task of following Geoff Johns’ franchise revitalizing epic, but the past year has been one of ups and downs – has it really been a year already? Still it’s all been leading up to this…

With this issue the long simmering Lantern-Durlan war enters a new phase. I don’t know if Venditti was biding his time until “Uprising” began or simply felt that he had lots of set up to do, but either way this is a big step up for the series. I mentioned last month that Green Lantern seemed to reset every month, starting from the same status quo without a sense of building tension. Well, in addition to picking up fairly directly from the impressive issue #30, this issue really feels like a shift in the book’s dynamic. Betrayals are revealed, mysteries discovered, and character tested.

One thing that’s interesting to compare between Johns and Venditti are their moments of apotheosis. While these moments in Venditti’s run lack something of the ‘hell yeah’ quality of Johns’, it’s worth mentioning that the latter’s often felt like the climax of an argument one held with oneself; not so in Venditti’s stories. The universe doesn’t justify or disavow Hal Jordan in this issue and, while he has a moment of triumph, there is the sense that the other shoe could still drop. It’s an interesting and sincere look at a man like Jordan, who’s used to being right. As a Lantern he could make do on the strength of his beliefs, as Corps Leader he’ll be judged on their content as well, and he won’t discover the verdict till it’s all over.

Green Lantern #29 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan and Martin Coccolo (pencilers), Rob Hunter and Walden Wong (inkers), Alex Sinclair and Tony Avina (colors)

The Story: Hal Jordan marks a new era of openness and humility in his leadership style by commanding a planet to move for him.

The Review: After an intrusion by Supergirl and the Red Lanterns last month, Robert Venditti’s Green Lantern returns to the task at hand.

Perhaps it was his meeting with Guy, or maybe just the place and time, but Hal is finally beginning to grow into leadership. His move to assemble a war council is a baby step for him, but it’s the first major action as leader where he’s opened himself up and asked for help. Likewise, it’s a strong move for the series, which has been excessively, some would say obnoxiously, focused on Lantern Jordan since Geoff Johns rebooted it ten years ago.

It’s not that Hal isn’t a fun character, it’s just that very few comic characters can handle that prolonged attention without growing dull. Batman shares his comic with a small gaggle of sidekicks and, more often than not, lets his villains do the heavy lifting. With Sinestro gone, it’s about time that Hal’s regular supporting cast expanded beyond Kilowog and this proves that Venditti is serious about continuing his strides in that direction.

The one downside of this is that it means that Hal has to do something to back up his newfound conviction. The raid on Gwottle that takes up just under half the issue is perfectly serviceable but, aside from highlighting another one of Hal’s inner circle, it’s not terribly interesting. Venditti makes strides in bringing a sense of space-spanning action and galactic realpolitik to the series, but once we set down it feels like they’re in competition. It’s the sort of thing that lets the issue claim a significant battle sequence, but wouldn’t be missed if you skipped this issue.