Green Lantern #4 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (penciller), Christian Alamy & Keith Champagne (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: Sinestro, you can’t just hand out these power rings like they’re candy!

The Review: Oh, come on—seeing Hal get fried in the Yellow Central Battery was all good and fun, but no one thought for one second that would be the end of it, right?  That’s the thing with the vast majority of cliffhangers: even when they’re done well, you don’t actually fear that the fate of your favorite characters hang in the balance.  Mostly, cliffhangers are an exercise for writers to produce the most ludicrous cop-out ideas possible.

In this case, it turns out the Yellow Central Battery’s intruder-destroying measures are restricted to only certain individuals: “You are not Sinestro.  Transport to Antimatter Universe aborted.”  It ejects Hal immediately, rendering his attempt to destroy the battery from the inside mostly pointless, except for a few “life flashing before his eyes” panels which yet again emphasizes that Carol is the love of his life.

And if that isn’t enough, Johns brings up the couple again a few pages later, when Hal gets thrown into a Sinestro Corps decharging cell and decides to use the very last drop of his secondhand power ring’s energy to summon a construct of Carol.  It seems a bit out of place to insert a corny romantic moment smack-dab in the middle of dramatic prison scene, particularly since that specific well of material has run a bit dry lately, but it’s touching, nonetheless.

But the real emotional substance of the issue comes from Sinestro, who has pretty much hijacked the starring role of this title.  The drama doesn’t get any sweatier or intense than Sinestro having a reunion with his people (and former subordinate) in a jail cell.  Kudos to Johns for continuing to develop such a rich back-story for the villain/antihero; it’s always impressive when comic book characters are revealed to have relationships beyond their vigilante lives.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Avenging Spider-Man #2 – This was a quality comic, but it did kinda surprise me that it was the “best”.  But, all the other comics had some obvious flaws and it wasn’t a very heavy week for me anyway.  So….backhanded compliment is concluded.  You could summarize this issue as: Zeb Wells is writing a very fast-paced and humorous Spidey/Rulk team-up and Joe Madureira is drawing the hell out of it.  Great stuff!  Runner-up: Glamourpuss #22 – Dave Sim’s art is always gorgeous (No shit….it is great, great stuff), but this comic leaves me conflicted: He’s either a genius or he’s crazier than a bag full of weasels.  Maybe both?

Most Anticipated: The Walking Dead #92 – I was pretty hard on issue #91, but in the last few weeks I’ve mellowed.  Surely Robert Kirkman is just starting to build things up towards issue #100, right?  I think what made me excited for this issue was reading the solicit text for the issue #94 (currently in Previews).  Usually TWD’s solicit text just says something like, “He has gone too far!” or “How will they survive?” so some other vague nonsense.  But for issue #94 it says, “As the ramp up to the monumental 100th issue continues, Rick and his group are led into new territory, with new rules, new advantages and new threats.  Can they survive in this larger, changed world?”  That sounds like a TWD story I want to read and hopefully this mystery man who appeared at the end of last issue is going to lead us there.

Other Picks: American Vampire #21, Batwoman #4, Unwritten #32, Snake-Eyes #8, Blue Estate #8, Severed #5, Avengers X-Sanction #1, SHIELD #4, Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #4

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Moon Knight #8 – While there may have been technically better books this week, this month’s issue of Moon Knight was rock solid, and particularly important for the series.  After a very mediocre beginning, it’s been steadily improving and now, with this month’s issues, I can safely say that Bendis and Maleev’s Moon Knight has found its groove.  It’s a solid book and Bendis and Maleev are really beginning to live up to their potential on this series.

Most Anticipated: Journey into Mystery #632 – First off:  look at that cover.  Wow! That said, there’s really only one thing you need to know: this is a Kid Loki Christmas issue.  Frankly, that is something that just NEEDs to exist, and with Gillen’s penchant in this series for both fun and heartfelt writing, I’m sure this is going to be a homerun.  I’ve often found holiday issues to be a bit gimmicky, but Journey into Mystery seems absolutely perfect for a Christmas issue.

Other Picks: Batwoman #4, Demon Knights #4, Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #4, American Vampire #21, New Avengers #19, Green Lantern #4

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: The Defenders #1 – Seeing the Defenders back together after so long was fun and tipped the scale for me on best of the week. The art was great and the writing quirky. Let’s see where Marvel takes this.

Most Anticipated: Warlord of Mars #13 – Oh yeah! Warlord of Mars #13 is the start of the Gods of Mars! John Carter will return to Barsoom, but not in his old stomping grounds, but in the polar regions of the dead, where he will be pitted against the deadly plant men and run into some dear friends in terrible danger!

Other Picks: Avengers: X-Sanction #1, Avengers 1959 #4, Captain America #6, Journey Into Mystery #632, Magneto Not a Hero #2