Sinestro #2 – Review

By: Cullen Bunn (story), Dale Eaglesham (art), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: Sinestro retakes his position as president of his fan club.

The Review: In my blessedly brief, somewhat humiliating, always entertaining time doing stand-up, I learned that half the secret to getting up into the spotlight and getting out without a beer bottle thrown at you is to proceed as if everything is going extremely well, even you’re dying inside. When it comes right down to it, a person’s charisma is almost always a byproduct of how much they always seem to be in control, which is why presidential approval rates always plummet as the term goes on.

This also explains the great appeal of Sinestro, a man who’s always in control of all parts of his life, even “his legendry.” Yeah, he’s more than a little bit of a sociopath, but that air he gives off, as if nothing or no one can ever touch him, is amazingly attractive. Throughout his nearly one-man battle with his usurped Corps, he remains undaunted, his attitude being of one dealing with a tedious task, but by no means a very difficult one. This alone would make him seem like a stud, even before he slays a Lantern without turning his back and then melting the ring before it can find a replacement. And then his parting line: “Does anyone else wish to register a grievance?”

Sinestro #1 – Review

By: Cullen Bunn (story), Dale Eaglesham (art), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: Just when you need a fear-mongering dictator, he decides to give it all up. Figures.

The Review: As Hal Jordan’s primary arch-nemesis, Sinestro has always been a formidable villain, but in recent years, under Geoff Johns’ revitalizing pen, he’s now become one of the all-time greats of DCU antagonists. In some ways, he blends elements of two of his peers; he has rationality and arrogance to rival Lex Luthor, but like Joker, he has loftier aims than merely destroying his rival. But Sinestro is more than their amalgamation; he’s nobler and more capable of genuine sympathy than either.

Weird as it is to say that Sinestro has a heart, it’s the only way to explain how he can be driven to weariness, even something like depression. These are foreign emotions for most other villains; they require a degree of self-reflection that would take a villain too close to questioning his purpose, and God forbid we should have that. But for all the violence and callousness of his methods, Sinestro’s purpose has never been outright evil. He can appreciate the costs of his actions, which is why here, we see him weighing his real, personal losses against his scant, vague achievements.

Green Lantern #7 – Review

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

The Story: Nok nok.  Who’s there?  Indigo.  Indigo who?  Indigo home!  Like E.T., get it?

The Review: As my last few reviews show, Johns has fallen into something of a slump on Justice League, where characters rarely venture beyond a string of clichés and catchphrases, while the plot simply clunks along.  Aquaman is something of an improvement, but its mythos is still undeveloped, and Johns has less material to draw from.  It is in Green Lantern that the acclaimed Johns of old still lives and breathes, and this issue is a good reminder of that.

Take any issue of Justice League, set it beside the story here, and you can see the difference, clear as day.  The cast in this title have been so well established that they have nothing to prove anymore, meaning they spend less time trying to come up with smart remarks, witty comebacks, or melodramatic speeches and actually act like credible human beings—or credible alien beings, whatever the case may be.

Unlike the comically showy beats of malice Desaad and Co. went through last issue, the Guardians reveal theirs even without talk.  Newly imprisoned Lyssa Drak, under the silent stares of Ganthet and his lady-companions, demands, “What?  What are you staring at?  What do you WANT?”  Her increasing tension reflects the dark aura of the Guardians even before they start idly discussing the merits of killing her.  “Lantern Voz will ask too many questions,” Ganthet says.  “Then we will eliminate Lantern Voz,” his companion replies matter-of-factly.

While it’s pretty clear the little blue immortals have pretty much given up even a pretense of benevolence, there’s reason to hope of the possibility, however slight, that one of them hasn’t completely fallen to the Dark Side, to use another sci-fi epic’s terminology.  The fact that Ganthet stays his fellows’ hands from coolly offing both a prisoner and prison warden may be a sign that our former pony-tailed Guardian may not be totally gone after all.

The writing feels especially natural when it comes to our principals, Hal, Sinestro, and Carol.  Unlike the eye-rollers we frequently got from Hal and the Flash (see Justice League #3), the jokes here are in tune to the script’s context, and don’t feel forced.  Hal tells Sinestro defiantly, “I’m never working for anyone again.”  “Not including me,” Carol corrects me.  “Not including her,” Hal agrees.  Beyond the humor of the bit, Hal may also be making a statement about his future as a Green Lantern; not that he’s ever been the Guardians’ lapdog, but it seems like even if goes back to cosmic policing full-time, he won’t be following their agenda anymore.

Green Lantern #6 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Mike Choi (artist), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: In which Sinestro finds prophecies to be heavy reading.

The Review: At some point in every superhero’s life there comes a time when they have to face the prospect of hanging up the cape/putting away the spandex outfit for a while, even for good.  You can understand why this is such a popular plotline in comics.  There’s a certain fascination in figuring out the person beneath the costume, and having our hero take out of it for a while is a huge opportunity to see exactly who we’ve been idolizing all this time.

And if any of you saw the Green Lantern movie, I think you understand for Hal especially it’s important to find out what the deal with this guy is.  Basically, when he’s not ruining planes left and right, he’s slinging energy blasts while in colorful wardrobe.  Clark writes, Bruce invests money, Diana’s royalty, Barry gets his CSI on, and all of them have non-vigilante people around to do it with.  Even Hal’s love interest slips into a hot pink number and exacts justice now and then.  If the life of Green Lantern isn’t available to him, how would Hal fare?

Actually, it seems like Hal takes to civilian life pretty well, despite being essentially homeless, unemployed, and broke.  Even more interesting, he doesn’t seem all that enamored with his piloting life either.  In fact, he’s so well-adjusted to being grounded that you might very well share Carol’s sentiment that “I’m not sure I can get used to this.”  Going from intergalactic cop/flying ace to house husband—or, more accurately, house live-in partner—seems too major a switch for him to act like everything’s fine and dandy.