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 #30 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Martin Coccolo (artist), and Tony Avina & Alex Sinclair (colorists)

The Story: As war looms and old friends are laid to rest, Hal Jordan checks his privilege.

The Review: To be perfectly honest, I considered not picking this issue up. Green Lantern has been a solid series of late but, while the past two issues have been quite good, something about it seemed to reset every month, losing the momentum it had gained. Combined with a growing pull list and a somewhat looking generic gladiator cover, I wasn’t certain about this one – I mean weren’t there two episodes of GL: The Animated Series about Hal fighting in brown gladiatorial arenas? Nevertheless, if you’re in the same place, you may want to reconsider.

Though Green Lantern has long used the analogy of being an intergalactic police force, like many real police forces throughout the world, under dire circumstances they’ve really become a peculiar cosmic army. You can hold to the police line as long as you like, but they’re not called the corps for nothing and acknowledging that is one of the single best decisions that Robert Venditti has made during his tenure here.

In a great moment, very consciously at odds with the corps’ new verdant home, Venditti reminds us that “The soul of the corps[…]isn’t the barracks and its 7200 lockers filled with memories from each Lantern’s home[…]The soul of the corps is the crypt.” It’s a morbid thought but an oddly truthful one. Especially these days, Lanterns come and go and who you are when you’re off duty matters less and less. No, what matters is that you were part of something bigger. It’s a standard part of modern military thought, one designed to build community, but for roguish Hal Jordan, it’s a pill that doesn’t go down easy.

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.