Green Lantern Corps #25 – Review

By: Van Jansen (script), Robert Venditti (co-plot), Victor Orujiniu and Ivan Fernandez (main sequence pencils), Juan Castro and Rob Lean (main sequence inks), Allan Jefferson (flashback pencils), Rob Lean (flashback inks), Garry Henderson (colors)

The Story: John Stewart’s knowledge of the Super Bowl halftime show saves the day. No, seriously.

The Review: John Stewart is one of the most interesting figures in DC’s history. Created by Denny O’Neill and Neal Adams, Stewart debuted as an architect and a somewhat justified Angry Black Man, focused on egalitarianism, transparency, and questioning authority. Since then he’s had a number of false starts that generally left him languishing in obscurity until the next reboot of his role came along. That changed in 2001 when he was chosen to represent the Corps in the Justice League animated series, making him the Green Lantern to an entire generation. This John Stewart was a former Marine; stern, straight-laced, and stoic. Before long this was transferred into the comics continuity and this new John returned to the Green Lantern Corps with honor, before beginning his cycle of reinvention once again.

I mention this because John is a character who people really want to succeed but has rarely found a status quo that worked for him. His history is a bit of a mess; for instance, I don’t know that it’s ever been addressed that John is man in his thirties who’s supposedly served as an active Marine and undergone the mandatory five or more years it takes to become an architect before joining the Green Lantern Corps.

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.