Because Oa was so Issue 23
With the events of “Lights Out” leaving the Green Lantern Corps in a precarious position, Green Lantern #25 revolves around one of the few corners of the DC Universe not currently embroiled in either “Zero Year” or Forever Evil. Is the Green Lantern family of books able to hold its own?
POSITIVES
Is she a criminal in Hal’s new world of law and order?
While Geoff Johns had a great take on Hal Jordan, Venditti is quickly turning Hal back into the selfish jerk that we all know and (some people) love. The issue opens with the resigning Green Lanterns (from the final pages of Green Lantern Annual #2) discussing the status of the Corps and the emotional spectrum with Hal. At the end of “Lights Out” we find that the emotional spectrum is indeed finite and many current Lanterns are not okay with, essentially, assisting in the destruction of the universe. In a move one would expect to see from Sinestro, Hal Jordan takes it upon himself to decide who is and is not abusing the emotional spectrum, then decides to head off on a journey to stop all Lanterns that he finds ill-fitting to wield a power ring. Carol Ferris, a ring wielder of the Star Sapphire variety, obviously takes objection to this, as do several Green Lanterns, including John Stewart. This ethical dilemma makes up about half of the issue, and it is quite compelling.
Billy Tan’s pencils and Rob Hunter’s colors are very solid in this book, and the standard cover looks great. A lot of times, comics are guilty of having misleading covers, so it was also refreshing to see that this cover image was actually just a different angle of a panel we see later on.
NEGATIVES
The second half of the book, although having more action, seemed to lose steam. After such a long period of the Lanterns taking care of problems revolving around themselves, focusing on outside threats is a bit refreshing. Hopefully these Braidmen—a group of alien warriors protected by a rogue Star Sapphire—will make things more interesting in the issues to come. Although Kilowog and Hal Jordan find themselves alone and surrounded by a Star Sapphire as well as all of the Braidmen, there really doesn’t seem to be that aura of danger. It doesn’t feel like there’s anything at stake.
VERDICT:
3/5
The first half of the book is solid. The tension between the Green Lanterns is something that needs to be explored more, with more characters questioning Hal Jordan’s ability to lead. When the book transitions to the outside threat, it loses momentum even though there are few nice moments, like the female Braidman hitting on Kilowog. Green Lantern #25 certainly isn’t the best we’ve seen from the new creative team, but it isn’t a horrible book either. It does exactly what it needs to do in setting up a new story arc, but does very little else.
