Review: Green Lanterns #23

by Danny Saab
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[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]

Writer: Sam Humphries
Pencils: Eduardo Pansica
Inks: Julio Ferreira
Color: Blond

 

Summary

Boot camp is officially in session as Jessica and Simon learn what it means to be a Green Lantern in Part 2 of “Lost in Space”.

Review: Green Lanterns #23

Positives

Ah to be young and green, at least for Simon. Poor Jessica is still a lowly white circle. Which brings us to this issue, and essentially what is the Green Lantern Corps’ basic training for new recruits. If completed, they move on to more advanced training, and J-Bird gets her lantern back. Sounds simple enough, except that Jessica spends the entire issue being “trained” by none other then Guy Gardner. Lets just say Jessica has some rather descriptive terms to describe his training style, and his personal hygiene. Personally, I like Guy, but as evident in this issue, I would never want him to train me. Hell, I don’t think I would even cheat off his exam paper. Humphries could not have chosen more polar opposites for this team up, and a great choice going with Guy. Jessica is sweet and reserved, unsure about herself, and Guy, well, lets’ see, obnoxious, loud and apparently smells like sauerkraut just to name a few things. It’s like something Hollywood would put together, with the twist being they fall in love after realizing that they loved each all along. Jessica is pulled to her limits in this one, and Humphries does a superb job showing us her anguish and desperation.

Which brings us to Simon’s training, which evidently takes a much more different approach with Kyle Rayner. While Simon and Kyle have somewhat similar personalities, it’s Simon’s way of thinking and “problem solve” that Kyle is trying to change. Kyle provides a single goal that Simon would need to complete in order to pass. Of course, the obstacles in Simon’s way certainly don’t play to his strengths, which causes him to get angry and frustrated, both of which are written and described so well by Humphries.

The artwork in this issue was fantastic. The art team did a stellar job showcasing every emotion on every page. Didn’t matter if it was Jessica’s fatigue, or Kyle’s arrogance, you could feel what they were feeling just by looking at the panels. And what more can we say about the cover that’s showing the entire Green Lantern Corps? You can’t help but admire the talent that goes into work that detailed.

Review: Green Lanterns #23

Negatives

The character of Volthoom, which was a side story in this issue, wasn’t all that interesting. I found myself going through the panels as fast as I could just to get to the main story again, which was Jessica and Simon’s training.

Review: Green Lanterns #23

Verdict

Fantastic story from start to finish, and sets up what should be a fantastic next issue. You get the feeling that the Volthoom story is setting up to either conclude this story arc or to be the beginning of the next one, but either way, I’m not all that interested in this character. But who knows, he may yet grow on me.

 

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