Review: Green Lantern #23 (Legacy #590)
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Jeremy Adams
Art: Xermanico
Colors: Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Hal, Zauriel, the Phantom Stranger and G’Nort run into the Spectre in Hell. And it gets even trippier than that!
Positives
Throughout this series, Jeremy Adams has made references and callbacks to various elements and era in both Green Lantern and Hal Jordan’s history. Adams finds a way to make it believable that “all that stuff really happened.” It’s a fabulous world building aspect that not enough writers do well, or even TRY to do at all. It’s so often about “their take” as opposed to simply writing the character that already exists. Ironically, without trying to make it about only “his idea,” Adams makes it clear just how clever and talented he is at handling a character in the DC Universe.
Despite being in Hell, there’s a lot of fun in this issue, too. Kon, Kyle, Odyssey and Dan Garrett have a Star Wars moment as they escape from the Reach. The showdown between Hal and the Spectre is pretty interesting as it centers on the main aspects of both characters.
Xermanico continues to produce beautiful art for this series and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. takes the opportunity he’s given with this issue’s varying locales. His colors provide a lot of atmosphere and contribute to the overall experience of the storytelling.
Negatives
This issue may not be as jaw dropping as the last, but Green Lantern #23 is still a very, very good issue.
Verdict
Sometimes you don’t have to say a lot…Green Lantern #23, like the rest of this series relies on the not so simple task of writing with a complex simplicity: Fun, character, acknowledging what’s come before and working it into stories that exemplify the core attributes of the main character. The cast may be getting larger and larger, but Adams never loses sight of what matters. And, on top of that, the art looks great!
