Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #33 – Robert Venditti, Writer; Tom Derenick, Breakdowns, Jack Herbert, Artist; Jason Wright, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8.5/10
Corrina: There’s Another Ancient Powerful Threat? Of Course There Is
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!
Ray: The only regular DC comic of the week, this issue slipped a week into the fifth week. It was worth the wait, though, as this is both a solid character-driven issue and a great kick-off to the next big Green Lantern storyline. The issue opens with one of the Templar Guardians, Yekop, being hunted and brutally captured by an unseen villain. The story then cuts to Ganthet and Sayd, the last two regular Guardians, training new Lantern Somar-Le. She’s Tomar-Tu’s successor – and also the youngest Lantern ever, which is a clever twist. It’s great seeing these two old Guardians delivering their classic droll humor again. The news isn’t quite as great for the regular Lanterns, though, as Kyle in particular is still struggling to cope with the recent events involving Soranik Natu’s betrayal.
The fact that Kyle’s depression comes out in his constructs, essentially limiting him to dull, utilitarian constructs, is a great use of how the ring functions. After all, can’t we as artists all relate? Jack Herbert’s art is fantastic, maybe the best we’ve seen in this series. But the issue takes a turn for the series when the main threat shows and is quickly able to overpower the ancient Guardians. This leaves only the young Lantern to raise the alarm and send the Lanterns in pursuit. But the reveal of the villain behind the Guardian-napping shows that Venditti is working from a deep knowledge of Lantern continuity, as this might be the most ancient and powerful threat that Hal and his crew have faced so far in this series. I’m hoping the rest of this arc lives up to this issue’s promise.
Corrina: Even though this is not an annual, it does serve to set up a huge new GL storyline. Yes, Venditti is bringing back the Controllers. That works, as they haven’t been seen for some time. (Hey, I rejoice whenever there isn’t yet another Sinestro story.)
Still, I’m more interested in the personal stories than the villains. Ganthet and Sayd’s talk about the choices in life, and how emotions matter little to an immortal, and yet, you can feel their emotions anyway, is just lovely. Alien but relatable. The same can be said of Kyle’s confession that his break-up with Soranik is affecting his ring constructs. No doubt that’s because he was such a horrible dumb-ass. Then again, Soranik didn’t exactly react well to Kyle’s lies either with the whole branding thing. Ugh. Thinking about that part of the storyline frustrates me.
Let’s move onto the kid, Somar-Le, who is a breath of fresh air, and provides a look at what a happy individual might do with a Lantern ring. Poor kid. Seems like he’s going to grow up fast.
Overall, nice start to the arc but, as usual, I’m more interested in everything but Hal Jordan. 🙂
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
