The Green Lantern #8 – Grant Morrison, Writer; Liam Sharp, Artist; Steve Oliff, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Ray: After a bizarre cosmic adventure that took him from the darkest corners of the universe to the recesses of his own ring, Hal finally has some downtime – such as it is – in The Green Lantern #8 and returns to Earth for a team-up with his oldest frenemy.
The Green Lantern/Green Arrow partnership has been popular for decades, and Morrison’s shot at reviving their dynamic has a lot of good points. It’s also the most straightforward issue of this series so far, despite some bizarre twists along the way. The story begins on a mysterious planet where murder is celebrated, as an assassin is dispatched against an unknown target on Earth. That unknown target turns out to be a masked supervillain drug dealer who is offering “the ultimate high” – a drug that leaves many of its users dead. Timely, but this isn’t just a commentary on dope pushers or Roy Harper’s substance abuse issues. The drug is something supernatural, and it seems to be draining its users of their souls before they go.
Hal and Ollie on the warpath and comparing notes behind the scenes is a lot of fun, and Ollie always has a way of getting under his partner’s skin. He points out that Hal’s basically neglected all the normal parts of his life, and questions what’s going on what Carol. What is going on with her, anyway? But once the heroes team up to break into the drug dealer’s base things take a turn for the even stranger.
Did you expect a giant puppet-like Green Arrow from another dimension? I certainly didn’t! This “Xeen Arrow” character is apparently a real figure from the Silver Age, which shows once again how much deep-cut research Morrison did before jumping onto this character. I don’t think this issue ever quite reaches the chaotic, brilliant highs of the first six issues, but it’s a more human turn for the lead character and the best Green Arrow story in a while.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
