The Green Lantern: Season Two #5 – Grant Morrison, Writer; Liam Sharp, Artist; Steve Oliff, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Grant Morrison’s writing gets most of the attention in this mind-bending cosmic series, but Liam Sharp’s art is almost as dynamic as Joe Quinones’ in the recent Dial H for Hero. One of the biggest surprises of this second volume is how deftly he switches styles per issue while maintaining his usual stunning detail. This issue, which pits Hal against a twisted family of supervillains patterned after the Super-family, has the style of a classic Silver Age comic book, with art that matches the coloring style at the time. Despite that, the story is tense throughout, with the evil Hyperman taking some of the most popular tropes of Superman’s comics and twisting them in ways – using his strength to show his intrepid reporter friend how he can create a diamond, then threatening to do the same to her hand, for instance. It’s a fascinating genre-bender of a comic that has some great mood whiplash.
Hal almost feels like a side player in it at times, with his ring getting damaged by Hyperman early on and putting him at a disadvantage. The Kirby-influenced art is the main draw here, sending Hal flying from one tight escape to another against an overpowered set of opponents, including a horrible super-dog pastiche that is definitely not going to be playing fetch any time soon. I still don’t think this is entirely coming together into a cohesive storyline like the first volume did, with its central plot of the Blackstar incursion, but Morrison is getting to indulge his love for a bygone era of comics. With craft this good, it’s hard to object. There are a lot of comic creators who love the bizarre, but I think few of them are as good at the craft as Morrison, and he has the perfect partner in crime here. It’s the most bizarre book in DC’s main line at the moment, but one hell of a ride.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
