Green Lantern #5 – Jeremy Adams, Peter J. Tomasi, Writers; Xermanico, David LaFuente, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Tamra Bonvillain, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: This series has been heavily inspired by Top Gun since the start of its run, bringing Hal back to its roots as a story of a high-flying space cowboy—but it’s never embraced its roots quite as much as with this issue. Sinestro is on Earth, lacking his ring but none of his viciousness, and he’s decided to try to reignite his control over fear by giving Earth a dose of it—targeting cities around the world with a collection of drones hijacked from Ferris Aircraft and piloted by some of his fellow supervillains. As Hub City comes under attack, Hal takes to the air to take down some of the deadliest aircraft ever built—and finds that the skills of these drones are pushing his new ring to the limit.
But Adams doesn’t just get Hal’s powers—he gets his characterization spot-on, as Sinestro sets up a deadly bargain for Hal by targeting Washington and Moscow with the intention of starting a third world war. Forced with choosing between his homeland and the greater threat, Hal naturally tries a third option—pushing his ring to the next level and seeing just how far it can go. But in a dramatic scene, Hal also tries to attack the root of Sinestro’s assault and weaken his attempt to ignite fear in the hearts of humans, and that pushes Sinestro to a place he’s never been—leading to a dramatic cliffhanger where Sinestro possibly becomes a deadlier threat than he’s ever been before.
Sinestro isn’t the only member of his family pushed beyond his limits, either, as the mad dictator’s son Korg finds himself taking some more steps towards his destiny in the second part of the “Wayward Son” backup. He starts investigating how he arrived at this orphanage, stands up to his cruel master—with poor results—and begins plotting his escape. Given the writing team, I’m guessing this kid is being set up as a new foil for Jon and Damian in an upcoming story—and I am definitely excited to see that.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
