Green Lantern #8 – Jeremy Adams, Ron Marz, Writers; Amancay Nahuelpan, Dale Eaglesham, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Alex Guimaraes, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Jeremy Adams continues to weave one of the most intriguing mysteries to come out of the cosmic DCU in a long time, turning Hal Jordan into an earthbound refugee from a Green Lantern Corps gone mad. Under the leadership of the United Planets the Lanterns seem to have become an oppressive government at best and a force for evil at worst, hunting down rogue Lanterns across the galaxy even when they used to be among the greatest heroes of the universe. Now, Hal’s old ally Razer (Red Lantern turned Blue Lantern, best known from the short-lived but beloved animated series) has come to Earth with an ominous warning—the Greens weren’t the only Lanterns to see their central battery mysteriously destroyed.
Razer, who found inner peace, tries his best to help Hal sort out some of his personal issues, but Hal is more interested in trying to get his ring to break the atmosphere barrier. The mystery leads them to Madame Xanadu, who helps Hal find a mysterious location that seems to contain Lantern energy—only for them to come under attack by a trio of United Planets lanterns. Not only do they act like rogue cops, but they display some unique powers that ask some very interesting questions about exactly what is going on in this book. It’s a fascinating issue that broadens the story in a big way and sets Hal off on a new adventure that will likely lead him right back to Oa for an epic showdown.
Then there’s the backup, which brings back Kyle Rayner’s creator Ron Marz for a melancholy tale that calls back to the character’s most controversial story—the murder of his girlfriend Alex DeWitt not long after he became the last Green Lantern. I won’t rehash the gruesome details of that story, but it is good to see Marz show how that early loss still affects Kyle. It seems like this is the beginning of an arc showing the other Lanterns discovering there’s something rotten on Oa, as Jessica Cruz and Guy Gardner are on deck soon.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
