Green Lantern #10 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; Xermanico, Amancay Nahuelpan, Kevin Maguire, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Rosemary Cheetham, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: After nine issues of buildup, we have finally returned to Oa—and the place isn’t what it used to be. Hal Jordan has been brought back in by Jo Mullein, and now he’ll have to master subtlety and espionage in order to penetrate the United Planets’ inner sanctum. But many Green Lanterns are missing, and those that remain aren’t in great shape. Kyle Rayner, the most connected to the emotional spectrum, has been left a wreck by the changes to it. Simon Baz is looking better than he did when we last saw him, but is now public enemy number one. And then there’s Teen Lantern, who was never an official member of the Corps—and is now key to the villain’s research into the nature of the Lantern power.
That villain would be Chairman Tharros, the officious bureaucrat who has taken one enemy after another off the board, but doesn’t realize he’s let one get close to him – Jessica Cruz, who betrayed the Lanterns to work for him but is actually the deep-cover agent they need to get closer to the truth. This is an interesting story, one that puts Hal out of his depth with a mission that doesn’t play to his strengths at all. It’s interesting that the captives that the UP seems to be racking up include both friends and enemies – including one of the most powerful villains the Corps have ever faced. This might be a bit of a breather issue before the big showdown, but it’s no less interesting.
The highlight this issue, though, has to be the backup written by Adams and drawn by the iconic Kevin Maguire. Focusing on Guy Gardner and Lobo with a guest appearance by Booster Gold, it feels like a tribute to the late, great Keith Giffen as well as a follow-up to one of Adams’ most beloved Flash stories – the wrestling adventure that introduced us to the wildly funny Omega Bam Man. Great story, with a cliffhanger that pays tribute to one of Lobo’s most bizarre running gags, but man – it’s the art that really takes this to the next level. It’s so good to see Maguire at the top of his game.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
