Absolute Green Lantern #1 – Al Ewing, Writer; Jahnoy Lindsay
Ray – 10/10
Ray: The Absolute Universe is based around a simple question – what if our heroes didn’t have the tools at their disposal that allowed them to become who they were? Would they still manage to become heroes? But most of them focus on personal changes to their circumstances, while this title is telling a far more ambitious and cosmic tale from one of the most ambitious writers in the industry. By recasting the tale of Green Lantern as a cosmic horror tale, it forces readers to look at just how terrifying some of these stories are from another angle. It also doesn’t have a clear point of view at first, but that’s not a criticism – it’s playing games with our perceptions. We know from solicits that Jo Mullein is our Green Lantern, but it’s Hal Jordan we meet first – fresh off his encounter with Abin Sur, concealing a secret, and scared out of his mind. And that spells doom for an unfortunate, trigger-happy officer who encounters him first.
Flashbacks show Hal, Jo, and John Stewart (as well as an off-panel Guy Gardner) as a tight-knit friend group already, albeit with some fractures. Jo left the police force, while Guy is still loyal to the blue. Jo also recently returned to the city after a nasty divorce. But then a massive energy-based lantern symbol crashes to earth, causing chaos, followed by a very different Abin Sur. Hal tries to play hero – and pays the price. The reveal of who he actually is in this world is one of the biggest twists I can remember in the line so far, and our first look at Jo after she undergoes a transformation of her own indicates that these powers are definitely not meant for humans. This feels like it’s going to be one of the darkest books in the line, which is a very big change for the Green Lantern line, and it’s absolutely one of the most ambitious as it brings truly unpredictable cosmic forces to Earth.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
