Green Lantern #33 – Jeremy Adams, Ron Marz, Writers; Xermanico, V. Ken Marion, Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund, Darryl Banks, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Veronica Gandini, Adriano Lucas, Chris Sotomayor, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: It’s the big 600th legacy issue of Green Lantern, resetting the playing field and putting some Lanterns in new roles – and some in old ones. Three of the four stories in this issue are written by regular writer Jeremy Adams, and the fourth brings us the return of an old favorite. First up is “I Love LA” by Adams and Xermanico, which finds Kyle returning to Earth with Odyssey in search of some missing criminals from the Sciencells. This story is interspliced with a Kyle Rayner origin with V. Ken Marion on art, and a Hal Jordan origin with the legendary Dan Jurgens on art. Kyle’s origin is extremely relatable to anyone who feels like art and creation is their destiny and everything else takes a backseat. I love seeing Kyle’s origin retold from the perspective of this older, wiser version – and smart move not recapping THAT moment.
Of course, as we all know too well, things aren’t great for artists right now – and in LA, a shady businessman is going all-in on AI, with the help of a strange yellow bug. A guest appearance from Wally West (always good to see Adams write him again) points Kyle in the direction of this threat, and while the anti-AI commentary in this issue is fairly heavy-handed, it’s also really effective – it feels like the entire comic industry not just saying a canned “AI bad” message, but articulating why real art still matters.
Hal, meanwhile, has returned to space on his next mission and has found himself teaming up with Jayna of the Wonder Twins – who is in search of her brother and following the mystery’s trail. The two quickly encounter Manhunters and wind up on the run, which is a perfect segue for Dan Jurgens’ origin segment. Hal is usually defined by “Fearless” and this segment does a great job of depicting how that came about and how it often holds him back and causes him to sabotage his life. Like Kyle, some of the grimmer details of his life (like his estranged family) aren’t delved into here, but it’s a great primer for new readers.
Finally, “Light in Darkness” brings back Kyle’s creators Ron Marz and Darryl Banks for a short story, as Kyle is trying to focus on painting, only to be pulled into a rescue mission by some rookie Lanterns. It’s interesting to see how Kyle sees himself, versus how he’s seen by the new Lanterns who have heard tales of his heroics. Marz is a writer we don’t see as much of at DC these days, similar to many of the guys who built the foundation of the modern age in the 90s, but he absolutely still has an excellent handle on the character he built, and Banks’ art hasn’t lost a step.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
