Absolute Green Lantern #17 – Al Ewing, Writer; Sid Kotian, Artist; Pressy, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Over the last year-plus, we’ve seen one element of the Green Lantern mythos gather after another, leading to the epic space showdown we’re seeing unfold. Every single Earth Green Lantern has emerged, most playing radically different roles than they do in the main DCU, and even cosmic forces like Mogo are twisted in dark and surprising ways. And now, Sinestro has come to Earth, piloting a Controller armor that’s one of the deadliest foes we’ve seen so far. This issue features two very strong flashback segments, one showing how Sinestro went from being a curious student to the mad dictator he is now. The second and stronger segment, though, features Jessica Cruz. A slightly different tragedy unfolds, taking her from a young woman who loves nature into a paranoid shut-in who sees threats around every corner and eventually begins losing her mind – until a knock at the door.
One of the most interesting things about this series is the way that it shows how just about any of the seven powers can be a force for good – or a force for evil. You’ve got Guy Gardner harnessing the red power and Tomar-Re eventually being able to do the same without losing himself to the red, but you also have how the Green power manifests itself in Jessica Cruz after the mental trauma she’s endured. And as this issue moves on, we see things unfold in a way that potentially changes the entire cosmic map of the Absolute Universe. This comic can sometimes feel disconnected from the rest of the universe because of just how huge-scale it is, but I’m consistently impressed by just how much it manages to juggle in each issue, and how it still manages to have time for some surprisingly deep emotional moments that definitely feel earned after what characters went through to get here.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
