Reviewer: Tim Sheridan
Story Title: Airborne
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Carlos Pacheco (pp 5-30)
Art: Ethan Van Sciver (pp 1-4)
Inker: Jesus Merino (pp 5-30)
Colorist: Moose Baumann
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Asst Editor: Harvey Richards
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics
The first Green Lantern comic I read was Green Lantern #51, the first issue where Kyle is GL. I liked it. I liked him. I had no attachment to Hal Jordan. To me, he was “the old Green Lantern”, the guy with the Reed Richards hair. So when an uproar was started to bring Hal back…I just didn’t care.
DC tried to bring Hal back. First as a hero in Final Night. And then he died. Then they tried to bring him back as The Spectre in Day of Judgement. And while I didn’t care much for Hal, I thought that was a lame idea. Sorry for the lack of verbosity, but I just thought it was lame.
So, last year, DC announced that they were bringing him back as Green Lantern, the way that many thought he should be. And I thought “hey, I’ll check it out”. I picked up a bunch of GL back issues, so I could get acclimated to Hal Jordan, and I could find out just why everyone loves this guy so much.
And I still didn’t get it. I still found him boring. He was a noble hero, no doubt about it. But there was something missing. A reason, a motivation.
But because of the hype, I picked up Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver’s “Rebirth” mini series. And something happened. I saw Hal in a new light. (a green light, perhaps??? no? ok.)
Hal to me was finally a multi-dimentional character, and I could see why people liked him.
Last week I picked up the Green Lantern Secret Files and was treated to one of the best comic stories I have ever read. There it was, in 22 pages, that motivation and reason I wanted. And I wanted more. I couldn’t wait to see what Johns was going to do with GL next.
Which brings us to this issue. And I liked it. A lot. It’s fairly typical superhero fare. We are introduced to the hero, and then the supporting cast. We see the hero in action, and we see his alter-ego too. A threat is brought up, and a mystery starts to unravel.
So it’s not that different than most comics in that sense. But the heart and care that writer Geoff Johns brings to the character and the book is what really make it for me. You can tell he loves this character, and you can tell he wants it to be the best it can be. It also helps that the art is beautiful. Pacheco’s work is perfect for the superhero genre, and even moreso for this book.
I’m hooked on Green Lantern, at least for now. Johns has brought me into Hal Jordan’s world in a way I never thought I’d be interested in.
