Reviewed by: Mathan “Mogo!” Erhardt
Story Title: The Hunt
Written and Penciled by: Dave Gibbons
Inked by: Michael Biar & Keith Champagne
Colored by: Moose Baumann
Lettered by: Travis Lanham
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics
The issue picks up right where last issue’s cliffhanger ended, with a vacationing Guy Gardner realizing that he’s lost his ring just as Bolphunga comes to collect a bounty on Guy’s head. Guy narrowly evades death and sets out to find his ring all while evading Bolphunga.
Meanwhile on Thanagar, Isamot finally comes to the aide of Vath and they halt the Citadel’s attack on the planet. But when the Citadel decides to flee, Vath follows leaving Isamot to finally choose between his girl or his duty.
Back to Guy Gardner, he’s found the character who stole his ring but Bolphunga has caught up as well. And when it appears as though the ring is going to end up with Bolphunga Guy pulls out some of his old football moves and regains his ring. However before Guy can enact his revenge Salaak arrives with an urgent assignment for Guy.
Then we find Natu on Mogo confronting her failures in life. Mogo helps her deal with her past before she returns to Korugar as a pariah.
The writing, while not my cup of tea, is consistent for the title. I’m not really a fan of Guy Gardner, but he’s in his usual “tough guy/rebel” mode. I am curious why Bolphunga, who was positioned as a serious threat, was taken down in one panel. It also strikes me as odd that a guy who wanted to kill GL’s would want to attack them when their powerless. But whatever.
Gibbons does do a fine job of balancing every character and storyline, so you feel like everyone’s had their time to shine. I dig the concept of GL’s having to partner up, but the dialogue is what I’d imagine partners would sound like.
I love Gibbon’s art, normally. I mean, the guy is a legend. He was the artist on Green Lantern when I started reading the book, decades ago. That’s why it hurts me to say this; his art didn’t really fit the book. I found his art to be a bit too static for the sequences with Guy and Bolphunga. Those were supposed to be fast paced action, but they didn’t feel that way. Every other storyline/character worked, except for the Guy/Bolphunga stuff. I love Gibbon’s art, but it doesn’t scream “urgency.”
