Green Lantern #58
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke
A lot got accomplished in just a little bit of time with this issue, and it was pretty well paced. It seems as if Johns is pushing the entity plots to hit their conclusion sooner as opposed to later, and while yes, it does lead to some things getting rushed through, the story is probably stronger for it.
Last issue we were shown the Predator host hunting in Las Vegas, and Carol Ferris being appointed the new Queen of the Star Sapphires, and this plot is continued in this issue. For about four pages. Much like a few issues ago when Larfleeze’s battery was stripped of the Orange Entity, only for the next issue to flow into a new plot, this issue does the same. The focus here, as the cover gives away, is the Blue Entity Adara finding a host. This means that Red and Indigo are the only unaccounted for entities left, as we have a general idea where each of the others is.
The issue spreads across several plots, but the pacing is tight, and Larfleeze and Hal play great off of each other throughout the issue. At the same time, Atrocitus and Sinestro as a duo just felt….weird. Not forced, just….not natural. I understand that Johns is trying to get all of his New Guardians in and develop everyone off of each other, but it just means that sometimes it obviously isn’t going to pan out perfectly. Such is the problem with Sinestro and Atrocitus, who felt like they were traveling together just because both were ‘evil’. Though the display of Atrocitus’s own moral code was intriguing.
The host for Adara is hardly what I had expected, and given the subject matter that Johns tapped for the origin story, I was actually quite impressed with how it played off. Sure, the character’s voice was a bit flat and repetitive, but I’ve thought the same thing about Saint Walker as well. Maybe I just don’t have a lot of hope!
Alright, bad joke.
Doug Mahnke does his usual bang up job on art, and reminds me that some artists really can do extended runs without fill in issues at the upper tier of quality. He really adds a lot to this book, and his style adds a lot with the more Earth based setup that the book has taken on. One definite highlight for the issue were the Atrocitus pages, as Mahnke really nailed the brutality of the character.
At the end of it all, it’s just another really good issue of Green Lantern. Not the best, by any means, but it was still a good read. The New Guardians plot seems to be moving forward at an accelerated rate, but if that means we get to find out who this mysterious hooded figure that keeps abducting them is, then I am absolutely fine. That’s one mystery that has me guessing.
Overall?
7/10
