Review: Green Lantern #2 By Geoff Johns And Doug Mahnke

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Green Lantern #2

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, and David Baron

 

 

I enjoyed last months issue, despite the over done focus on mopey emo life sucks for me Hal. The Sinestro stuff was great, and I was really interested in just where Johns would take it. I never fooled myself into thinking that Hal would be written out fully, and really, when I saw that last page of Hal and Sinestro I knew that if nothing else he’d just be sharing the lead role in this book with Sinestro. I expected him to have his ring back sooner than later, and to be honest, that part kind of bugged me. I felt as if we were in line for an easy fix back to status quo and that Sinestro would get short changed.

 

There will be spoilers ahead.

 

So this issue actually made all of my fears spike up as I took my predictions for reality after a few pages, and then they quelled. Yes, Hal Jordan gets a ring in this issue. It’s a spoiler, but it’s something I quite literally can not review this book without bringing up. It happens on the fifth page and from then on that is the entire plot of the issue. Okay, so not the entire plot, and not the way you’re probably thinking. Hal is a Lantern again, but there’s a huge catch, and on top of that, there’s a purpose. Sinestro holds all of the power in this instance, and while once would imagine, accurately, that Hal would not take kindly to any kind of power struggle with his long time rival, there’s nothing our former hero can do here.

 

The new dynamic initially seems like a method for Sinestro to belittle his former ally and long time enemy, but that would make him feel too much like a villain, and if there’s one thing that Johns has done well, it’s been making Sinestro more than that. For as awful as he seems to treat Hal, there’s a purpose and lesson behind everything. A different perspective to everything that he’s done in the past. There’s gloating, but it’s all about educating. He gives Hal yet another chance, and he intends to make the most of it. Which means that for the first time in their long time relationship, which began as veteran and rookie, Hal actually is forced to sit back and learn from the man once called the greatest of all the Green Lanterns. He shows Hal how small he thinks in the grand scheme. How much he misses in his pursuit of being a superhero, and how much of difference he could make if he would truly embrace being a Green Lantern.

 

Sinestro…the teacher? I think this book just became even better.

 

The book looks amazing, and while I generally try and find new ways to tell you all how great Doug Mahnke’s work is on GL…well, you get the point by now. Doug Mahnke is a great talent who makes this book better just by looking so great. So let’s talk about the generally unsung heroes of my reviews and put over the inking of Keith Champagne and Christian Alamy, as despite the dual inkers, you would never know it without looking at the credits. On top of that, David Baron is on colors, and in a book like this, that’s a big deal. Green Lantern is always a colorful title, regardless of how many colors of Lantern show up, and the credit has to go somewhere. The book is a complete package as far as art goes, and it helps maintain the top tier quality of the book. Plus, to put over the whole team, the Sinestro Corps member that shows up towards the end looks absolutely sick.

 

The new dynamic between Hal and Sinestro, with Hal being essentially the protege on a short leash, is even more exciting to me than Sinestro as the sole lead here. Sinestro has his goals, and Jordan will help him achieve them, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make a better Lantern out of him in the process. For as much of a dictator as Sin was, he always held on to the bigger picture, and everything was for a purpose. By the time Hal takes this book over full time, I could imagine a whole different type of character for him just by acknowledging that he thinks too small. Geoff put together a great book here, and given the happenings here, I absolutely can not wait for next month.

 

Overall?

9/10

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.