The Road To Blackest Night: Green Lantern Volume 4 In Review

[Keyser Soze]

Hey folks!

We finally have a board exclusively devoted to the discussion of Green Lantern comics. I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to post up my little ongoing project, one I'd previously been posting in the DC Comics board's Green Lantern thread. As 2009's Green Lantern mega-event - The Blackest Night - approaches, I thought it'd be cool to go back to the start of Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern, and review each story as I progressed. I figure I can use this thread to archive the reviews I've posted thus far, and then continue with the rest of my reviews whenever I get round to doing them.

I understand such marathons have been undertaken and talked about before, and so this thread might not exactly be breaking ground. Nevertheless, your thoughts are welcome, whether it be feedback on my reviews and observations, or merely in the decision to join me in revisiting Volume 4, in order to share your own opinions that arrive on repeat reading. But enough pre-amble, let's get started:

REBIRTH

When I first became a fan of Green Lantern, I REALLY wanted to read Rebirth. But getting to do so wasn't easy. None of my local comic stores seemed to have it in stock. And when I ordered the book on Amazon, I had to go through constant shipping delays and ultimately the cancellation of my order. But when my local comic store finally got it in stock, and I got the chance to read the highly-acclaimed return of Hal Jordan, I enjoyed it. The impression I got upon finishing was that I had read something historic, something truly significant in the history of DC Comics. Since reading it, I have recommended it to friends new to GL, DC, or even new to comics, saying it is their essential introduction to the world of Green Lantern.

As an existing fan of Green Lantern, I had a great appreciation of Rebirth. But for the purposes of this project, I approached Rebirth differently. I put myself in the mindset of someone completely new to Green Lantern, imagining Rebirth as my first ever Green Lantern comic, charged with the responsibility of converting me from a newcomer into a fan. And from this perspective, I encountered some problems.

If this were the first time I had read about Hal, Kyle, John, Guy, Kilowog et al, I would probably be rather confused. Not that this is the fault of Johns, necessarily. Something that strikes you when looking back is what a fustercluck Green Lantern continuity was before Rebirth, the knots various popular characters were tied up in. And I think this hurts the book, overall. For the first 4 parts, at least, it feels like the focus is on untying these knots, and tidying up continuity, rather than just telling a great story. This leaves us with issues dense with exposition, which I imagine might be a little wearing for a new reader.

I think things really pick up in the second half of Rebirth, mainly in the final two issues when the exposition finally gives way to some action. But even then, the action is somewhat stunted, the threat rather vague in the end. The actual threat Parallax directly poses to the world seems to be hurriedly explained in about a page, with various fear-induced disasters that we never actually see on-panel. And with all the time they spend building up Ganthet/Parallax as a formidable foe, he is defeated rather promptly. This issue with villainy definitely hurts the pace and structure of the book, with Batman essentially serving as the story's de-facto villain until the true nature of Parallax is finally made clear. And so the final battle ends up feeling bottom-heavy and rushed, and the climax doesn't feel too climactic.

Thank goodness then, for Sinestro. His evil is something precise and tangible that Parallax, fearsome as it is, can't quite match. And his speech about how Hal is now the renegade like he was highlights a motive that is more relatable and, somehow, more scary than Parallax's loftier aim of devouring the fear of the world. Johns showed off his formidable writing talent here, rehabiliating Sinestro form forgotten, tacky bad guy to the status of one of DC's elite villains. So, while Sinestro's presence here feels more like a prelude to Sinestro Corps War than anything else, it is a triumph of characterisation which more than justifies his inclusion.

And speaking of characterisation, throughout the aformentioned two issues, Johns does a great job restoring Hal Jordan to the forefront of the GL mythos, bringing out his simple, likeable charisma and highlighting what sets him apart not only from the other Green Lanterns, but the other superheroes, particularly Batman. However, this isn't done to the detriment of Kyle Rayner, who has a very important role to play here, and who is treated with respect.

But the real strength of Rebirth is the art. Ethan Van Sciver is on world-beating form here. He has said his original area of interest was in drawing the dark and disturbing, and it shows here. Parallax literally ripping his way out of Hal Jordan is a horrific image that has endured in my memory. And kudos to giving us a creepy, hideous rendition of Hector Hammond. But Van Sciver provides thrills as well as scares, with some dynamic action spreads of Hal and his fellow GLs. One of my favourite art moments comes shortly after Hal's resurrection, when Sinestro launches him out of the Watchtower. We see a green stream go flying out over the surface of the moon, ricocheting off its surface. Then we focus in on Hal, and see the smirk on his face as he wipes blood from his nose. That image, to me, says more about Hal's character than four issues of exposition could. And in praising the art, much praise must also go to the vibrant coloring of Moose, of course. Really, the art alone is enough to recommend Rebirth.

But on the subject of recommendation, I found myself thinking... was I right to recommend Rebirth as the jumping-on point for new readers? Upon repeat reading.... I'm not so sure. Like I mentioned, there's a lot of convoluted stuff here that Johns works hard to streamline. But that makes this not so much a new beginning than a closing of the books, the wrapping up of loose ends and undoing of perceived wrongs from volumes past.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Rebirth is a good story. And it's an important one too. It helped restore the Green Lantern mythos, and set the stage for Johns' excellent run on Green Lantern Volume 4. But while it covers a lot of ground that needed to be covered going forward, I think it prevents Rebirth itself from being as enjoyable and action-packed as later stories would be. More a promise of future greatness than greatness itself, if you will. So while I think it's a story every GL fan should read, in terms of creating new GL fans? Perhaps from now on I'll be recommending Sinestro Corps War.

 

[Keyser Soze]

With Rebirth complete, my Green Lantern marathon now continues with the No Fear TPB. I'll go through each story contained in the trade paperback individually, but I thought I'd just briefly comment on the TPB as a whole first.

When Sinestro Corps War made me a fan of Green Lantern, and I started picking up the title monthly with Secret Origins, I decided to buy my first Green Lantern TPB, with the intention of it being Rebirth. As mentioned earlier, I had difficulty getting Rebirth for a while, so it turns out on that first day that I went home with No Fear instead. I greatly enjoyed it on the first reading. And revisiting it now, though I've really only just started it, I already think this is actually a better jumping-on point for new readers than Rebirth.

FLIGHT

The first story in the TPB. Now, I'm not exactly sure where this was first published, I THINK it was in a Green Lantern Secret Files comic published shortly before the start of Volume 4, am I correct? Wherever it came from, as a (re)introduction to Hal Jordan, it works beautifully.

Geoff Johns is often hailed as a great writer of events and mythologies, but I feel he is sometimes underrated as a writer of character. But that talent shines here, as Hal - perceived by some as 2-dimensional and wooden - is humanised and explored through his relationships with three characters over the years: his father, Carol Ferris and Kyle Rayner.

First things first, kudos to Johns for not once again throwing in a flashback of Martin Jordan's death here. The amount of times that has been revisited in this volume, it's fast become played out. Instead, Johns actually takes that event we've grown so numb to with all the repeat viewings, and makes it devastating again... not by revisiting it once more, but by showing us more of the happy, loving relationship Hal and his father shared before they were forever torn apart. The scene where father and son fly together is brimming full of heart, and really captures the essence of why Hal Jordan loves to fly so much.

But my favourite of the three scenes might be the one between Hal and Carol Ferris. This is a theme I will surely return to later in my marathon read, but something that is often overlooked amidst the flashier stuff is the great work Johns has done in the characterisation of Carol Ferris. No matter how many women Hal gets paired up with, Carol is Hal's one true love, and Johns knows it. Here, he highlights that despite the external antagonism, deep down they truly are kindred spirits. I loved Hal's line about how, in spite of all the terrible mistakes he's made, he still thinks leaving Carol was the biggest. And while I'm not usually the most ardent fan of The Romantic Subplot in superhero stories, this is one I'm actually invested in: I want to see Hal and Carol reunite, eventually.

The final, present-day scene between Hal and Kyle is the one which is most open to criticism, I'm afraid. The Hal VS Kyle enthusiasts will find plenty to pick up on here, from the "The suit doesn't fit right on him" line (ostensibly about Kyle's flight suit as he belts up on the plane) to the father/son parallels that some Kyle fans might view as condescending. And Kyle screaming YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAHAHAHA! with childish glee as Hal does loop-de-loops in the plane with him does veer dangerously close to cheese. But not so much that it detracts from what came before, thankfully.

The artwork of Darwyn Cooke is of course very specialised, and wouldn't be a good fit for much - if any - of Green Lantern Volume 4. But here it works wonderfully, giving everything a warm, nostalgic glow that is totally appropriate for the story being told.

Overall, this is a great little story, and I'm glad they put it up front in this collected edition of the start of Green Lantern Volume 4. It is effective in setting the tone for what is to come, and in my opinion does more to establish Hal Jordan as a relevant and rounded character in today's DCU than the whole of Rebirth.

Coming up next: my thoughts on the three-part No Fear volume-opener, with a particular focus on Green Lantern #1.

 

[Keyser Soze]

As I said at the end of my last instalment, my focus today will be on the 3-part No Fear storyline that launched Green Lantern Volume 4.

NO FEAR

If Rebirth was a closing of the books and a tidying of continuity, then the first issue of the new Green Lantern series is the true "new beginning" for the Green Lantern mythos. The whole issue feels like a big sigh of relief from Geoff Johns in the wake of Rebirth: he's untangled all that continuity, laboured through all that exposition, and gotten Hal Jordan to where he wants him. And now he can just focus on starting fresh, rebuilding this world and telling a damn good story.

I like how the issue starts with a four-page flashback to how Hal Jordan became Green Lantern, with a brief summary of what the ring is and who the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians are, all drawn by the ever-excellent Ethan Van Sciver. If I was a comic fan back in 2005, and I'd never read a Green Lantern comic before, but decided to start with this new #1, I'd find this opening very helpful indeed.

From this point on, Carlos Pacheco takes over the artwork for the issue, and indeed for the arc as a whole. It's easy to dismiss Pacheco, as his work pales in comparison to that of the dynamic duo of Ethan Van Sciver and Ivan Reis. However, while Pacheco would be surpassed later in this run of Green Lantern, his pencils and inking here is still commendable. In particular, I like his rendition of Green Lantern. It's a stylised take, almost cartoonish, while still maintaining a level of detail and expression.

As for the story, one of the key function of this arc is in establishing Hal's Earth-based supporting cast. We're introduced to Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman, who is quickly established as being like a female Hal: ace pilot, big ego, high sex-drive. On one hand, I think she makes a nice foil for Hal, but on the other hand, she is still clearly no Carol Ferris. I still see Cowgirl as being a "girlfriend in the fridge" in waiting, to be honest.

Then there's General Stone. He provides a nice twist on your stereotypical "boss" character in superhero comics, as he almost instantly works out Hal Jordan is Green Lantern. It's a pity, as it seems like hidden depths to Stone are hinted at slightly, but wouldn't really be explored later in the run, as now he's hardly ever seen. But the history between Hal and Stone helps Johns build in some interesting character beats for Hal. Unlike some have suggested, Hal isn't some cardboard-cutout goody two-shoes saint in this run. He is quite clearly portrayed as being in the wrong when he punched out Stone and got himself discharged, showing an arrogant inability to admit wrongdoing or to look weak. Johns is not afraid to make Hal a flawed character. In the midst of a big event like the Sinestro Corps War, where intimate characterisation took a backseat to the epic storytelling canvas (and quite rightly so!), it's easy to forget that at this early stage of Volume 4, Johns did work hard to bring nuance and depth to his interpretation of Hal Jordan.

Some of my favourite moments in this opening storyline are the meetings between Hal and Jim Jordan. In a genre where the key family dynamic tends to be the parent/child relationship (which of course also factors into Green Lantern), the sibling relationship is one that is explored less often in a superhero's supporting cast. Hal Jordan is one of comparitively few top-tier superheroes who had brothers, which is one area where I think Greg Berlanti (whose shows are often preoccupied with the dynamics of sibling relationships) will excel in the (hopefully) upcoming Green Lantern film. And here, Johns handles the Hal/Jim relationship convincingly.

Their discussions often revolve around Coast City, which is almost a character itself here. There is a real sense of sadness in this strangely empty city, which Pacheco encapsulates nicely, particularly in an effective night-time shot where there are hardly any lights on in the various buildings. In a way, Coast City becomes a kind of metaphor for Hal Jordan himself. It's back, but it's still incomplete, it still has to fight to get things back to the way they were. For Coast City, this will require the repopulation of the city, while for Hal, resolving the "emptiness" will require the return of the Corps and (as upcoming issues insinuate) the return of his old rogues.

Hal's thoughts on Coast City also provides us with a great Hal character moment, one which also strikes a pertinent topical note. "Is this the kind of world I've returned to?", he asks himself, "One dominated by fear?" And when he spots Jim Jordan and his family making their return to Coast City, Hal includes that willpower can still win over fear in the end. Nice foreshadowing of the Sinestro Corps War, here.

But this is something I noticed about the No Fear story when rereading it. It is utterly dominated by build-up, to the point where its validity as a standalone story is almost questionable. Most prominently, the two Manhunters feel like a strangely ineffective threat. Much is done with the slow-boil and the narration to put them over as a highly dangerous force, but they just don't feel like truly compelling foes. Even when they endanger Coast City, it feels like it's far too early in the game for such a threat to mean anything. Don't get me wrong, there are some good moments with them: the creepy moment when the new Manhunter's face peels back to reveal a ring-draining power battery underneath, or the surprisingly poignant moment when the obscelete Manhunter feels the first flickerings of emotion (a very human emotion - fear of what lies beyond death) seconds before its destruction, or "death", if you can call it that. But ultimately, with the cryptic references to their Grandmaster, and the closing reveal of the Lost Lanterns, the presence of the Manhunters in this story feels like a mere prelude to something else. Which it is. The Manhunter strand of this story is basically a trailer for Revenge of the Green Lanterns.

But more intriguingly, right from the very first issue, there seems to be foreshadowing of a much bigger Green Lantern story, one which three years down the line is still a year away: The Blackest Night. For example, in this first issue, the Manhunter under the possession of the US army is never seen, it remains hidden under tarpaulin. And so, what presence in this issue brings with it the promise of danger and death? Black. A solid black shadow seen through an opening of the tarpaulin. A deep black that, thanks to close-ups, repeatedly fills entire panels. Indeed, in the aformentioned opening flashback, on the subject of his iminent death Abin Sur states, "The brightest day becomes the blackest night." And then there's the moment where Cowgirl remarks that the green in Hal's uniform is burning hot, but the black is ice cold, something which has yet to be explained or addressed. Cold bodies brings up connotation of death and corpses, and once again this is tied into the color black. Is all this coincidence? Perhaps. But it is certainly possible that this is a sign of Johns' loooooooong-term planning in action.

So, to conclude, the main driving story of this No Fear three-parter isn't the most rewarding opening to Volume 4. However, the somewhat lacking plot is more than compensated for with plenty of enjoyable, informative subplot, and welcome character development. So, overall, Green Lantern Volume 4 got off to a strong start. And if my memory serves me correctly, things got a lot better in the following three issues. To find out if I stand by this assertion upon returning to issues 4-6, be sure to check out upcoming instalments of my marathon readthrough review. Comments welcome!

 

[IDrawDeadPeople]

Hey, sincerely... thanks for doing this, Soze.

I have a wealth of Silver Age Green Lantern issues, and have them in the Archives collections, too, but I've been collecting as many 'modern' Hal issues as possible in Hardcover as of late. I sometimes have minor mental hiccups in connecting the dots... such as reading a lot of Tomar Re stories (he was practically the co-star back in the early issues of Hal's existence) and then running into Tomar Tu in the modern era and confusing the two... especially when all of the flashbacks (in say, Secret Origins) all feature Re.

I was getting alot out of your original version of this in the DC board, and it's made the transition from easy connecting such as No Fear into the more 'necessary' to have read in order to grasp where Blackest Night is coming from.

Much appreciated.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Thanks, glad you're finding it useful.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The next three reviews I do will be of individual issues. While you could certainly argue that Green Lantern issues 4-6 essentially cover one story, I think there's enough to seperate them - in terms of art content and shift of story focus - to justify reviewing each seperately. The recurring theme at work here is that each of these three issues serves to re-introduce Hal (and us readers!) to one of his old Silver Age enemies, only given a darker, more dangerous edge. And while there is certainly some overlap, issues 4, 5 and 6 can certainly be viewed as a showcase for Hector Hammond, The Shark and Black Hand respectively.

ALIENATED

In terms of all-out action, this creepy little tale offers comparitively little. Nevertheless, Green Lantern #4 probably stands as my favourite issue of the entire No Fear TPB. And the main reason for that is the role played by Hector Hammond.

Much fuss has been made of the wonders Geoff Johns has done with villains such as Captain Cold, Black Adam and - of course - Sinestro. But I think his work on Hector Hammond deserves to be ranked right up there alongside those other, more acclaimed villain-revitalisations. In the past, Hector Hammond was considered to be - let's be honest here - pretty lame. With his giant egg-like head making him look like a rather cartoonish figure, he was the kind of odd creation that likely got an appearance in Wizard's "Mort of the Month" feature.

Enter Geoff Johns. While the Hammond of old was a standard moustache-twirling evil-doer, Johns tweaked Hammond's motivations to make him more specifically linked to Hal. Hammond covets, he lusts for Hal Jordan and the life he leads. While Hal Jordan lives a life full of excitement, adventure and beautiful women, Hammond is trapped, not just in his cell but in his own body, unable to move. His forlorn, desperate statement in his closing appearance in this issue sums up the crux of the character perfectly:

I want to see more... I want to... I just want to be a part of it. Oh Hal... I want to be you.

Hammond is given a crawling, pathetic quality that almost makes him sympathetic. Almost, if not for the constant reminders of how dangerous he is. From his cruel torments of the Belle Reve staff ("he wouldn't stop projecting images of my wife gut like a fish") to how quickly and effectively he is able to floor Hal once his defenses are weakened.

The set-up of the confrontation between Hal Jordan and Hector Hammond is a clever twist on the "quid pro quo" of The Silence of the Lambs, with Hector exchanging information on the super-evolved man discovered outside Edwards Air Force Base in exchange for access to memories of one of Hal's romantic encounters. The way Hammond becomes a kind of psychic voyeur here is unsettling, and in some ways the scene feels like a kind of "mental rape".

Of course, the success of Hector Hammond here is not just down to Johns. Ethan Van Sciver plays a crucial role in reinvigorating Hammond as a dark, creepy character. He debuted his nightmarish take on the character in Rebirth, but here he's refined the look, making Hammond even more disgusting! The one detail that really stands out for me is the lazy eye. The way that bulbous eye lolls over to the side, as if threatening to fall out, is wonderfully horrid. And the horror of the character is nicely complimented and enhanced by his imposing interpretation of Belle Reve's subbasement, populated by rats that scurry around Hammond's feet.

I had only heard about Hector Hammond - this GL villain with a huge head - before reading the No Fear TPB. But coming out of it, thanks to the nuanced writing of Johns and the chilling art of Van Sciver, Hector Hammond was quickly established as one of my favourite DC villains.

But I should add that the success of this issue doesn't solely revolve around Hector Hammond. The early part of the issue is boosted by a welcome Kilowog appearance. The playful sparring - not to mention the aliens unfamiliar with Hal Jordan mocking the "primitive" human - make the scene on Oa a fun read. Kudos also to the cliffhanger ending of the issue, where we are re-introduced to The Shark in a simple-yet-effective scene that establishes him as a terrifying foe. More on The Shark next time.

I loved this issue the first time I read it, and I enjoyed it just as much revisiting it here. In fact, between reading up for this review and preparing for some RPG posts elsewhere, I've found myself repeatedly reading parts of this issue in close detail, and even under the in-depth scrutiny, it still holds up. If I had to pinpoint a single issue of Green Lantern that changed me from a GL newcomer content with just catching up on the key GL events to a completist wanting to collect Geoff Johns' entire Volume 4 run, it would probably be this one.

 

[Keyser Soze]

FEEDING FRENZY

I have commented on the excellent work done by both Johns and Van Sciver in their nightmarish re-introduction to The Shark at the end of the last issue. Well, here the character takes centre-stage, as Geoff Johns attempts to de-lame The Shark in much the same way he did Hector Hammond in GL#4.

And yes, let's get that out of the way first. The Shark is, from the point of conception, an inherently lame character. A shark stumbles upon nuclear waste, and is evolved to the point where he can talk and walk on two legs? Wasn't there a Saturday morning kids' TV show that had that plot? So making an effective villain out of this concept was always going to be a struggle. But while Johns isn't entirely successful, I'd say he makes The Shark about as credible a threat here as the character's nature allows.

Johns probably does his best work in establishing The Shark as dangerous and menacing before the character even appears in the issue. There is an excellent slow-boil build of dread - graphic descriptions of the mutiliation of his victims (what's left of them), the empty beaches, the mass of sharks (big ones like hammerheads and Great Whites) crowded around in the water to pick up scraps from "a bigger predator" - all building up to the big reveal.

And Ethan Van Sciver delivers big-time for said reveal with a beautiful full-page image of The Shark attacking Green Lantern, who forms a protective cage around himself just in time. Another goofy element of The Shark in the days of old was his look. Too humanoid, not quite sharkish enough. Van Sciver remedies this with his reinvention for Volume 4, making The Shark look animalistic, terrifying and, of course, freakin' huge. Hal Jordan is just dwarved by this enormous beast, which makes for some interesting visuals. But funnily enough, my favourite image of The Shark of the whole issue isn't one of the big action showcases (which there are a few of). Rather, it is a little panel that comes on the same page as the Shark origin recap. There is no dialogue, no captions. Just a close-up of The Shark's soulless black eyes. Yes, BLACK eyes - the color of death, ba-zing! This panel always reminds me of Quint's famous USS Indianapolis speech from Jaws: "Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes."

However, though Van Sciver does have some great work in this issue, sadly some of my biggest criticisms of the issue is the art. It is highly unusual to be accusing Ethan Van Sciver of all people of art shortcomings, as he is one of the best artists out there, but this issue at points felt quite sloppy and rushed in the art department, as if there was a hurry to make deadline. But this is a minor niggle, as even subpar Van Sciver is better than a lot of people, and there is plenty of good to counterbalance the bad.

The issue is dominated by a lengthy battle between Green Lantern and The Shark, but I actually found this confrontation to be less thrilling than the psychological battle with Hector Hammond in the previous issue. Which is perhaps what remains one of The Shark's key shortcomings in my opinion: as a challenge for Hal, he is purely physical.

Maybe this is why what I enjoyed most about this issue was probably the scenes featuring Black Hand. The issue opens with us being introduced to Black Hand post-Rebirth, minus a hand. In an unnerving scene which calls up memories of the classic Twilight Zone episode, he is abducted by hideous gremlins (more strong, frightening work from Van Sciver) who are prowling on the plane's wing. The remainder of the issue sees the completion of Black Hand's gradual transition from goofy, gimmicky mischief-maker to a dark, disturbing force to be reckoned with. More on this topic in my review of next issue. But for now, I'll praise Johns and Van Sciver for once again ending their issue with a cliffhanger that touches on a simple, primal fear. In this case, death stalking the halls of a hospital. It is a frightening showcase of Black Hand's new powers, and that last page spread is the kind of gruesome tableau that Van Sciver always pulls off wonderfully.

Green Lantern #5 is positioned between two particularly strong issues, and so suffers in comparison. However, on its own merits, it is a perfectly enjoyable read, and probably about as good a Shark story as you're going to find.

 

[IDrawDeadPeople]

I agree with you about the city playing the role of supporting actor, too. It's been kind of refreshing to see Johns attempt to give the necessary focus on Hal's 'Metropolis' or 'Gotham'. For years, it was kind of a forgettable, generic backdrop... even while it was being destroyed. Heck, even Sinestro attacked some other city to get at Hal in GL 7. Glad the focus is on making the city a living, breathing entity. In spite of it actually being, well... dead and empty, at the moment.

That aspect has been great.

Also, the 'fleshing' out of Hal's origin to become the launch pad for Blackest Night has been handled great, imo. Insofar as I really appreciated someone finally acknowleding that Abin Sur was basically sitting on his ring while zipping around random sectors in a ship.

Unless that was somehow covered in between 1961-1965 and the last 5 or so GL collections to come out. I have a rather large gap in my knowledge of the series.

 

[Keyser Soze]

BLACK SHEEP

In terms of story, Green Lantern #6 follows on even closer from #5 than #5 did from #4. Here, things pick up right from where the last issue left off, meaning that arguably both issues could have been reviewed as one story. However, I think there is enough new material for this issue to merit its own review. The most immediately identifiable marker of its worth as a standalone issue is a distinct change in visual style, brought on by the arrival of artist Simone Bianchi to the title. And since Bianchi would depart to sign exclusively to Marvel shortly afterwards, this is the only issue of Green Lantern to feature this style of art.

So let’s begin by discussing Bianchi’s art. While I ultimately prefer the more dynamic pencils of artists like Ethan Van Sciver or Ivan Reis, Bianchi has a distinctively cold, somewhat pensive style which compliments the grim tone of this issue very well. In particular, he has a very good sense of texture. More than with any other artist, you get the clear impression here that the Green Lantern uniform is not made out of fabric, but rather solidified energy generated by the ring. Though of course, when praising how texture is implemented, just as much praise must go to Nathan Eyring, the colorist for the issue.

As for the story content, the No Fear TPB really gets to end with a bang here. We get action, we get drama, and Black Hand, Hector Hammond and The Shark all get involved in the action. It’s a credit to the work Geoff Johns did with the villains in the preceding issues that this feels like a big deal. This issue really serves as a showcase for Green Lantern’s Earth-based rogues gallery, reminding us that Green Lantern does indeed have worthy, memorable foes outside of Sinestro.

Following this line of thought, I must praise the decision to establish Hangar 44 on Edwards’ Air Base as a prison for these villains. Where a hero’s enemies are imprisoned once they are caught says a lot about the villains, and in turn about the heroes themselves. The most famous example is Arkham Asylum, a nightmarish hellhole which fits the twisted, psychotic nature of Batman’s villains. Then you have the oppressive Iron Heights, a high-tech twist on the old-fashioned jailhouse seen in many a prison break film, complete with despicable warden, underlining the blue-collar, almost sympathetic characterisation of the Flash Rogues. And with Hangar 44 becoming “a containment unit for extra-terrestrial threats”, it helps to unify the nature of these Green Lantern villains, making them less of a random hodge-podge of quaint and goofy gimmicks, and allowing them to say more about Green Lantern himself, and what role he plays as a superhero. One of the core ideas in the Green Lantern mythos is the union between the human (our hero) and the alien (his ring, or indeed his interactions with the universe-spanning Corps). And so when you place Earth-born villains like Hector Hammond and Black Hand in an “extra-terrestrial” prison like Hangar 44, it reflects how Hal’s rogues are, in a way, twisted versions of him, their symbiosis between alien and human gone horribly wrong.

Arguably the most noteworthy element of this issue’s narrative is the role played by Black Hand. Once again, we have a villain who was long dismissed as a lame, cheesy third-stringer. Perhaps moreso even than any other GL villain, a point has been made over the years to show Black Hand as an ineffective failure in his chosen field of work. He once quit active villainy, not through a moral awakening like you’d expect, but simply because he sucked so bad at crime, choosing to run an adult theatre instead. But that didn’t stop him from getting constantly punked out and terrorised by heroes such as Guy Gardner and Kilowog, in what became something of a running joke. Enter Geoff Johns, who by this point had repeatedly established his ability to make even the tackiest of villains seem cool and relevant. Here, Black Hand proves to be no exception, transformed into a very powerful – and very scary - villain. Gone are the hokey old turns of phrase, and in their place is a mad, morbid obsession with death.

If I have any problem with the presentation of Black Hand here, it is probably that his new powers aren’t quite clearly defined. Undoubtedly, they are formidable, and he has been transformed into a highly powerful villain. He has the ability to suck the life-force out of anyone near him, in order to provide himself with more power. But is this an ability he can control, or does he just spread death around wherever he goes, like some living plague? And when we see Black Hand siphoning off the energy from Hal’s ring and using it against him – like he used to do with his little device, but can now do unaided – is this an extension of this life-force draining power, or a separate power? When you also consider we see him flying, projecting energy blasts (both his own and Green Lantern’s redirected) and achieving acts of great strength and endurance, you realise there’s no defined limit on his powers here. It is a minor niggle, but when a character is dramatically altered, a little clearer explanation on just how he has been altered could be helpful.

One area where I have no complaints is in Black Hand’s characterisation. His fixation with death, his zealous, unwavering belief in its power over life, is inherently chilling, and all the more jarring coming from a character previously thought of as campy and pathetic. Johns plays around with this dichotomy, with Black Hand torn between this image of himself he’s trying to create as some omnipotent disciple of death who has transcended lowly human morals (“That doesn’t make me a bad man. Death is good.&#8221 and the reality that he’s still the same scared, stuttering loser who is bitter over the suffering inflicted on him by Hal Jordan (“You took my h-h-hand!&#8221.

Of course, I can’t go any further in discussing Black Hand without bringing up something that makes this issue significant. The road to The Blackest Night truly begins here. Though there are some vague allusions and possible hints to be spotted by eagle eyes earlier in Volume 4, it is here that Black Hand lays out some of the ideas that seem set to be of central importance in next year’s epic saga. It is here, a good two years before Ganthet’s prophecy revelation in Green Lantern #25, that Black Hand tells us that death is “the pure power of the far end of the emotional spectrum. The emptiness of space. The Blackest Night.” He later states that black is the color of death, and that it is his color – already, his blood is black. Black Hand also brings up something which could make for an interesting plot dynamic in next year’s big story, saying to Hal Jordan, “You may have cheated it… but you still reek of death.” This raises a valid question. Hal Jordan may be alive now, but he has been dead. What kind of pull will the black have over him?

This brings us to a point that Black Hand continually obsesses over throughout his battle with Green Lantern in this issue, something he greatly resents: Hal Jordan cheated death. “You had your chance at l-l-life, Green Lantern,” cries Black Hand, “No one else gets second chances!” Much has been made of the idea that Superboy-Prime is Geoff Johns’ commentary on angry fanboys who complain about comics getting too dark in the modern age. But on reading this issue, with Black Hand repeatedly talking about how unfair it is that Hal Jordan is alive again, I think that Black Hand could have been a kind of prototype for Superboy-Prime. I may be reaching here, but I’d like to propose that Black Hand is the angry Kyle fan, lashing out against Jordan getting his life (i.e., his Green Lantern monthly comic) back, no questions asked, despite being “undeserving”. And so Hal’s fight with Black Hand almost becomes a fight for Hal to justify himself to Kyle’s fans, both as a character and as a successor to Kyle Rayner.

And yes, while Black Hand is likely the main talking point about this issue, this is also a great issue for Hal Jordan as a character. Peppered throughout the issue are flashbacks from various points of Hal’s history, demonstrating how throughout his years he has felt the power of death over life. We see how his life has been largely defined by a series of deaths, from his father, to his mother, to Abin Sur, to his brother. And finally, Black Hand drags him to Coast City’s huge graveyard, pointing out that millions of people were wiped out in the blink of an eye, but none of them got to come back. Of course, Green Lantern triumphs over adversity, boldly declaring that death is nothing without life. But then we get a wonderfully subtle moment of characterisation, which Bianchi skilfully brings to life. After the battle is over, General Stone tells Hal about a summer he spent with Hal’s parents, saying “They were good times.” Hal gives the seemingly straightforward response of “I’m sure they were, General.” But the expression Bianchi gives him is one filled with regret and remorse. This prompts us to look at these flashbacks again, and we see not only the prominence of death in Hal’s life, but how his own stubborn, obtuse nature means he has let much of life pass him by. He was alienated from his mother when she died. He was alienated from his brother when he died. His own willpower worked against him, as it forced him to miss out on “the good times” of his own past.

I am aware that this has become a very lengthy review, so the last topic I’ll cover is the role played by Hector Hammond. In this issue, Johns builds on Hammond’s obsession with Hal. While in #4, the idea that this obsession could be a kind of sexual lust was merely hinted at, masked behind Hammond idolising Hal as a wish-fulfilment version of who he himself would like to be, here Johns really goes to town with the idea. Hammond presents himself as a damsel in distress for Hal to save, and is even given clichéd love interest dialogue – “My hero”, “Green Lantern saved me” – to enhance the impression. This added another truly creepy, disturbing dimension to the character, though with Secret Origin Johns seems to have balked on the idea and regressed to Hammond’s obsession with Hal being based on envy and greed. And just for the record, calling Hammond’s man-crush on Hal creepy and disturbing isn’t intended as homophobic. The thought of a creature as vile as Hammond lusting after someone of either gender is a suitably skin-crawling thought.

Hammond also gets to play with some foreshadowing. One line that stood out to me on this repeat reading – because it seems so out-of-place and apparently random – is Hammond saying to Hal, “Do you remember the renegade Guardian, and Carol Ferris?” Of course, this could just be a reference to Krona, and to a character he frequently encountered in the past. But when you consider that a renegade Guardian seems set to play a big role in The Blackest Night, perhaps this line could have been more foreshadowing? And perhaps Carol Ferris will have a significant role to play here too?

One piece of foreshadowing that is a lot more concrete comes at the very end of the issue. We close with Hector Hammond, locked in his containment pod in Hangar 44. After revealing that the Gremlins altered the workings of his brain during their experiments, the last panel ends the issue with the revelation that Hammond has regained the ability to speak, and possibly even to move. Secret Origin flashback aside, Hector Hammond hasn’t been seen in the pages of Green Lantern since, so just how different things now are for Hammond remains to be seen. I will say that Hammond’s return is one of the Green Lantern events I most eagerly anticipate. Once again, it’s a credit to Johns’ ability that he has taken a character like Hector Hammond, long considered a joke, and revitalised him to the point that fans such as myself can’t wait to see him again. You could make the same argument for Black Hand.

In closing (at last!), on returning to the No Fear TPB for the purposes of writing up this series of review, the issue I most eagerly anticipated getting to was #4. That was the issue that stood out in my memory as my favourite. But on preparing this review for #6, and finding the issue so rich in characterisation, subtext and foreshadowing, I might have to conclude that Black Sheep is even better than Alienated, standing as one of the best issues of Johns’ run on Green Lantern, at least before Sinestro Corps War came along.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I agree with you about the city playing the role of supporting actor, too. It's been kind of refreshing to see Johns attempt to give the necessary focus on Hal's 'Metropolis' or 'Gotham'. For years, it was kind of a forgettable, generic backdrop... even while it was being destroyed. Heck, even Sinestro attacked some other city to get at Hal in GL 7. Glad the focus is on making the city a living, breathing entity. In spite of it actually being, well... dead and empty, at the moment.

That aspect has been great.

Also, the 'fleshing' out of Hal's origin to become the launch pad for Blackest Night has been handled great, imo. Insofar as I really appreciated someone finally acknowleding that Abin Sur was basically sitting on his ring while zipping around random sectors in a ship.

Unless that was somehow covered in between 1961-1965 and the last 5 or so GL collections to come out. I have a rather large gap in my knowledge of the series.

Though some rolled their eyes and called Coast City uniting in support of Green Lantern during Sinestro Corps War a cheesy moment, I personally found it to be very powerful, and played a crucial role in defining what Hal's home stands for now. But I'll get to that in more detail later.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The first six issues of Green Lantern Volume 4 (appropriately collected together in the No Fear TPB) were acutely focused on the rebuilding of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. Those six issues were stripped right down to core formula, reintroducing (and revamping) some of Hal’s classic villains, building up a new supporting cast, and keeping events largely restricted to Earth, particularly in and around Coast City itself. And this was done very effectively, establishing the new status quo for the Green Lantern title.

But from this point onwards, the honeymoon period for Green Lantern Volume Four was over. Starting with the stories collected in the Revenge of the Green Lanterns TPB, Geoff Johns began to be more adventurous, playing around more with the formula set up in the preceding issues. While guest appearances had been kept to a bare minimum (welcome #4 appearance by Kilowog aside) while Hal Jordan’s status as a Green Lantern was reaffirmed, we now began to see numerous appearances by not only other members of the Green Lantern Corps, but other superheroes too. While events were mostly confined to Coast City before, now we not only got to see more of Oa, but more action from other space sectors. And while the Green Lantern title had been pretty much self-contained (apart from the odd Rann-Thanagar reference) as readers got accustomed to the new status quo, we now saw Green Lantern becoming more actively engaged with the wider DC Universe, with the focus of this review tying into events in Infinite Crisis, as well as referencing recent happenings in the Justice League of America title.

Perhaps most significantly, while the first six issues seemed to, for the most part, just set Hal Jordan’s troubled, tormented recent history aside – justifiably provoking the “Parallax fear entity as get-out-of-jail-free card” complaints we have been accustomed to hear about Hal’s resurrection – one of the overarching themes of these next few arcs would be addressing Hal’s failings, confronting the demons of his past, and showing that he hasn’t escaped from the Parallax years scot-free. As a result, we were granted plenty of something detractors of the title refuse to acknowledge the existence of: character development for Hal Jordan. These are ideas I’ll revisit in more depth later, but for now, let’s get to the review!

A PERFECT LIFE

Mongul is a funny character, isn’t he? DC’s answer to Thanos, who was in turn Marvel’s answer to Darkseid, the ultimate effect created is somewhat akin to a game of Chinese Whispers, where at the end you stand Mongul Jr. in Green Lantern Corps next to Darkseid in Final Crisis, and have a good laugh at how watered down and unrecognisable the former is from the latter. But one thing Mongul had going for him was being the villain in the seminal Alan Moore Superman tale, For the Man Who Has Everything. That introduced us to the deadly parasite plant known as the Black Mercy, a helpful plot device that Mongul, and later Mongul’s son, continued to get great mileage from.

This two-part story, A Perfect Life, is one such reiteration of the Black Mercy tale. As always, our heroes being trapped in the thrall of a Black Mercy is a great excuse to delve into their psyches, seeing what their innermost desires tell us about their characters. But what does this entail for Hal Jordan? If you listen to the naysayers, all Hal’s problems have been magically retconned away, and now he’s Mr. Perfect, totally happy and with everything going for him. And this is where the “perfect life” of the title comes from. It’s what Hal tells himself, that he’s fought his way back from the dead, and now he has everything he wants from life. But once he’s plunged into the wish-fulfilment fantasy world generated by the Black Mercy, it becomes clear he still has plenty missing from his life. He longs for his family, lost to him one by one over the years. It’s quite poignant, seeing Hal enjoying a night out with his two brothers, his mother, and his father, knowing all but one are actually dead.

More intriguingly, we also see that deep down, Hal wishes Sinestro was still his mentor and friend. This is an interesting avenue in the Hal/Sinestro relationship that Johns has explored throughout his run thus far. While in earlier portrayals, it was easier to take the black-and-white route of, “Oh, that rotter Sinestro, he was evil all along! Sure glad we got rid of him!”, Johns has taken things into more morally murky territory, having Hal – and us – see that there was (perhaps still is) good in Sinestro’s heart, and that just maybe, he was wrong to betray Sinestro to the Guardians for what he was doing on Korugar. Green Arrow gets some interesting development out of the Black Mercy too: his fantasy world falls apart because a happy, contented life surrounded by people who love him just feels wrong to Oliver Queen. A simple but fascinating insight into what kind of man Green Arrow is.

Of course, the recurring problem with these Black Mercy stories is that the internal battle tends to be a lot more compelling than the external one. Oddly enough, throughout the two issues, the narrative is at its least interesting while Green Lantern and Green Arrow are fighting Mongul, and later his sister too. Don’t get me wrong, Mongul has some cool moments here, such as taking out Green Lantern by picking up a house and throwing it at him, or best of all, calmly decapitating his sister with a backhand pimp-fist. But generally speaking, Mongul just doesn’t seem to bring much presence to the table here. He declares his plan to conquer Earth, though we get little sense of how he’s going to go about doing it, and once the good guys have escaped from the Black Mercy, their defeat of him feels rather rushed and anti-climactic. In my opinion, Mongul would not truly come into his own as a Green Lantern villain until his recent re-emergence in Green Lantern Corps, where much fun has been had watching him suffer through a parade of violent indignities like some kind of cosmic Herr Starr.

It should be noted that the interesting character development is not limited to the Black Mercy dream sequences. The next three storylines seem to handle the theme of loss, each one exploring something that Green Lantern lost in the wilderness years, confronting that issue before offering some closure on it. In the case of A Perfect Life, the focus is loss of loved ones. I’ve explained how the Black Mercy scenes demonstrate this in relation to particular individuals, but even before these, much of Green Lantern #7 is concerned with the larger loss of Coast City, and the effect it had on Hal Jordan. The arrival of Mongul on Earth stirs up old memories of what Mongul Sr. did to Coast City, causing Green Lantern to identify Mongul as a symbol of his failure on that day. Green Arrow points out how Hal has the responsibility for that day – and by implication everything that happened in the wake of it – heaped on his shoulders, even suggesting that Green Lantern moving back to the largely empty Coast City is another way to punish himself with a constant reminder of how he let the city down.

Perhaps while I’m on the subject, now is a good time to mention one of the great strengths of these two issues. Green Lantern and Green Arrow still have such a great chemistry ever. It’s a friendship that feels natural and effortless, from the way their dialogue bounces back and forth (the discussion over Hal instructing his ring to ignore Guy Gardner providing the biggest laugh) to how fluidly they work together in combat. Without overstating the relationship or hitting us over the head with it, Johns demonstrates the close friendship between Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen through an unspoken synchronicity.

But back to Hal’s guilt over Coast City, we see how it drives him to brush off Jim Jordan, who the Black Mercy sequence reminds us is the last surviving remnant of Hal’s direct family. It is only at the end of the story he realises the error of his ways, thanks to something Mongul says during their battle: “Life is about who lives, not who dies.” As Ollie points out to him, Hal is so driven by what he’s lost, that he’s at risk of losing what he still has, or what he could have. This leads to an admittedly corny ending to the story, where Hal attends the birthday party of his nephew Howard, and the two of them and Jim all play football together in the garden. Really, perhaps its because I was never the sporty type, but what kid would be so excited about getting a football for their birthday?

Nevertheless, I find the relationship between Hal and Jim Jordan to be an interesting one. While there are plenty of evil supervillain brothers or sibling super-teams in comics, it’s actually comparatively rare amongst superheroes to simply have a “normal” brother (or sister, for that matter) in the supporting cast. Hal was one of the first to have it back in the day with his two brothers, and while John is now deceased, I think the dynamic between Hal and Jim feels pretty credible. Their relationship is clearly a strained, even distant one. But there is still clearly love there. And while you’d expect the aspiration to be on Jim’s end of things, wishing he was a superhero like his brother, what is actually hinted at here is that it’s Hal who looks up to Jim. While Jim is a family man, with a wife and three children, Hal – though welcomed and embraced by them – still remains a somewhat awkward outsider looking in, unable to commit to a lasting attachment himself.

In terms of art, I’d say these issues didn’t overly impress me. Now, I have nothing against Carlos Pacheco, I think he’s a good artist. But after three issues of Ethan Van Sciver and Simone Bianchi, Pacheco’s simpler, more cartoonish style feels like a step back. His Mongul in particular is pretty flat. However, I wouldn’t say the art is bad enough to detract from the issue or anything, it’s perfectly decent in its own right. And he does draw a good Hal Jordan. But it would be a couple of issues before Green Lantern got that spark that would help the title truly find its visual niche.

As mentioned earlier, the Mongul/Black Mercy story has become one of these ready-to-recycle plot conceits, with only the hero changing while the structure remains largely the same. As a result, A Perfect Life hardly breaks the barriers of innovation. However, Johns does draw plenty of charm and intrigue out of a well-worn tale, and so any familiarity the reader might feel never leads to boredom. Like with the last Pacheco-drawn arc, No Fear, I’d say that more than the main plot, it’s the character development that’s the real highlight here.

 

[Assassin]

I just recenty printed out a few 40% off coupons from boarders and rebought rebith and a the first 3 tpb. I had bought them before but didnt really rea dthe issues, i hate dhal jordan at the time but i'm a sucker for new runs. I have hem all bagged and borded and i read a few arcs, but never the whole thing through.

 

[protocida]

Really nice, Keyser!

 

[steelio2006]

this is very awesome. keep up the good work.