Green Lantern is a guaranteed good read each and every month. Johns and Reis are doing an excellent job making this title one of DC’s stronger comic books. Johns has cranked up the action on this story arc with the past issue. It appears that we are in store for plenty of wild action in Green Lantern #16. I’m sure that Green Lantern #16 is going to be another entertaining read. Let’s do this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Alan Scott along with the Justice League of America appearing on the scene to back up Hal Jordan in his brawl with the Red Rocket Brigade. Wonder Woman flashes her newfound sense of humor by telling Hal that they all took a vote before deciding to come and rescue her. Ever since Bruce set Wonder Woman up with her secret identity, her sense of humor has grown. We see Batman and Black Lightning engage in some creative teamwork to create a super electromagnet to take down the majority of the Rocket Red Brigade.
Black Canary asks Hal for an explanation about what he is going on with this situation. Hal says he can’t explain now and has to run. That doesn’t sit well with the patriarchal Alan Scott who stops Hal dead in his tracks and demands an explanation immediately. Hal sends out a bunch of search probes to track down Cowgirl and then explains to Alan what has been going on during the past couple of issues.
Hal asks Alan to please pull whatever strings he has left with Checkmate to clear Hal’s name with the United Nations. Hal then says that the rest is on his shoulders and his partner is going to help him carry the load. Hal then flies off in search of Cowgirl.
We cut to Edward’s Airforce Base under attack by Abin Sur’s son, Amon Sur. Amon Sur busts into Hangar 44 where the Airforce is keeping all the metahumans and aliens that Green Lantern has captured. It is also where the Airforce is keeping Abin Sur’s spaceship.
We shift to Cowgirl on the run from one of the terrorists. Cowgirl falls through a patch of ice into the water below. The terrorist watches Cowgirl drown as he says “Death to America.” Suddenly, Green Lantern busts onto the scene and creates a bunch of American soldiers with his power ring. The power ring soldiers take out the terrorist.
Green Lantern rescues Cowgirl from the water and flies off. Hal thinks about how the American soldiers like himself have to play by the rules. That they have an ethical code to follow. That everything they do is put under a microscope. But, the terrorists can do things to them that are barbaric. And still the cynicism falls on the American soldiers.
Green Lantern makes a hospital bed and doctor with his power ring in order to run vital scans on Cowgirl. Cowgirl looks at Green lantern and says “Hal?” Green Lantern then tells Cowgirl that he is so sorry. The two are about to kiss when a couple of Dominator bounty hunters appear and shoot Hal with a bunch of tranquilizers.
Suddenly, the Dominator bounty hunters are taken out by Hunger Dog, another bounty hunter. Hunger Dog then uses a brain scrambler to confuse Green Lantern’s power ring. Green Lantern falls in defeat. Cowgirl stands up and tells Hunger Dog to get away from Hal. Hunger Dog then pulls out a knife and gets ready to kill Cowgirl.
We cut to Hal Jordan waking up in the desert outside Edward’s Airforce Base. Mon Sur is standing before him with a gun. Amon Sur tells Hal that Cowgirl is dead. Amon Sur then says that Hal stole his father’s ship and his father’s power ring. Then Hal buried Abin Sur’s body somewhere in the desert. Amon Sur tells Hal that he is going to take Amon to his father’s unmarked grave where they will dig up his father’s body and then bury Hal in that same grave. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Johns is continuing to amaze me with his impressive work on this title each and every month. Green Lantern has consistently received an either 9 or a 10 Night Girls rating for the past six issues. That is very impressive. There aren’t too many titles that the Revolution reviews that consistently score so highly each and every month. That is a real tribute to Johns’ writing talent and his ability to craft a highly entertaining and complex story arc that captivates the reader’s attention.
Green Lantern #16 is a fast past issue that grabs the reader at the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the end. This issue has an enjoyable flow to it. The scenes transition well into each other as each scene builds off the previous one leading to the climactic final scene.
As always, Johns serves up plenty of quality dialogue. Johns has such a wonderful feel for Hal Jordan’s character. It is obvious that Johns truly likes and cares about Hal’s character. Johns “gets” Hal’s personality and what makes him tick. Johns’ Hal Jordan is probably my favorite version of Hal. I like that Johns is playing up Hal’s impulsive and cocky nature that any stud Air Force test pilot would possess. This side of Hal makes him a bit more interesting and also is a convenient tool to place Hal in sticky situations.
I really liked how Johns handled the Justice League of America in the opening battle scene. First, it was great to see the JLA back in action and standing up for one of their teammates. The JLA has been such a dysfunctional family for such a long time that it is nice to see them returning to their original glory. This scene also shows that even though the various JLA members may not like having to go into Russia and go against the wishes of the United Nations and the Russian government, they are willing to do anything no questions ask to help out a teammate.
We see that finally Hal Jordan has the full faith and support of his fellow JLA members. That Hal’s previous incarnation as Parallax has finally been put to rest. That Hal Jordan is the man that his fellow JLA’ers trust and respect no matter what the situation may be. And here, the JLA is willing to violate international law because they trust Hal and have faith in that Hal is justified in his actions that have placed him in his current situation.
We are in issue #16 and it is definitely time that Johns finally put to rest any and all lingering reservations about Hal Jordan due to the Parallax storyline. We have addressed it over and over with various JLA members like Batman struggling to come to terms with trusting Hal. We have seen it in the rest of the Green Lantern Corp and their struggle to accept Hal once again. We have seen it with Hal himself and his constant self doubt and beating himself up because of what happened when he was controlled by Parallax. It is time for Hal to move on. It is time for the greatest Green Lantern ever to be the true hero once again.
Of course, I loved seeing Alan Scott in this issue. Johns, being the JSA scribe, is very familiar with Alan’s character and knows just how to write his character. Alan Scott is simply a total stud. There may not be another character in the DCU that commands the respect that Alan Scott gets no matter what heroes are around him. Superman may be the rock that the DCU is built from, but Alan Scott is the Patriarch of the entire DCU. All heroes look up to this original mystery man.
Seeing Alan Scott pull rank on Hal Jordan and treat him like an errant teen-ager was perfect. This is exactly the role that Alan should have in the DCU. And Hal’s responds that he may be able to blow off the holy trinity of the DCU in Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman and not give them an explanation for what is going on, but Alan is one man he simply cannot ignore. I dig that Hal can even feel the heat from Alan’s emerald flame through his force field. This gets across that Alan isn’t some old geezer. That Alan is one serious heavyweight powerhouse who can go toe to toe with just about anyone.
I liked how Johns handled the scene between Hal and Cowgirl. It was a touching scene. Cowgirl finally puts two and two together and realizes that Hal is Green Lantern. This just makes Hal’s guilt over not wearing his power ring when they were all shot down and captured even more intense.
I also was surprised by Hal’s inner monologue about the differences between the American soldiers and the terrorists. I didn’t expect to see such a pro-military stance since usually comic book writers usually lean heavily to the left. It was a cool touch to see how fierce Hal was in his support of the American soldiers as he points out that, unlike the terrorists, the American G.I. tries to do the right thing but is still the subject of all the cynicism.
And of course, just when the reader was catching his breath as things seemed to slow down with the scene between Cowgirl and Hal, Johns ramped up the action again by having the Dominator bounty hunters attack Hal and then having Hunger Dog appear and take out the Dominator’s so he can bring in Hal himself.
Then Johns delivers a fantastic hook ending with Amon Sur finally face to face with Hal Jordan. Amon drops the bomb on Hal that Cowgirl is dead. Whether that is really the truth remains to be seen. However, this was a climactic ending that certainly makes the reader eager to read the next issue.
I dig how Johns has handled Amon Sur’s character. Johns has done a solid job building a good foundation to Amon Sur’s character and fully outlining Amon’s motivation for taking down Hal Jordan. Plus, Johns has written Amon Sur in such a fashion that the reader can totally understand why Amon Sur wants to take out Hal. Johns makes Amon look like he is doing the right thing by avenging his father’s death. Amon views Hal as a man who stole his father’s ship and his power ring and then buried his body in an unmarked grave somewhere in the desert. I can understand Amon’s rage and hatred toward Hal.
Johns continues to have Hal employ some rather creative uses with his power ring. The scene where Hal generates a bunch of different American G.I.’s with the power ring was cool. I also like when Hal created a hospital bed, hospital machines and a doctor in order to run vital scans on Cowgirl. The power ring is a wonderful literary tool with limitless possibilities. It takes an imaginative writer to get the full creative use out of what the power ring can do. And Johns has definitely taken advantage of the creativeness of Hal’s power ring with just about each and every issue.
As always, Reis provides some gorgeous artwork. Reis flat out draws one of the best Green Lanterns you will ever see. We get treated to one wonderful double page splash shot of the JLA as well as a couple of one page splash shots in this issue. You know that you are assured to get several impressive splash shots every issue with Reis handling the artwork. Reis really does a superb job brining John’s story to life.
The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.
Overall: Green Lantern #16 was another excellent read. Johns is doing such an incredible job on this title. Just when you think this story arc couldn’t get more interesting, Johns manages to outdo himself with the next issue. Green Lantern is certainly one of DC’s stronger titles. I definitely recommend giving Green Lantern a try.
