Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps have come face-to-face with a threat they never expect in the form of the House of Zod. This unexpected clash has provided us with a surprising expansion of the Green Lantern and Superman mythos as both have met. Robert Venditti has done a good job so far making Zod and his family unstoppable villains as they easily squashed Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner without even breaking a sweat. Now that Kyle was able to escape and rally the other Green Lanterns for help can Zod’s new regime be taken down? Let’s find out with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40.
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Rafa Sandoval
Inker: Jordi Tarragona
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: On Oa John Stewart is getting reamed out by the Guardians of the Universe council for allowing Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner to lead a Green Lantern squad against General Zod. John takes the blame, saying that he took to long to let the other Green Lanterns know what the Guardians told him about not going up against General Zod. John then smiles and says they just have to accept what has happened now.
Over on Planet Jekuul Kyle and Guy lead the Green Lanterns in a fight with the Zod and Ursa. The Green Lanterns numbers quickly overwhelm Zod and Ursa.
Elsewhere Hal Jordan, while locked up, smiles that he can sense that his ring is teaching Kyle some things.
Back at the battlefield the people of Jekuul arrive to provide Zod and Ursa some back-up. This forces the Green Lanterns to split up into smaller groups in order to defend themselves now that they are outnumbered.
While Zod and Ursa are still pinned down Lor-Zod shows up and knocks Guy back. Now with their son’s arrival Zod and Ursa are able to break free. The three Kryptonians easily overwhelm Guy and Kyle’s group while the other Green Lanterns are outnumbered by the Jekuul army.
After smacking Kyle around a bit Zod tells the young Green Lantern that he nor the GLC will threaten the last remaining family of Krypton, the House of Zod. Kyle reveals that he has been able to merge his will with Hal’s through his current ring and unleashes a large explosion of green light.
Zod mocks Kyle for his last ditch effort not doing anything as Hal’s ring floats around and detects were Hal is being held.
The House of Zod and the Jekuul army tell the remaining Green Lanterns to stand down as they have been completely outnumbered and overpowered. Hal suddenly shows up in his full Green Lantern gear and says the battle is not over yet. End of issue.
The Good: After everything that has gone down with Zod and his forces there was no other way for the Green Lantern Corps to deal with the villains than by fighting them head on. That is exactly what happened with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40. The results of the massive battle resulted in a comic book that was non-stop action. But even with the non-stop action kicked off there was still some great character moments that added depth to this issue.
Kicking off Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40 with the Guardians questioning John Stewart’s leadership was a great choice by Robert Venditti. This once again highlighted that while the Guardians are back in the original roles as the leadership council for the Green Lantern Corps it does not mean their words are absolute. As much as the Guardians want to believe they are in charge we have seen John evolve into someone that is not just the field general. John has been through so much as the Green Lantern Corps leader that he knows that inaction is their worst enemy.
Venditti did a good job using this one page scene to show us how John won’t back down because the Guardians say he and the Green Lanterns should. While John has made mistakes he has become one of the best leaders that the Green Lantern Corps have had. Those experiences that he and the GLC have been through made them stronger even before the Guardians decided to take back their post. So for John he is not just going to let the GLC take a step backwards and isn’t afraid to voice his opinions anymore or get in hot water with the Guardians.
That rebellious attitude extended to the Green Lantern team that went to save Hal Jordan. Just like John, the team Guy and Kyle led were not going to back down just because they were fighting Kryptonians. Everyone showed a confidence in their abilities as Green Lanterns, fully believing that they would be able to save their comrade. That confidence made a chaotic battle have a sense of focus as there was a clear mission objective to it.
The fight between the Green Lanterns and House of Zod further developed the brotherhood between Hal and Kyle even though they did not interact in this issue. Venditti did a good job using Hal’s ring that Kyle was using to make the younger Green Lantern understand his predecessors power level. Seeing how Kyle used more power than usual made his rematch with Zod have a greater sense of importance and feel even, at least in the beginning. It made Hal’s return to the battlefield an even bigger moment as Kyle was given time to shine.
All of the fighting with the Green Lanterns also help continue the build of the House of Zod as an upper-tier threat within the DC Universe. More so than building the bond between Hal and Kyle we have seen how Zod and his family are not not to be taken on alone. These are characters already have great power that is only made stronger by the fact that they have an entire army on Jekuul to back them up. That back up made the fact that the Green Lanterns were unable to overcome Zod something that further elevates the Superman villain. It also creates a sense of concern over how many of the Green Lanterns will be able to walk away still alive after this battle.
Rafa Sandoval once again delivers the epic cosmic artwork that we have come to expect from his work on Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. He nails how big this battle between the Green Lantern Corps and House of Zod is. Both sides got a lot of time to shine and show off how powerful they are. Sandoval does an especially great job giving weight to anytime Zod, Ursa or Lor-Zod landed a punch as it looked like anyone of the Green Lanterns head could fly off when hit.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40 is another strong chapter in “Zod’s Will” arc. With this being an action heavy issue Rafa Sandoval had plenty of material to show off how epic he can make a battle between some of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe. While being action heavy Robert Venditti was able to give us plenty of moments that continued to develop the character arcs for John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan. And with the Green Lantern Corps now pushed to the corner how Venditti resolves “Zod’s Will” is anyone’s guess, which adds further excitement to the ending.
