Category Green Lantern

Jul 10 2013

Green Lantern 22

green lantern 22

Today, Shelby and guest Mike are discussing Green Lantern 22, originally released July 3rd, 2013.

Shelby: There’s a lot of baggage to be had with the way women are depicted in most forms of media. Comic books get it especially hard, as they existed for so long as a form of entertainment drawn by men for a male audience. Robert Venditti is only on his second issue as writer of Green Lantern, but already I find myself slightly uncomfortable with his depictions of the women in the book. I have a sneaking suspicion it is more a result of the pervasive attitude towards women in comics and their role in the Green Lantern universe as a whole, and less a reflection of the creative team’s own attitudes, but that doesn’t make me have any more fun reading this title.  Continue reading →

Jun 6 2013

Green Lantern 21

Alternating Currents: Green Lantern 21, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Green Lantern 21, originally released June 5th, 2013.

Drew: When M*A*S*H ended its 11-season run in 1983, it was one of the most beloved series on television. Its series finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” a movie-length victory lap, was more widely watched than that year’s Super Bowl — or any Super Bowl before or for twenty-seven years afterwards. Like I said, beloved. We don’t yet have sales numbers on Green Lantern 20, and while I doubt it will post Super Bowl-beating numbers (even by comic book standards), the similarities are striking: it was an extra-large conclusion to a beloved, nearly decade-long run. Point is, it was going to be a tough act to follow, yet Robert Venditti (who readers might recognize from his work on Valiant’s X-O Manowar) handles the transition with surprising grace, staying true to the spirit of Green Lantern while adding something unexpected to the mix: the spirit of the New 52. Continue reading →

May 24 2013

Green Lantern 20

green lantern 20 wrath

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern 20, originally released May 22nd, 2013. This issue is part of the Wrath of the First Lantern crossover event. Click here for our First Lantern coverage. 

Patrick: Geoff Johns’ final issue of Green Lantern is framed with a narrative device I was first introduced to in the movie The Princess Bride: the old man reading the story to a young man. The flick is an adaptation of novel, and the novel proports to be a rediscovered classic, heavily annotated by the “editor,” William Goldman (who actually just wrote the whole thing). All three of these example serve to elevate the story itself – you don’t need to look to the real world to find a captive audience, there’s one right there in front of you. This issue takes the entirety of Johns’ run and gives it a reverent audience, promoting the nine years since Green Lantern: Rebirth to mythic stature. I’ve been following the entirety of that run, so I’m part of that audience, and I’m moved and affected in very real ways reading this issue. But the bright lights and decades-old mythology groan under the weight of so much self-congratulation. This is a victory lap – mileage will vary.

Continue reading →

Apr 9 2013

Green Lantern 19

green lantern 19 wrath

Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Green Lantern 19, originally released April 3rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Wrath of the First Lantern crossover event. Click here for our First Lantern coverage. 

Mikyzptlk: Last year, Geoff Johns gave us The Villain’s Journey in Justice League 9, 10, 11 and 12. While that story was mostly bemoaned here on Retcon Punch, Johns has been delivering a much, much better version of “the villain’s journey” since his Green Lantern run first began nearly a decade ago. Almost as much as Green Lantern has been the story of Hal Jordan, it has been the story of Sinestro. Just as we’ve seen Hal’s resurrection and journey of becoming the “greatest” Green Lantern, we’ve seen Sinestro’s resurrection and journey of becoming the greatest Green Lantern antagonist. However, Johns has also shown us that Sinestro, while a fantastic villain, is much more complex than just that. To Sinestro, his aptly sinister actions were always intended for the greater good of the universe, and while those actions were twisted, he eventually found himself wearing a green ring once more. Even with that ring, we’ve still gotten a mixed-bag from Sinestro. Issue 19 of Green Lantern dives deeper into Sinestro’s motivations, and attempts to explain why he’s capable of being the title’s greatest antagonist and ally all at the same time. Continue reading →

Mar 7 2013

Green Lantern 18

green lantern 18 wrath

Today, Mikyzptlk and Patrick are discussing Green Lantern 18, originally released March 6th, 2013. This issue is part of the Wrath of the First Lantern crossover event. Click here for our First Lantern coverage. 

Mikyzptlk: One of my favorite movies of all time is The Shawshank Redeption where Andy Dufresne is convicted of murders he did not commit. He spends twenty years in prison suffering one horrible thing after another until he decides he’s had enough. He no longer wants to suffer but knows that the only way to escape said suffering is to endure even more of it. He ends up crawling through the sewage pipe to escape, but on the other side finds freedom and a new life. I couldn’t help but think about Andy while reading the conclusion to Green Lantern 18 as Hal finds himself in similar situation. While Hal may not have to crawl through a river of shit to escape, his path to freedom may be even worse.

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Feb 22 2013

Green Lantern 17

green lantern 17 wrath

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Green Lantern 17, originally released February 20th, 2013. This issue is part of the Wrath of the First Lantern crossover event. Click here for our First Lantern coverage. 

Patrick: The end of an era is nigh: Geoff Johns and crew are stepping down as shepherds of the Green Lanterns. Wrath of the First Lantern is the grand finale, but it’s already showing signs that it’s really more of a victory lap. With concepts as grandiose as the creation of the universe and altering the past in play, the entire Green Lantern Universe — past, present and future — is exposed and vulnerable. I haven’t been this excited about Green Lantern in years.

Continue reading →

Jan 25 2013

Green Lantern 16

green lantern 16-3rd

Today, Patrick and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern 15, originally released January 23rd, 2013. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Patrick: At the beginning of this issue, Simon Baz takes a thorough tongue-lashing from (adorable) veteran Lantern B’dg. The little guy is all about the accusatory questions: “Who are you?” “Where’s your lantern?” and, my personal favorite:

b'dg thinks Baz is a bad green lantern

But Baz isn’t bad; he’s just new to the position. Everything from fighting bad guys to trusting his powers to meeting the Justice League is new to him. And in a medium so caught up in what is old — and especially caught up in the task of making old things new again — it’s interesting to see what such a fresh character is capable of.

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Dec 21 2012

Green Lantern 15

green lantern 15 3rd

Today, Mikyzptlk and Shelby are discussing Green Lantern 15, originally released December 19th, 2012. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Mikyzptlk: When it comes to big events like Rise of the Third Army, pace is a very important thing. If an author moves too quickly, they may run the risk of undermining the scale or importance of the story. If they move too slowly, they may start to bore or even frustrate the audience. We are now 4 issues into the event (not counting the tie-ins) and series writer, Geoff Johns, has slowed things down a bit too much for me to really enjoy this issue as much as I wanted to. Continue reading →

Nov 9 2012

Green Lantern 14

Alternating Currents: Green Lantern 14, Mikyzptlk and DrewToday, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Green Lantern 14, originally released November 7th, 2012. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Mikyzptlk: Simon Baz is so fucking real I JUST LOVE IT. He just seems like such an authentic character to me. I barely just met the guy but I’m already convinced of his motivations and his heroism. Much of this has to do with how well Baz’s background has been set up by the series writer, Geoff Johns.

Continue reading →

Oct 5 2012

Green Lantern 13

Today, Drew and Shelby are discussing the Green Lantern 13, originally released October 3rd, 2012. This issue is part of the Rise of the Third Army crossover event. Click here for complete Third Army coverage. 

Drew: Who does a fugitive turn to for help? It’s a question we’ve seen a million times, as characters keep getting wrongly accused and keep needing just one chance to clear their names. It’s a compelling story, but it isn’t exactly the most relatable reason to have a character reach out to someone. With Green Lantern 13, Geoff Johns avoids this issue by recasting the question as the much more relatable “who do you tell when something big happens in your life?” The result is a story that keeps the focus tight on Simon Baz, even as the action continues to balloon. Continue reading →