by Michael DeLaney
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
If you couldn’t tell from the title Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, the series places a lot of emphasis on one Harold “Hal” Jordan. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 49 continues that trend, underlining the importance and inevitability that is Hal Jordan. Continue reading
By Patrick Ehlers
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
My Green Lantern fandom often feels like a relic from a time before I truly understood what I loved about comics. I love the limits of the medium — the way an artist has to imply light and sound and movement and time all on a still page which literally possesses none of these qualities. So much of a comic story, for me, is in how it is told, rather than what it’s telling. But Green Lantern is a myth-making franchise, and the moment-to-moment storytelling can often be measured by the twists and connections it makes to its own winding history. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 37 eschews that entirely, pulling one of Superman’s Big Bads into the ring for some refreshingly innovative visual storytelling. Continue reading
by Mark Mitchell
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval have been weaving a story about fathers and sons during the “Fall of the Gods” arc, and while they still deliver an issue with the interesting character moments, deft balancing of Lantern personalities, and exciting action they have become known for, the narrative threads fail to fully come together in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 29. Continue reading
by Patrick Ehlers
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
I want to start this piece with a pretty fundamental question: what is compelling about Green Lantern? It’s a tough elevator pitch, right? Part of that is because the great mythological expanse of the franchise is part of the appeal. How do you articulate the emotional spectrum with about babbling like a rabid fanboy for 20 minutes? Or how about trying to explain the always-in-flux state of the Corps, and their shifting relationship with the Guardians of the Universe? In the “Fall of the Gods” story arc, Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval are folding even more complex mythology into the dough, twisting their own narrative into a Kirby-ian pretzel. Issue 28, however, slows down just long enough to pitch the reader a different answer to the question I posed up top: Hal Jordan’s relationship to his dead father. Ingredients don’t get much more fundamental than that. Continue reading
by Patrick Ehlers
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Y’know that scene in Raging Bull where Jake LoMatta (DeNiro) is in the ring and takes that slow-motion jab right to the nose? Sure you do — even if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s one of those moments that’s been parodied and emulated hundreds of times in the four decades since the film’s release. The punch slowly ripples across Jake’s face, breaking his nose and forcing a geyser of blood to erupt from his head. Its a explosive moment of physical horror which comes after nearly two whole hours of slowly unspooling emotional horror — effectively, it is thematic material of self-destruction made literal and permanent. There’s something about the violence of that choice that shakes the audience awake, casting everything that happened before it, however gradually, in to sharp, sudden relief. In Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 27, writer Robert Venditti and artist Rafa Sandoval drive towards a similarly gross moment, and while they steer into the silliness of it, the inherent gore in cutting out Orion’s heart serves the shake the reader awake. Continue reading
by Patrick Ehlers
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan are interesting characters. They’re all men with tremendous baggage, and perhaps the decades of dragging around said baggage have trained them to just blurt out their feelings with the blunt force of a green-light mallet. All of them are reeling from Soranik Natu Sinestro’s heel turn, and the defection of the Yellow Corps, and maybe they’re all a touch too eager to yell about their feelings. That emotional transparency is at odds with the opaque plotting of issue 26. The inherent mystery in “what is Orion doing here again?” makes the reader double back on those seemingly clear emotional statements. Continue reading
Today, Mark and Spencer are discussing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 21, originally released May 24th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.
Mark: One area where Robert Venditti has excelled in this team-up Green Lantern book is differentiating each of the four Earth-based Green Lanterns and incorporating their unique perspectives into the larger narrative. Like the never-ending debate between Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans over who was the best host of that show, Joel, Mike, and now even Jonah, everyone has their favorite Green Lantern, and you’ll be hard pressed to convince a John Stewart fan of Hal Jordan’s merits. So while the book’s title prominently features the most recognizable of the Green Lanterns, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Venditti’s team-up, each Lantern bringing their best to the game, adding more fuel to the ever-burning debate. Continue reading
How many Batman books is too many Batman books? Depending on who you ask there ain’t no such thing! We try to stay up on what’s going on at DC, but we can’t always dig deep into every issue. The solution? Our weekly round-up of titles coming out of DC Comics. Today, we’re discussing Gotham Academy Second Semester 9, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 20, New Super-Man 11, Shade, the Changing Girl 8 and Wonder Woman 22. Also, we will be discussing All-Star Batman 10 on Monday and Bug: The Adventures of Forager 1 on Wednesday, so check back for those! As always, this article contains SPOILERS.
Today, Michael and Patrick are discussing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 18, originally released March 8th, 2017. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.
Michael: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps has been surprisingly superb title from the beginning of Rebirth. The one thing that it has working against itself? Its title. Why the need to put Hal Jordan at the center of everything? Sure, Hal has been the focus of some of the issues but overall this is a team book focusing on the Corps. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 16 focuses that spotlight on everyone’s favorite vest-sportin’ loudmouth, Guy Gardner. Continue reading
Today, Spencer and Patrick are discussing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 7, originally released October 26th, 2016. As always, this article contains SPOILERS.
Spencer: Have you ever gotten into an argument with a long-time friend? With that much history between you, it’s far too easy for whatever sparked that particular conflict to fall to the wayside as your argument instead becomes about every slight the two of you have ever inflicted upon each other. That’s exactly what happens in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps 7. Hal and Sinestro’s grand battle for control of the universe is more of a grudge match between these former friends and rivals; the actual stakes matter less to Hal and Sinestro than themselves finally proving their methods and emotion of choice superior to the other’s. Continue reading
Retcon Punch 