Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Green Lantern #18Green Lantern #18
DC Comics
Johns, Kudranski, Syaf & Irwin

Green Lantern continues to drift along with dangling plotlines from the previous arc as Johns struggles to push the plot forward in this issue. The failing point in this comic book is that the new Green Lantern, Simon, grinds the scenes to a halt when they would be so much more entertaining if they stuck to Hal and Sinestro. The book also contains some very strange editorial elements and odd artwork in places that really make this comic book simply average. Hopefully next issue the story will pick up.

The cover tells me that this issue is part five to the arc entitled, "Wrath of the First Green Lantern". Oddly, the previous book wasn't part four and the ending to the previous issue didn't point to another book to find the missing chapters. The Green Lantern editors simply assume that all Green Lantern readers are buying all of the Green Lantern comics. They are incorrect and thankfully it didn't seem to matter. Though, it would have been nice to point a reader in the right direction.

The book is basically about Hal and Sinestro meeting Simon in the dead zone. The characters all have one foot in the land of the living and that keeps their hope alive that they can get out of the dead zone. Simon still has his ring, though Sinestro feels it's still his. The trio talk, then argue and then fight as they struggle for the ring and the right to set everything back to the way it was.

The book's strength is Johns' ability to write Hal and Sinestro so effectively. He has reinvented how the duo interacts and it really is something special.

The book is very slow and takes much too long to get to the point. Johns wastes a lot of time on Simon. This issue lines up Simon with the other characters and it really highlights the fact that Simon is a shallow husk of a character with no purpose or uniqueness. He's making some of the other generic Green Lanterns (even established ones like Kyle or John) look like deep and rich characters. At least his ignorance serves as a means for the history of the First Green Lantern to be told.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is interesting because the book uses one style for the dead zone and another one for the land of the living. This includes inks and colors and I get what they are going for here and it works to a point. However, the dead zone artwork is really difficult to tell characters apart and it is nearly impossible to determine the action. There is one sequence where a character grabs another's foot but the preceding and follow up panels simply don't line up with the illustration. This is a good idea art wise, but it just doesn't quite pull it off.

Green Lantern is a book at the crossroads. It's struggling to tell fast paced and memorable stories but it teases a big ending to Johns run on the title with epic banners. I'm not sure when, if or how this book is going to pick up again, but judging this particular issue you have a very average and forgettable comic book.

2.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles