Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Green Lantern #42
DC Comics
Johns, Tan, Barrows, Glapion & Jose
The orange lantern is dealt with in this issue. This comic had such a mixture it was tough to be fully happy with it. For the most part, the comic simply has Hal Jordan against Larfleeze. Hal wants to stop Larfleeze from doing whatever evil he feels like doing while Larfleeze wants Hal’s blue ring. The comic adds in a little other plot elements here and there to set up as much as possible for the Blackest Night storyline coming up next month. It’s a good issue but it isn’t anything close to great.
The Guardians continue to battle with the orange lantern corps, which really just consists of Larfleeze’s constructs. Some green lanterns are assisting the Guardians, but John Stewart is in his own predicament. He is trapped in a love bubble at the hands of Fatality, his old arch enemy, who has now turned into Yrra a member of the Star Sapphires. While this interaction provides a good introduction in the new character of Yrra, what I found it to do is really map out another allegiance. If you think about it there is some level of alliance between many members of the various colored corps. Hal has ties to the yellow, blue and sapphires and even to a deceased member of the red. Now John Stewart finds himself involved with a sapphire. It’s a development I hadn’t thought much about until this part in this particular comic. I can’t help but wonder how this will all play out in the Blackest Night story.
What ends up happening is that Hal figures out how to anger Larfleeze which makes Larfleeze channel all of his energy against Hal, letting down all of his protective constructs in the process. Hal unlocks the power of his blue ring and the comic ends with the Guardians cutting another deal with Larfleeze. There is also something about a Black Lantern or some dead rising or some such thing in the end of the issue. You’ll have to pick up the issue to see what happens for yourself.
The best place to start here is with Larfleeze. What exactly is his motivation here? He obviously wants the blue ring, but before that ring showed up on his doorstep, what did he want from the universe? He is a good character but he just seems to have no depth to him at all. I found his involvement in this comic to bog it to down a little, which is bizarre because he is supposed to be the central part of it.
The Guardians, on the other hand, make this issue very good. They manipulate everyone. It’s great. They even seem to scold their own kind in this issue. The Guardians are twisting the screws better than any previous incarnation of their kind. It will make it all the easier to watch them get wiped out in the Blackest Night story. Did I say that out loud?
Hal Jordan is okay in this issue. However, the entire fight with Larfleeze fizzles. Hal unloads the power of the blue ring and that does what to Larfleeze? Calms him down? Why does this fight come to an end? What motivation does Hal have to stop fighting? Even if his blue ring is empty he still has the green one. This was just puzzling to me. It just felt like the comic needed a fight between the two characters so we got one with no real resolution or ending. It stops because it was time to wrap up the comic. Baffling.
Finally, the art. Let’s face it there are multiple artists in this issue and the cover clearly depicts that fact. So it’s tough to be surprised to find the images inside all over the place. However, to have the two art teams work on different panels within the same two page layout seems so unnecessary. Also, would it have been that difficult to make the color palette close to the same among the two teams? As much as I missed the point of the fight I enjoyed the art showing it off. When Hal creates his own army of constructs you have yourself one of the better spreads I’ve seen in a while. On the other hand, there is one panel where a Guardian states how he is getting tired of “your insubordination” but the panel just isn’t clear. Is he talking to the Guardian that was just speaking? The one with the hair? It was just confusing at times.
The comic has a lot of elements to like. Chief among them is the ending and the Guardians actions. Sure we know more about Larfleeze, which is a good thing, but it took a while to get us there. I liked the issue, despite the parts I found to be a little bit of plain old filler. Not the best effort for Green Lantern, but still worth picking it up to find out the tricks the Guardians like to play on others.
3 out of 5 geek goggles
