Green Lantern Dark #1 Review: A Haunting Fairy Tale

Green Lantern Dark #1 crop

If you ever thought “What if the folks behind Something is Killing the Children did a DC Comic?” have I got some great news for you! Written by Tate Brombal (from SiKtC spinoff House of Slaughter) with art by Werther Dell’Edera (artist of SiKtC), Green Lantern Dark #1 is a haunting fairy tale that perfectly channels the hit BOOM! Studios series, while instilling a little bit more hope.

The neat thing about this issue is that you don’t actually need to know anything to jump right in. It’s an Elseworlds book set in the Tangent Universe (which was created back in 1997). And it’s also a multi-part series. But this issue stands alone as an unsettling horror story. It plays like a dark fable, albeit with some DC Comics trappings.

The setup is that years earlier, the world was plunged into darkness, and the heroes all fell. The only one left — legends say — is the Green Lantern, who fights back against Grundy and his zombie army that is slowly consuming the planet. But in the town of Lantern’s Light, only one girl truly believes the legends and thinks they can fight back the darkness.

You might not be surprised to learn that the conflict coalesces around the town, with our broken Green Lantern coming face to face with Grundy. But the way it plays out is like a tale that’s been passed through in time, with all the mythological underpinnings that implies. It’s rather lovely to read, and will leave you feeling hopeful both about the Tangent Universe, and comic books as a form.

That’s due as much to Brombal’s plotting as Werther Dell’Edera’s art. It’s not an easy task to make nearly all of the book set at night, in the darkness. But it works beautifully, building tension throughout as our more human characters are thrown into severe danger. It’s also, for DC fans, neat to see Dell’Edera’s interpretation of these characters. Normally we get to see him lean more into horror in the Slaughterverse. His superhero work is just as good.

Brombal doesn’t shy away from the — no pun intended — darker aspects of the story. This is more original Brothers Grimm than Disney fairy tale. And it’s better, and stronger for it. There’s real emotion here, real danger, and some upsetting moments. But those are elements all the best fairy tales have, and this book has them in spades.

Overall, it’s an exciting start to the series and the perfect spooky Halloween gift from DC. No tangent here; this is the main event.

Green Lantern Dark #1 Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Green Lantern Dark #1 Official Synopsis:

On a post-apocalyptic Earth overrun by monsters, the battle between good and evil ended long ago—and evil won. Now darkness prevails as humanity struggles to survive in the corrupted wasteland that remains. Only one hero is said to haunt what’s left of our shadowed cities, the one who wields the mystical green flame that could return light to a dark world—The Green Lantern. But she’s been missing for years, and on the isolated island of New England, Solomon Grundy’s undead army only grows larger and more powerful every night…

Celebrated horror artist of smash hit Something is Killing the Children Werther Dell’Edera teams with rising-star writer Tate Brombal (House of Slaughter) to bring you a chilling tale of desperation, hope, and resurrection from the bitter remains of the fan-favorite Tangent Universe!

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