It’s no easy feat to start fresh with a title as old as Green Lantern. Sure, this one has Green Lantern #19 on the cover; but with hundreds of issues behind it, reseting the table with an expansive cast is no easy feat. Yet that’s exactly what writer Jeremy Adams and artists Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert do in the latest issue of the DC Comics series.
In the issue, and spoilers past this point, Hal Jordan is tasked with investigating clues towards the whereabouts of The Sorrow, the villain fka Star Sapphire’s fiancé. To do so? He’s got to get a team together, and this is where the fun of the title begins, with a mismatched series of four characters stuck in a spaceship, traveling to the far reaches of the galaxy. It frames Green Lantern up less as space cops, and more as Star Trek. It also lets Hal grow from the rogue flyboy he’s been for most of Adams run into a team leader dealing with a squabbling squad of younger heroes. Will he rise to the challenge, or is he just as bad as all of them.
Into the mix, we’re getting a ton of new villains spinning out of the mystery with the origin of The Sorrow, as well as a slew of very palpable romance with Star Sapphire, who is hot and heavy with Hal, drawing Batman’s concern.
And while that’s a lot to put on the table, and it’s all built deeply into the ongoing continuity of the series — it certainly helps to have been reading Green Lantern, as well as the Fractured Spectrum Special, and even Justice League Unlimited — Adams instead makes this an easy entry-point for new readers. In fact, there’s enough here that this constant reader go “huh, who’s that?” several times… But it doesn’t matter. You get who these characters are, what they want, and what they mean to the heroes and villains in equal measure. That’s something you get very rarely these days, and particularly for ones so steeped in continuity as this.
To shout out the art team of Pasarin and Albert, they ably draw space battles, horrifying seeming villain lairs, and romantic scenes with a aplomb. But a specific kudos to whichever one of them drew one of the most beefcake pages in DC Comics history, midway through this issue. You’ll know the one when you see it.
Overall, if you’re looking to get on board with Green Lantern? Get on board. It’s a great time to be a fan of the book, and with the line expanding with Green Lantern Corps in the new future, it’s only going to get bigger and better.
Green Lantern #19 Rating:
Green Lantern #19 Official Synopsis:
A NEW ERA OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS BEGINS HERE! Go all in with Green Lantern as Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps are given a new mandate to patrol the galaxy, fight crime, and stop the rise of “fractal” lanterns throughout the universe. An exciting new status quo for the DC Universe begins here!
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