There was a time when anything Geoff Johns wrote was gold especially if it had Green Lantern in the title. This was the man that gave us an amazing 100 issue run on JSA, redeemed and redefined Hal Jordan as a character in Green Lantern: Rebirth, and was one of the architects of the brilliant weekly series 52.
Somewhere around the time of Blackest Night, Geoff Johns became stale for me. Whereas once his plots were epic and revolutionary, now the plots are stale, and do little but set up his next event. Green Lantern #2 does little to change my opinion.
Hal Jordan is no longer Green Lantern following the events of the War of the Green Lanterns. Sinestro has been granted Hal’s ring, and he shows up on Hal’s doorstep offering to give it back to him. Like any deal with the devil, there is price.
Most of the issue is a simple conversation between Hal and Sinestro. Sinestro plays the role of over-bearing arrogant mother by spending the issue insulting Hal by saying he never really changed the Earth, he just used the ring to show-off. Hal spends most of the issue filling his role as petty brat constantly yelling at Sinestro, and saying, “Gimmie my ring back!”
The only redeeming scene of this book is when the two of them show up at a bridge that is on the verge of collapsing. Hal charges in trying to save everyone, one person at a time. While Sinestro stops him, holds out his ring, and begins to singularly rebuild the entire bridge thus saving everyone. It’s a neat little moment, and an interesting way to show just how powerful the Green Lantern rings are. Moments like this have been missing from Green Lantern for a long time.
The strength of this book comes from Doug Mahnke’s excellent art. This man was meant to draw space aliens and all kinds of energy constructs. His art style may not appeal to everyone, but you cannot deny his creativity with his shapes and lines.
Geoff Johns was one of the architects on the New 52 DC Universe. He had a hand in rebooting most every DC character, but the decision was made to not reboot the Green Lantern line and leave it as is. Green Lantern #2 makes me wish that they had rebooted Green Lantern from the beginning. The ideas contained in the book could be exciting. Having them fleshed out by a conversation between Hal and Sinestro makes them boring. I would only read this book if you are a hardcore Green Lantern fan, and even then I have a feeling you will find this title lacking.
Green Lantern #2 Grade: C-
