Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #15 Review and **SPOILERS**



Saint No Sunshine When She’s Gone

Writer: Robert Vendetti
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Colorist: Jason Wright
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Mikel Janin
Assistant Editor: Andrew Marino
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
On Sale Date: February 22, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Green Lantern Corps is the place to be
Outer space policin’ is the life for me
Nebulas spreading far and wide
Keep Coast City…oh wait didn’t that place die?

Metropolis is where I’d rather home
I’m allergic to Kilowog’s cologne
I just adore a penthouse view
Dah-ling I love you but give me Superman’s glutes

You are my wife
Goodbye, city life
Green Lanterns, we are there!
 
Explain It!

Somehow, when Kyle found Saint Walker being crowded by a bunch of slimy dragon-monsters, they turned around and attacked Rayner despite his being a White Lantern and ostensibly more powerful than a Blue Lantern. I mean, Hal is just a Green Lantern, and he was holding his own against a couple of giant dragons last issue. But since Kyle’s safety is threatened, Saint Walker finds his cojones and demands the sadness monsters release the poor dope. Of course, Hal shows up moments later, ring a-blazing, just zapping and blasting shit before he even knows what it is. That’s our Hal!
And then—somehow—he and Kyle are caught by the tentacles of this misery beast. Or beasts. What the hell is this stuff, anyway? It seems to be sapping Hal and Kyle of their life forces, and moreso is actually making them wrinkly and hollow like a Capri-Sun after every drop of sugar water has been extracted. The depression goop taunts Saint Walker about how he’s totally playing his buddies by showing them their worst nightmares, but this only hardens their resolve and makes them burst free in a brilliant display of the symbols on their rings. Because that makes sense. I know whenever I get mad, you can see a giant image of a Batman decoder ring burst in front of my body. The melancholy sludge dispersed and everyone feeling fine after their ordeal, the trio zips off of whatever hellhole they’d been dicking around on for half the issue.
Back on Mogo, it’s time to talk turkey with Space Cabbie about where Guy skedaddled off to so quickly after the Green/Yellow Lantern Corps were given marching orders to find the remaining members of the Sinestro Corps. Guy tells them he’s gone to find Arkillo, who was once Sinestro’s right-hand, uh, man, until Sinestro was killed in the opening arc to the series. Also, his tongue was cut out at one point, but I’m not sure that still holds. And it looks like Guy is going to fight Arkillo—without his ring!
This issue didn’t have the forward movement I might have liked or expected, but it did have some developments, plus a good page worth of Guy Gardner dialogue which is certainly welcome. And he’s wearing a shirt with the W from his Warriors logo, that tickled me. The whole thing with Saint Walker, Hal and Kyle seemed to have no stakes, but it looked pretty. That’s always the saving grace of this book, the art teams are never slouches, and with Ethan Van Sciver pencilling this issue, everything looks correct. They say that an entertainer should leave his audience wanting more, but I ended this issue with a shrug more than anticipation for the next.


Bits and Pieces:

There isn't enough story development in this issue, but there is some. And my momma always told me, "You can't look a gift narrative in the story's pacing." There's a great scene with Guy Gardner, and some other stuff that should be satisfying to long-time Green Lantern fans. So yeah. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my momma also told me.

7/10

6 comments:

  1. I get this a saint walker issue but i hate how its seems kyle is nerfed as the white lantern he should have been able to help walker or at the very least be the one to wake them i dont see Hal as his equal in terms of power

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah I didn't get that at all. He resurrected Hal from a ring just a few issues ago!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am interested in seeing how the whole grudge match between Arkillo and Guy Gardner goes down but I am more disturbed that the blatant continuity hole in regards to St. Walker. The last I read St. Walker was being manipulated by Sinestro to use the blue light to charge the yellow rings. I hope this gets addressed at some point. If not, I think that would be a great disservice to Cullen Bunn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. During the DCYou, Sinestro was the best Lantern book being put out and to have all that retconned would be a shame...... I really hope it's addressed.

      Delete
    2. Yeah the whole st walker thing is annoying me. Another bit of continuity they're ignoring is that ramut- ru died in the sinestro series, seeing him in the last 3 issues is really making it seem like it's been retconned.

      Delete
    3. Well he was 'freed' when Soranik took over, but what I find odd is he was helping out on Earth with Arkillo and now he's here. Venditti has stated that he won't be meeting Arkillo again any time soon, so I want to know what happened there!

      That said, even in Sinestro there were plot holes - it was never explained why Walker's power levels were so low and it ignored what they could do even without a GL nearby. In theory Sinestro should never have been able to hold him captive.

      Delete