Written by: Jeremy Adams
Art by: Xermánico
Colors by: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Cover art by: Xermánico
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: October 10, 2023
Green Lantern #4 brings the Scarlet Speedster to Coast City when Sinestro's plan to take Hal's ring leads to a disaster only a team-up can solve.
Is Green Lantern #4 Good?
Short on purpose but long on fun, Jeremy Adams's latest chapter in the saga of the world's greatest ring-slinger takes a nasty turn when Sinestro pays Hal Jordan a visit in Green Lantern #4. Plenty of cool things happen, and Adams peppers in plenty of reminders about Hal Jordan, his buddy cop relationship with Bary Allen, and how the two get along in their personal lives as well as when they face supervillain threats.
When last we left Hal Jordan, he tested out some limits of his new ring and helped Carol Ferris investigate a break-in at one of her research hangars. The break-in was led by a ring-less Sinestro and his squad of hired alien goons.
Now, Sinestro takes the direct approach by paying a surprise visit to Hal to express his intention to take Hal's ring, or he'll set off a trio of sonic bombs placed around the city. When Sinestro's ultimatum doesn't go as planned, Hal comes in fast reinforcements to help find the bombs, catch up on life updates, and stop Major Disaster from making a mess in a separate incident.
On the whole, Adams's script is a light, fun adventure that gives the Flash an excuse to lend his green pal a hand to solve two destructive activities for the price of one visit. However, light and fun are either positive or negative, depending on your point of view. Sinestro's explosive exit is handled with relative ease, and the growing threat of alien tech getting distributed to all the wrong people on Earth is passively acknowledged, but it doesn't feel dangerous... yet. Adams is planting seeds, but the seeds still feel underdeveloped because no stakes have been established.
In fairness, Adams may be simply taking the first several issues to establish his voice and status quo for Hal, so some leeway is granted, but the series needs to pick up the pace or hit Hal with a big development to keep readers invested.
What's great about Green Lantern #4? Hands down, Hal and Barry's team-up is just plain fun. The mystery surrounding Sinestro's new status quo and the growing distribution of alien tech are mildly interesting mysteries, but it's the superhero shenanigans that give this comic a leg up.
What's not so great about Green Lantern #4? If the series has a direction, it's not clear yet. Sinestro may be at the heart of the mystery for Hal's first big challenge under Adams, but the mystery doesn't have any meat to it. It would help to establish a threat with stakes.
How's the art? Perfect. Xermánico delivers the action, drama, and energy you want out of a superhero comic. The fantastical elements look great, and the visuals move as smoothly as glass.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
When last we left Hal Jordan, he tested out some limits of his new ring and helped Carol Ferris investigate a break-in at one of her research hangars. The break-in was led by a ring-less Sinestro and his squad of hired alien goons.
Now, Sinestro takes the direct approach by paying a surprise visit to Hal to express his intention to take Hal's ring, or he'll set off a trio of sonic bombs placed around the city. When Sinestro's ultimatum doesn't go as planned, Hal comes in fast reinforcements to help find the bombs, catch up on life updates, and stop Major Disaster from making a mess in a separate incident.
On the whole, Adams's script is a light, fun adventure that gives the Flash an excuse to lend his green pal a hand to solve two destructive activities for the price of one visit. However, light and fun are either positive or negative, depending on your point of view. Sinestro's explosive exit is handled with relative ease, and the growing threat of alien tech getting distributed to all the wrong people on Earth is passively acknowledged, but it doesn't feel dangerous... yet. Adams is planting seeds, but the seeds still feel underdeveloped because no stakes have been established.
In fairness, Adams may be simply taking the first several issues to establish his voice and status quo for Hal, so some leeway is granted, but the series needs to pick up the pace or hit Hal with a big development to keep readers invested.
What's great about Green Lantern #4? Hands down, Hal and Barry's team-up is just plain fun. The mystery surrounding Sinestro's new status quo and the growing distribution of alien tech are mildly interesting mysteries, but it's the superhero shenanigans that give this comic a leg up.
What's not so great about Green Lantern #4? If the series has a direction, it's not clear yet. Sinestro may be at the heart of the mystery for Hal's first big challenge under Adams, but the mystery doesn't have any meat to it. It would help to establish a threat with stakes.
How's the art? Perfect. Xermánico delivers the action, drama, and energy you want out of a superhero comic. The fantastical elements look great, and the visuals move as smoothly as glass.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Green Lantern #4 is a bright, fun, action-packed team-up story with the guest hero, The Flash, pitching in to stop two disasters in the making. The team-up action is fun, and Barry and Hal have a natural rapport with each other, but the overall series may be taking a little too long to present Hal with his first big challenge.
8/10
I actaully think this issue was better than the rest. Before we didn't have a direction and the super light hearted approach didn't help it but this issue the threat of Sinistero and the mystery alien tech supporter was established very well. Those first pages of the issue actually pulled back on the fun attitude and conveyed a sense of tension and it made people sit up straight in their seats after those first three issues. I also don't think the whole issue was 'just fun', I think that diminishes the subtle moments where Adams sets up a very heartfelt and interesting dilemma for Hal in the form of his relationship with Carol. Sure it's not something new, but I think when the issue sat down with Barry and Hal and for once Hal set aside his confident front, it was very well written and heartfelt. Hal seems without family at this point but he seems like he might want to settle down this time for real, yet would he be able to? This sense of isolation (both in the sense that he is cut off from the corps and also from his former life as pilot Hal Jordan) comes across very well in this issue and it was the first time I think I saw what Adams is trying to achieve here and what the hardship with Hal is going to be. On the other side the story Tomasi did at the end actaully makes me think again about why exactly Sinistero is so anxious to leave the planet as soon as he can and if it might be for a very personal and more complex reason than we were led to believe which makes him wayyy more interesting and makes us want to see more from him to find out if it might have something to do with it. So in conclusion yeah, I think this issue was the opposite of the three previous ones in regard of tone and purpose. I didn't hate the previous 3 but didn't like them much either, but this one I did like lot and appreciated that it was a different tale than Flash and that Adams can tell different stories here.
ReplyDeleteOh I see! The wait between the issues was so long I forgot Major Disaster completely!!!! The Hal and the isolation stuff i mentioned still stands though, as in he doesn't fit in both in his lives as Lantern or Pilot. At least I think that is what Adams is going for, Hal trying to make a life for himself where he has failed before or lost before but not being sure if he can.
DeleteNow the Sinistero stuff I did also consider that the kid might not be really related but correct me if I am wrong but it isn't confirmed is it? I think it's a nice hook for a story. I do think this issue moved the plot forward a lot more than the previous two and if I be truly honest here wayyyyy more than the recent Green Arrow issue, I didn't hate that one but I think it is stretching it longer than it needs as opposed to this issue of Green Lantern where it had a good pace.