Written by: Al Ewing
Art by: Jahnoy Lindsay
Colors by: Jahnoy Lindsay
Letters by: Lucas Gattoni
Cover art by: Jahnoy Lindsay (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: May 7, 2025
Absolute Green Lantern #2, by DC Comics on 5/7/25, finds Hal and Jo reminiscing about the horror Abin Sur brought to the sleepy town of Evergreen.
Is Absolute Green Lantern #2 Good?
Recap
When we last left Hal Jordan in Absolute Green Lantern #1, the present merged with the past. Hal, Jo, and John enjoyed a casual lunch when the center of their town was besieged by a green energy field and the arrival of an alien. In the present, Hal travels by foot to the next day, struggling to control a black infection that tears apart any threat. The issue ended with Jo, bathed in green energy, arriving to help Hal.
Plot Synopsis
In Absolute Green Lantern #2, Jo and Hal sit for a chat amid the decimated lives and ruin of a diner. The issue flashes back to the alien arriving in Evergreen, Abin Sur, stepping foot on Earth. The residents of Evergreen surround the alien, and Sheriff Guy Gardner and his deputies step forward to make introductions.
When Guy explains he represents the Law, Abin Sur blows him away with an energy blast. The violence prompts the deputies to open fire, but Adin Sur's energy deflects all attacks. The alien responds by decapitating one deputy and severing the gun hand of another. Jo and John rush to give aid to the wounded, but Hal feels compelled to pick up a gun and aim it at Abin Sur. Suddenly, the alien flies away.
The issue ends in the present with Hal explaining his struggle to control the black hand and John (in the past) coming up with an idea involving a ring.
First Impressions
I don't like it. That doesn't sound very analytical or thoughtful, but it's a start. Al Ewing mixes sci-fi and horror in a muddled narrative structure. It reads like a series that's trying to be cinematic, mature, and edgy, forgetting that it needs to be, first and foremost, entertaining.
How’s the Art?
Oddly enough, Jahnoy Lindsay's textured art style is the primary reason this issue is as strong as it is. Lindsay has an excellent eye for facial expressions and cinematic framing of the scenes. When you add in the distinctive, personable looks of the characters, you can visualize this issue as a show or movie adaptation.
What’s great about Absolute Green Lantern #2?
Beyond the art, Al Ewing successfully captures a palpable atmosphere of dread and tension. Abin Sur callously kills people, while the people of Evergreen are trapped and powerless to stop it. If the goal was to put the readers on the edge of their seats through pure tension, Ewing succeeded.
What’s not great about Absolute Green Lantern #2?
It always comes back to the basics. In a bid to create a complex story structure with big events happening in the past and the present, with the plot seemingly progressing to meet somewhere in the middle, the issue loses sight of the foundation. Whose journey are we following - Hal or Jo? If it's both, what are they after, and how do they get it? Is Jo in the diner to help Hal or stop him?
Let's say you get a quick answer to the basic questions. That still leaves all the major points concerning Abin Sur. Why is he on Earth? Why did he pick Evergreen? Did Abin Sur give Hal and Jo their powers? If Abin Sur is so powerful, how did Hal escape?
Further, the dialog in the scenes between Hal and Jo uses on-the-nose descriptions to convey what's happening, and it's terrible.
Jo: "So what's with your hand, Hal?
Hal: "The Black Hand."
Really? That's how we're doing this, Ewing?
In effect, Al Ewing creates "mystery" by dumping a pile of open loops on the reader, wrapped in a wonky, back-and-forth plotline. So, if you're paying the full cover price, you've forked over $10 for a grim, gory, confusing pile of questions. Does that sound entertaining to you?
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Absolute Green Lantern #2 is a dour, gruesome, confusing attempt at making the Green Lantern lore a sci-fi horror mashup. Janoy Lindsay's artwork beautifully portrays the horror of Earthlings slaughtered by an alien, but Al Ewing's script puts too much emphasis on shock and intricate narrative flow. It's weird and different but not entertaining.
5.8/10
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