A new dawn reigns over the Green Lantern Corps as they must somehow work with the Yellow Lanterns. Can this collaboration work as it begins to develop in this issue? More importantly, is it good?
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14 (DC Comics)
So what’s it about? The summary reads:
“QUEST FOR THE BLUE LANTERN” part one! Hal teams with Kyle Rayner, the White Lantern, for a harrowing quest to bring hope back to the cosmos. Tasked with finding the Blue Lantern Corps and restoring it to full power, the two quickly find neither may have the power to accomplish this mission.
Why does this book matter?
This is the beginning of a new arc which means another chance for new readers to jump on board. Event-level quality artist Rafa Sandoval brings his talents while writer Robert Venditti continues to deliver epic blockbuster level stories.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Sick ship bro!
This issue opens with a space taxi driver and to my surprise it works wonderfully. Venditti infuses this character with so much character and so much attitude you won’t want him to ever leave the page. His interactions with Guy Gardner are funny, but also well written so that you can tell they have a storied past. It’s also nice to see Venditti open up the universe a bit so that it feels more lived in.
Outside of this, Venditti fleshes out the Yellow Lanterns working with the Green Lanterns well by giving John Stewart a leadership role that makes sense. He supplies the nuts and bolts side of being a Lantern. At the same time, Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner are giving the story the bigger picture side of being a Green Lantern. They must fight giant aliens, go on a mysterious quest, and are on a mission to save Lanterns in general. All in all, Venditti uses each story as a cool way of showing different aspects of this multi-layered universe.
Sandoval brings it and then some. The art is detailed, textured, and everything’s realistic looking, right down to the impossibly large aliens. I particularly liked the detail he put into the taxi cab which looks like something out of The Fifth Element. This series seems to require artists to draw rooms filled with a large amount of Lanterns, and Sandoval doesn’t disappoint here either. The variety of aliens is good which helps convey the scope of the Corps. Later in the issue, Hal and Kyle must navigate a lava planet and to convey their struggles Sandoval shows them in an awesome double page spread that slices up their antics in a semi-circle that’s quite cool. This leads to an equally cool full-page splash with an interesting character design that’s reminiscent of something animated and alive from The Labyrinth. Great stuff.
It can’t be perfect can it?
It’s hard to find an imperfection in this nearly perfect comic!
An eclectic bunch.
Is It Good?
Venditti and Sandoval prove this is the primo Green Lantern book–nay, the primo space comic at DC Comics. The way in which this issue breaks up between sub-stories keeps things interesting and it looks damn good doing it. This is superheroes and space done right in every sense of the word.
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