Green Lantern has always been DC’s biggest and most popular foray into the cosmos, and thus is always the golden standard by which the galactic side of the company draws upon. It’s incredibly rare for the status quo of the Green Lanterns to be shaken up to a large degree, with seminal stories like Emerald Twilight or Sinestro Corps War being exceptions. This current run has already set up a lot of future developments in just its first two issues alone, and the one thing I can glean from it thus far is that there are big things planned.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Green Lantern #2!
Geoffrey Thorne has been a great pick for the book — his voice for the characters is strong and understanding of the material is clear from how much lore is being touched upon. This issue does a good job exploring the repercussions of the formation of the United Planets (a concept traditionally from the far flung future belonging to the Legion of Super-Heroes), which formally inducted Oa into its ranks just last issue.
The Lanterns have been the standard for intergalactic law in the DCU for countless eons, and a new government means that their role in the future of the universe is unclear. A concern exemplified by Corps Leader John Stewart, who has reservations about how quickly things are moving — brought to a head when the Guardians abruptly give up one-third of their territory and re-assign a large swath of the Corps.
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Amongst all of this, further hinting toward the mystical Starheart is dropped by the prisoners secured in the previous issue. Long time Lantern fans will know this as the source of power for Alan Scott — the original Green Lantern from the Golden Age — who recently got a touching story with his children in Infinite Frontier. The Starheart is an often overlooked but interesting and important part of the Lantern mythos, so it’s great to see that it’s being explored again in a new storyline.
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My only concern is if this book will be able to utilize everything fans have come to expect from this title. Green Lantern is known for having a lot of legacy characters and fan favorites, and finding room for all of them in the canon without aliening fans of particular versions isn’t easy. I’m surprised there isn’t a secondary Green Lantern Corps title at the moment to go alongside it, a practice previous eras have tended to employ in order to solve that particular problem.
That being said, the main characters chosen feel appropriate for the story at hand. It looks like this book’s focus will be bouncing primarily between John Stewart in space and the newer character Teen Lantern (Keli Quintela) on Oa. John is a much beloved holder of the mantle, so giving him some spotlight is never a bad idea, and using a newer character with a fresh POV to explore these changes is a clever move on Thorne’s part. I look forward to seeing where their stories go.
The art is looking great too, with Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci’s work blending well with Alex Sinclair’s coloring. Color and visual spectacle are obviously a big part of what makes Green Lantern fun, so I’m happy to see that the art is firing on all cylinders.
In conclusion, the new Green Lantern is doing a good job. The artwork is as solid as ever, and the writing is confident in its ideas. Even if your favorite Lantern isn’t represented, chances are you’ll still like what this is doing with the characters it’s chosen to utilize. There’s plenty of good world building, set up for the status quo going forward, and with enough mystery and tantalizing unanswered questions that makes me want to pick up the next issue and see where it takes me. It’s certainly an exciting launch into a bold new era for DC’s cosmic.
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