Absolute Green Lantern begins its second issue with a pitch black panel, as an unknown voice whispers to Jo Mullein about fear and levels of light. The issue covers a conversation between Jo and Hal, recounting the tragedy that brought them to where they are now, Jo with a green lantern ring, and Hal with a black hand.
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Al Ewing writes this story with a feeling of inevitability. Jo and Hal are remembering a traumatic event. Something that has already happened. An unavoidable tragedy. The sudden appearance of Abin Sur and his green dome is depicted as a horrific alien encounter. This version of Green Lantern, in the Absolute universe, shows that residents of the main continuity really take for granted that the Green Lantern Corps were noble humanitarian beings.
Here, we see a twist. What if aliens are just that? Alien. Their words, indecipherable. Their actions, unknowable. In that mystery hides a cosmic horror that Ewing is an expert at exploring. And to bring that horror to life, Jahnoy Lindsay comes into play. There’s a roughness to his art style that perfectly captures the anxiety in the characters’ faces. And his depiction of Abin Sur is like an uber-realistic Dragon Ball alien, unlike anything we’ve seen before in the Green Lantern world.
Speaking of, this issue might be one of the greenest Green Lantern comics put to print. Partially situated inside Abin Sur’s dome, the green overlay doubly acts to differentiate the present and the past. However, the present doesn’t really get as much play, except to serve as a space for exposition. Because of this, Jo gets sidelined into being a listener to Hal’s experience. This helps the pace of the ongoing mystery, but removes some of the agency and urgency of the characters.
To make up for it, there is a bunch of new lore for the entire lantern spectrum and its rings, something that still feels like the surface of a deeper well of history. In the end, readers are left with more questions than answers, in the same boat with our characters of Jo, Hal, and John, still finding our way in the spectrum of light, trying to be beings without fear.
Absolute Green Lantern #2 is another great addition to DC’s Absolute line. It’s a refreshing take on something familiar, with new lore that will surprise even the most veteran of comic book readers. This issue delves into the trauma that could come from an alien encounter and the horror that follows.
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