By ALEXANDER PECHA
Arts Editor
I didn’t pick up the first volume of New 52 Green Lantern expecting much. After seeing the Ryan Reynolds movie I had low expectations, to say the least. Despite these low expectations however I picked the volume up anyway on a whim. I have never been so glad to follows my impulse-purchasing whims in my life.
For the uninitiated Green Lantern is less of one super hero and more of an intergalactic super hero army. People of various worlds are chosen by the mysterious “Guardians of the Universe” and their Green Lantern Rings to help defend the universe. These rings allow the users to create “Constructs” made out of an energy that can make these constructs as real as any solid object. Historically the first Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, an Air Force pilot who is chosen by a dead Green Lanterns ring. Throughout the years he has fought various foes, both powerful and not so powerful, to defend the Earth and the Universe as whole. He has fought one enemy more than any other though: Sinestro. Sinestro was Hal’s mentor until he turned evil and founded the Sinestro Corps, an evil version of the Green Lanterns that are yellow instead of Green.
In a twist the first volume of the New 52 Green Lantern isn’t really about Hal, it’s about Sinestro. It turns out that Sinestro was defeated in battle by the Green Lanterns, and after his defeat was actually again chosen by a Green Lantern ring to be a new Green Lantern, this is despite his track record of betraying the Green Lantern. However as the ring refuses to come off Sinestro has no choice to be a Green Lantern once again and his first mission is to free his home planet from the very Sinestro Corps that he created. Sinestro can’t do this alone however and recruits the most unlikely person to help him, the disgraced Ex-Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.
Apparently Green Lantern was actually the one DC comic line that didn’t get a full reboot in the New 52. Instead it actually ties into the old comics, so I was a little bit confused at first as to what exactly was going on. However the comic makes sure it explains itself as it goes through exposition and character dialogue.
Despite the minor misfire of not starting a story from the beginning Volume 1 of New 52 Green Lantern is actually beyond amazing. Most comic books have a tendency to keep the status quo as to keep its’ fans happy. This isn’t happening with Green Lantern, Which is pretty obvious when a former arch-nemesis is the new protagonist. To me this is a great thing. Seeing Sinestro try and redeem himself from complete villain-hood is a tricky thing to write to say the least. If the writer makes the transition too easy it’ll make the villain seem wishy washy. But if the writer makes the transition too difficult it can make it hard for readers to root for the villain. The writer of Green Lantern, Geoff Johns, manages to find that perfect middle ground where the former-villain is both relatable but not too toned down.
It’s hard to stop praising how Geoff Johns handled Sinestro, turning him from a run-of-the-mill villain into a full dynamic and three-dimensional anti-hero. So instead I’ll talk about how Sinestro is so awesome he outshines the series regular, Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan is beyond annoying for large parts of the volume. While he has his moments a lot of the volume is him whining about how he can’t adjust to civilian life and he wants to be a Green Lantern again. As a result the moments where I’m pretty sure the audience is supposed to be in shock from Sinestro treating Hal Jordan like a dissobediant dog had me mentally cheering “Go Sinestro! Shut that idiot up!”
The first volume of Green Lantern spells great things for the series, and is definitely worth picking up. Even if you don’t usually touch Green Lantern, or were scared away by the Ryan Reynolds version, you owe it to yourself to check out this version of Green Lantern as it is filled with amazing writing and one of the best New 52 characters to date.
