Green Lantern #1 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Green Lantern #1
By Hervé St-Louis
September 19, 2011 - 11:25

DC Comics
Writer(s): Geoff Johns
Penciller(s): Doug Mahnke
Inker(s): Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen
Colourist(s): David Baron
Letterer(s): Sal Cipriano
Cover Artist(s): Ivan Reiss, Joe Prado, Rod Reis, Greg Capullo
$2.99 US

Hal Jordan has been in space for so long saving the universe that he is out of a job and heavily indebted. Meanwhile, a Green Lantern ring has chosen Sinestro, the founder of the challenger Sinestro corp wielding yellow rings as a Green Lantern. With Hal Jordan out of a job and a ring and Sinestro back as a Green Lantern, can anything be weirder?

First, I have to mention that I have not bought a Green Lantern comic book in decades, although I really like the character. The last time I followed Green Lantern regularly was with Hal Jordan when he was written by Gerard Jones. I also followed the Guy Gardner series when he wield a yellow ring and the impressive but often ignored Mosaic series with John Stewart. I wasn’t against Kyle Rainer as a character, but it’s at about that time that I stopped buying comics. In the later 1990s, I did what many had done and just bailed out completely from all comic book-related activities. It took another four years before I would come back. When Geoff Jones brought back Hal Jordan, I stayed away, as I wasn’t interested in seeing my generation’s Green Lantern – Kyle Rainer been pushed aside to return Hal Jordan. I also had issues with the way Geoff Johns usually try to make everything fit on a wider scale.

So I came to this first issue of Green Lantern with a fresh outlook and open mind, although I haven’t read a Green Lantern series for years. This was a great jumping on point for me. Although I haven’t read Green Lantern, I’m fully aware of most of the stuff that happened to Jordan over the years and have read him and other Green Lantern in other series like Justice League. Here, Jordan is back to square zero, after disappearing in space for months. But he also has no ring anymore. That has always been a recurring theme in his history. He’s out of a job too. Carole Ferris seems to be Star Sapphire but mentions that she’s been out of costume for months. His life is screwed up, the way only Jordan can screw up his life. It’s all very reminiscent of the setting in the Green Lantern movie last summer. Just when he thinks his life can’t get any worse, it does. But then, Sinestro makes him an offer.

Of course, the issue ends in a cliffhanger, but I must say that I am intrigued. This is not a Green Lantern reboot that starts on his first day on the job. It’s a reboot where one can assume much of what happened in the past is still canon. Green Lantern rings definitely work against the colour yellow. Johns, unencumbered by decades of continuity may have written the one series that won’t turn my stomach into a round of convulsion as he tries to map out everything like a kid picking on a scab constantly. It’s a fresh premise and probably what I needed to return to Green Lantern as a regular reader.

Doug Mahnke is a pro and I have always loved his work from the day I saw it in the first Mask mini-series. His work is crispier than before and at times, I found myself wondering if it wasn’t Patrick Gleason’s work. Gleason worked under Mahnke for years, so it’s interesting to see the master allow the student to inspire him. But it’s ll good including hints of Steve McNiven. It’s sweet and crisp.

Rating: 9.5/10