HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #48 written by Robert Venditti, with pencils by Rafa Sandoval, inks by Jordi Tarragona, colors by Tomeu Morey, and letters by Dave Sharpe arrives this week with an action-packed issue pinning our Green Lantern Corps off against the Darkstars on Mogo while Hal Jordan leads a sneak attack with his crew into the Darkstars secret lair. Let’s fly in and see what happens!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
HAL JORDAN SPOILERS TOO!!
Kilowog battles Tomar-Tu
Venditti opens the issue showing the readers the Green Lantern Corps holding their own against the Darkstars. Kilowog, being his badass self, takes it to Tomar-Tu. They go back and forth for a bit until the Darkstars teleport away from the fight to the Sciencells.
The primary purpose of the Darkstars showing up on Mogo was to kill all the Green Lantern Corps prisoners. But as it turns out, John moved them into Mogo’s core where the Darkstars can’t teleport. AND, the Guardians even get into the action by the end of the issue!
Sneaky Sneaky
Meanwhile, Hal Jordan, Hector Hammond, Guy Gardner, Arkillo, Kyle Rayner, Orion, John Stewart, and Zod all start their assault on the Darkstar Stronghold. It’s going pretty well for Hal and his pals until they realize the sea of Darkstars waiting for them around their base.
So, the Earth Lanterns and their buddies battle the Darkstars long enough for Jordan and Hammond to sneak in. The plan is to find the Controllers, which appears to be the source of the Darkstars powers, and mentally disconnect them using Hammond.
Art was on FIRE
Sandoval, Tarragona, and Morey work well together throughout this issue making the fight scenes exciting and compelling. Each panel was so detailed and grabbed the readers attention. The art team, along with Venditti, did a tremendous job evoking vivid and dynamic scenes that were easy to follow and portrayed a sense of urgency in each battle. Sandoval and his art team are firing at all cylinders as this series comes to a close.
First Thought
What’s going on with Hector Hammond? Is he now a comedian? For a God Brain, he doesn’t seem “with it.” Was this meant to be humorous Venditti? The scene when he puts Hal Jordan and the rest of the Earth Lanterns in different backgrounds came out of nowhere and had no purpose to the story at all. Humor is fine if it fits. Hector’s humor doesn’t! We shall see if he contributes much in the story after this cliffhanger.
On Second Thought
The art was great BUT what was up with the Hector Hammond art? He continues to look cross-eyed in each panel. It’s very distracting to look at throughout the issue. Yes, he has a large head BUT does he need the crazy walleyes too?
The creativity of Venditti and Sandoval was fantastic throughout the issue with their constructs, notably the constructs by Arkillo and Kyle Rayner. The massive, yellow, space worm that Arkillo made was fantastic! Kyle’s Mech battlebot with a broadsword was awesome! But Guy’s monster truck was a bit too cliche for me. The rough and tough street brawler must love the monster trucks…
To any future Green Lantern’s writer, please be a bit more creative with Guy’s constructs. He may be a jerk and a cocky brawler, but writers, in general, can get a bit more creative with him.
More Thoughts
Venditti has escalated the Arkillo-Guy connection too far. Guy was talking about giving the two of them a team name like “Hard Knocks.” Come on; this just went from cool when they first fought, to ok in the last issue, to now just cheesy.
And, why is it that Hal and the other Earth Lanterns are so good at taking down hordes of these Darkstars with their amazing constructs by themselves, but the rest of the Green Lantern Corps can’t hold their own? Hal and Kyle need to do the training! Kilowog’s no Poozer, but a change may need to be made.
Should you get this issue?
Yes. Venditti had some odd dialogue pieces here and there, but as a whole, he moved the story towards its climax and gave us some epic Green Lantern battles. Sandoval and his art team were spot on throughout most of the issue and brought their “A” game.
Should you add this to your pull list?
Yes. It’s only got two more issues to go. Finish it out and see it through. It’s also very impressive for Venditti to be on the title for 50 issues. That’s totally commendable. Maybe anniversary worthy? (cough … sarcasm) Pick up the issue and get the last two while you’re at it!
What did you guys think of HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #48? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @dispatchdcu
