John Stewart’s got his hands full. Between the United Planets voting on Oa’s membership, trying to solve the mystery of Teen Lantern’s mysterious gauntlet and the Guardians looking to him for advice, there’s a lot for him to handle even before the attack on Oa during an important diplomatic summit. John’s got his hands full – but with the Corps at his side, he’s not carrying the weight alone. Written by Geoffrey Thorne, art by Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci, colors by Alex Sinclair and lettering by Rob Leigh.
The DC Universe is a mess – and before John Steward tried to correct me about the fact that DC’s got an omniverse on its hands now, I do mean its universe. Specifically, its rich but relatively unexplored collection of alien worlds. As a global peacekeeping agency (read: space cops, with all the complications that brings), the Green Lantern title ought to be at the forefront of fleshing that cosmos out. I believe Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s run has been doing some of that, in its own way, but given its focus on Hal Jordan as its lead, I’ve largely skipped it. Bringing the focus back to John Steward and the rest of the Corps is just what I needed to be picking up Green Lantern again, and while this first issue was a little bumpy, it was a rare full meal of a comic, and I enjoyed nearly every bite.
The United Planets – a UN-esque organization that’s been a staple of the 31st Century – is in its infancy here in the present, introduced in Brian Michael Bendis’ run on Superman and Action Comics. I’m glad to see other writers picking the idea up and running with it, because while Bendis often introduces some truly great concepts, his follow-through is a little hit-and-miss.
It’s always been strange to me that no one ever actually put the Guardians of Oa in charge of policing the universe – it’s been kind of an unspoken agreement, but one that the United Planets finally seems ready to actually talk about. But before they decide just what role the Green Lanterns have to play in this new era, they’re coming to Oa to vote on whether or not Oa’s even going to be counted as a member in the first place. During this meeting, Oa is attacked – but that’s not the only thing that happens by a long shot.
We also get some time with the delightful Teen Lantern, who wields a gauntlet that hacks into the emotional spectrum but not Oa’s central battery, intriguingly enough. Some good reasons why the Guardians of Oa should be trusted – and good reasons why they shouldn’t. A hint that (sigh) the Guardians have yet another secret shame that rose from them trying to control the galaxy before forming the Green Lantern Corps. A tease about so-called “crux worlds”. An enigmatic but unnamed lorekeeper. A shocking death. A moment that seems to have been created just for fans of Justice League Unlimited, as John fights side by side with a certain red-headed Thanagarian (but not the one you’re thinking of). There’s a lot going on this issue, and while it does feel crowded, importantly, none of it feels rushed.
There’s no promise that every issue’s going to be like this, but I quite enjoyed having an issue with so much going on in an era of decompressed comics storytelling. While this may be a first issue, one that does its best to explain the complexities of what’s going on, it’s definitely designed more for long-time comics fans than it is those thinking to try Green Lantern for the first time. A lot of lore is being drawn upon, even as Thorne hints at introducing even more.
Art duties are shared by Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci, whose level of detail goes hand-in-hand with how crowded this issue feels – again, in a good way. I love a good crowd scene on Oa, and the art does not disappoint, giving me a wide variety of aliens to feast my eyes on, as well as some updates to some more familiar faces. There’s an old-fashioned polish to it that makes the comic feel grounded, despite the weirdness within. Sinclair’s colors add a dynamism that makes every panel feel alive – for a Green Lantern comic, you want a colorist that can make light feel like it’s shining off the panel, and Sinclair delivers.
Green Lantern #1 is a good chunk of comic, with a lot of moving parts. It’s a great introduction to what I hope is going to be a very busy series – I like feeling like I’m being thrown into the deep end, and I like feeling like there’s a plan for where all of this is going. It’s chaos, and when you consider the sheer variety that a universe ought to have, it’s exactly the kind of mess that leaves me excited for me.
