DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Grant Morrison
ART: Liam Sharp
COLORS: Steve Oliff
LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Brian Cunningham
COVER: Liam Sharp with Steve Oliff
VARIANT COVER: Frank Quitely
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2019)
Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”
“Intergalactic Lawman”
The DC Comics superhero, Green Lantern, first appeared in All-American Comics #16 (cover dated: July 1940). Created by artist Martin Nodell with writer Bill Finger, Green Lantern was Alan Scott, a railroad engineer who found a magic lantern from which he fashioned a magic ring that gave him various powers.
In 1959, editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Gil Kane introduced a new Green Lantern, a science fiction hero rather than a magically powered hero like the Alan Scott-Green Lantern. Introduced in Showcase #22 (cover dated: September-October 1959), Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, who received his green power ring from a dying alien named Abin Sur. Sur was a commissioned officer of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar law enforcement agency overseen by the “Guardians of the Universe” (or “Guardians of Oa”). Jordan, upon receiving Sur's ring, took his place as the Green Lantern of the space that Sur had patrolled.
DC Comics has launched a new ongoing Green Lantern comic book series. Entitled The Green Lantern, it is written by Grant Morrison; drawn by Liam Sharp; colored by Steve Oliff; and lettered by Tom Orzechowski. The Green Lantern stars Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and focuses on Green Lantern as an intergalactic policeman rather than as a superhero.
The Green Lantern #1 (“Intergalactic Lawman”) opens as Maxim Tox, the Green Lantern of Sector 2018.2, captures three of the deadliest killers in the galaxy. However, an accident or act of sabotage drops these miscreants in Hal Jordan's lap. Jordan may be estranged from the Guardians of Oa, but they need him now...
If it's Grant Morrison, there is a good chance that it will be weird, and the best Morrison, his 1980's run on Animal Man and his 1989 to 1993 run on Doom Patrol, is deliciously weird. Morrison's references to Hal Jordan-Green Lantern's past might not prepare the reader for the Morrison's new take on the character, but it seems that he is mining both Green Lantern and DC Comics' past (perhaps, especially the Silver Age) for ideas and concepts.
Artist Liam Sharp summons the work of the late artist, H.R. Giger, especially his Oscar-winning work on the 1979 film, Alien, to give The Green Lantern #1 a striking visual appearance and graphic design that is atypical of twenty-first century American comic books. The closest antecedent I can think of is the 1980s work of English comic book artist, Kevin O'Neill (Nemesis the Warlock), and the science fiction and horror comics of 1950s EC Comics, especially the comics drawn by Wally Wood and Al Williamson.
The Green Lantern #1's unique striking graphics would not be so striking without Steve Oliff's colors, which are part subdued and part earthy, but also have a vibrant quality. Tom Orzechowski, one of the best letterers in the history of comic books, adds a stylish touch that completes this comic book's eccentric flair.
I have to admit to being a little put off by The Green Lantern #1, but I am anxious to see how Morrison and Sharp will pull off the intergalactic cop thing. So I'll be back.
7 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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