By Robert Venditti and Dale Eaglesham
Let’s get this out of the way: I’m a total fanboy for Venditti’s Green Lantern. If you have read any of my previous GL reviews, I’m sure you’re already aware of this. His take on Hal is refreshing. It feels new, yet old and comfortable at the same time. Hands down, this is one of the best superhero books out there.
In this issue, the Braidmen have infiltrated the GL’s home base. They have a diabolical plan that will make Hal look very bad to the rest of the universe. Venditti once again manages to create some real tension. Thus far, his run has been full of scenarios that feel like our heroes can’t get out of. Every superhero story ends with good triumphing over evil, so it is a spectacular feat in writing to get the reader to at least briefly believe that the good guy is done for.
We’re not going to spoil anything here, but we are left with a cliffhanger that leaves us begging for next week’s Green Lantern Corps issue. How the heck can Hal save the day this time? Does he even deserve to be the hero? Venditti’s Hal is quite the complicated fellow, so we’re never sure how things are going to play out.
Billy Tan’s artwork has been fantastic, but he only draws the cover for this issue. The interiors are done by Dale Eaglesham and his work is pretty impressive. There’s a certain way that he draws Hal’s facial expressions that sucks you into the story, as if Venditti’s awesome writing wasn’t doing that enough. Green Lantern Gorin-Sunn is also rendered perfectly. This is some fascinating character work.
There’s really not much to complain about. At present time, Green Lantern has everything that anybody would ever want in a superhero story. Our ring slingers are up to their necks in drama and Venditti is sure to keep putting these guys through his gauntlet.
