DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN #31

Green Lantern Secret Origin, Part 3

July 2008

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

Inks by Oclair Albert

Cover by Ivan Reis

Synopsis

After becoming the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Hal Jordan is forcibly sent to Oa to undergo training, or as Hal puts it, “Boot Camp.”  Meanwhile, on Earth the army finds Abin Sur’s plane.  They also encounter Atrocitus.  On Oa, Tomar-Re approaches Hal to learn more about the death of Hal’s predecessor, Abin Sur.  Tomar-Re then shows Hal the Book of Oa.  Meanwhile, Ganthet sends Sinestro to Earth to investigate the death of Abin Sur. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

As much as I liked this issue, and indeed it was enjoyable to read, I still have to concede that much of it felt familiar and redundant.  This issue just did not have the pop and the zip that previous issues have had.  I suppose a lot of that has to do with the training sequences.  In broad strokes, a training sequence with a hardened veteran to yell and scream at you is a long-used cliché, so already Johns is treading on oft-worn ground.  But to add to the fact the Kilowog has been used a lot in Green Lantern Corps and there is nothing new to add to these scenes.  Johns manages to toss in older corps members such as Ch’p and a few humorous moments of Hal not understanding the limitation of the color yellow, to help the story a little bit, but it still doesn’t hide the staleness and predictability of the story (after all, we know Hal graduates and becomes a Lantern).

The continuity nerds are going to have a field day with this issue.  When DC decided to bring back the corps, the idea of lanterns-in-training was also introduced.  It was a terrific concept and made sense the corps would need to train the new batch of recruits.  New recruits were identified by the whit circle in their uniforms, which would only become the lantern symbol once they passed training.  But, in this issue, we see the white circle on Hal, thus pushing the concept of training recruits beyond the recent re-boot.  Yet, when Hal became a Green Lantern in the original stories, he instantly wore the symbol.  Thus, Johns is no longer simply adding or expanding Hal’s origin, he is also changing it.  I think for some, this change will not sit right. 

Is it just me or does it seem odd that the Guardians would paint or build every single building on Oa the exact same color to which they are weak against?  Look at the double-page spread.  The buildings are all yellow!

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