DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN #32

Green Lantern Secret Origin, Part 4

August 2008

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

Inks by Oclair Albert

Cover by Ivan Reis

Synopsis

At Edwards Air Force Base, Hector Hammond is investigating Abin Sur’s plane when it explodes.  Suddenly he can start to hear voices in his head.  Meanwhile, Hal Jordan returns to Earth, where he learns that pilots have left Aspen Air, mostly because Carol Ferris has taken the position as the head of the company.  Jordan decides to quit as well, but Carol convinces him that no one else will hire him and that his best chance is to stay with her.  Elsewhere, Atrocitus learns the name of the being that will bring the birth of the Black:  William Hand.  Meanwhile, Jordan is testing a plane when he encounters Sinestro.  The two don’t get along and Jordan tells Sinestro to stay out of his way.  When Jordan returns, Carol is furious with him, but she doesn’t get the chance to say much when Hector Hammond interferes.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

While this story has been great since the get go, this issue kicks it up a notch and really brings the story into full gear.  And that is saying something.  Johns’ re-writing of Jordan’s origin has been a slow process, and while enjoyable, there is very little Johns could do with the story other than to hit the salient points.  Now, Johns can take the story where he wants and it shows.  In one regard, Johns is playing chess, moving the pieces around the board for the finale.  But Johns knows these characters so well (especially Sinestro) that they come alive on the page.  From Sinestro’s ego to Hammond’s creepiness and from Carol’s desperation to Hal’s realization that he must accept her job, the writing and the characterizations just cackle with life.  This is great stuff. 

I do not know enough of the secret origin of Hector Hammond to know how much different Johns’ version is to the one (or ones) that came before.  But it also means I can enjoy what Johns is writing without getting pissed off that it is different.  And, frankly, what Johns is doing is great because he is not only telling the origin of Hal Jordan, but he is also weaving in and out of the story all of the major characters that have played a big part in Jordan’s life.  Everything and everyone is connected in some way.  You can’t have the hero without creating the villain; Hammond wouldn’t become the monster (well, beyond the inherent creepiness, which only makes the character that much stronger) he becomes if wasn’t for Abin Sur’s crash and Hal Jordan getting his ring.  And his girl.  See how it all ties together. 

It would make sense, at least to me, that Sinestro wouldn’t have any understanding on why Jordan would need to have a secret identity.  To Sinestro, he is the greatest Green Lantern of all time and he wants everyone to know it.  Hell, he lets Jordan know it.  So the idea that Jordan would not have his ring or would find it important to fly the aircraft would be foreign to Sinestro.  I hope this is something that Johns explores a little more.

Finally, was that the oath of the Red Lanterns?  Johns is certainly getting a workout with his rhyming dictionary. 

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