DCU Comic Book Reviews

GREEN LANTERN #44

Only The Good Die Young

late September 2009

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Doug Mahnke

Inks by Christian Alamy, Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen, Rodney Ramos

Covers by Doug Mahnke and Philip Tan

Synopsis

On Mars, J’onn J’onzz (aka Martian Manhunter) rises from the dead to become a Black Lantern.  On Earth, Barry Allen and Hal Jordan stand before the grave of Bruce Wayne.  The skull has been stolen.  As they examine the site, they are confronted by J’onn, who tells them both they should not be alive.  Hal’s power ring scans J’onn and determines J’onn is dead.  J’onn then attacks them both.  On Oa, Scar tells the other Guardians that she will bring order to the universe.  It is time for a new army to save the universe.  Meanwhile, Barry and Hal continue to fight J’onn.  In Space, John Stewart stares at the dead planet of Xanshi.  Suddenly, it comes alive with Black Lanterns.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Look, right off the bat, I have to say that this is one fricking awesome issue and I loved it.  Between the Rebirth minis, Johns knows the characters and it shows, especially with the camaraderie between Hal and Barry and the ongoing conversation during the confrontation with J’onn J’onzz.  It revealed a lot about the character and who they are, showing how they are similar, but different (including Barry and J’onn being police officers).  Plus, this is the first time in a long time that we can saw the true power of the Martian Manhunter and what he is really capable off.  Having said that, what bothers me is that this fight feels like filler to me.  It may be awesome filler, but it also feels like the events in this book really don’t matter than much to the overall story.  While the story of Hal and Barry will continue (as the final page states) in Blackest Night, I am uncertain if J’onn will be around or not, and even if he is, if the fight will be mentioned or even alluded to.  So, what exactly was the point of the fight?  Editorially, to fill up space and mark time, I suppose.  Creatively, I am not sure, other than perhaps give J’onn a chance to shine.  If that’s true, it worked.  Big time. 

I will say that, for me, the ending was predictable.  It has been building in this direction for some time with Fatality’s return and with Xanshi being mentioned in some form for the past three or four months.  This is the type of cliffhanger that I wish wasn’t a cliffhanger and was actually the lead to the story.  Yeah we know the people of Xanshi will return as Black Lanterns, so let’s get on with the story.  My only concern is that I think this story deserves more than the three or four pages Johns has been giving it each month.  And with Sinestro and the Star Sapphires showing up next week, I am not sure if we will see more that we have been getting.