GREEN LANTERN #48

[ BAT UP THOSE BARGAINS ] 

Look, my lantern is green. My lantern is green because it's clean like the sheen on James Dean. Wait up! Was it the sheen on James Dean or was it the gleam seen on the Queen? Excuse me. Robert Venditti, Martin Coccolo, or DC Comics! Please put down that half eaten spleen and be keen on my lantern that is green. It's February, 2016, and I desperately need to be mean.

TO QUOTE Gloria Steinem: 'From pacifist to terrorist, each person condemns violence - and then adds one cherished case in which it may be justified'.

THE REVIEW:

Now without looking at the cover -- hey, no peaking -- what superhero do you think Green Lantern pays a visit to this month? Taking into consideration that a known terrorist called Sonar from Modora -- no, it's a fictitious country, and means bike in Greek -- has set off a bomb at a fun-fair in Coast City (last issue), resulting in his nephew slipping into a coma, as well as making the people of Coast City mightily annoyed.

No. He doesn't go to see Judge Judy. She's too scary for Hal. Instead he goes to see his old pal Batman, namely: the Jim Gordon Robocop-styled version of Batman, who eventually, yet quickly, helps Hal piece together who Sonar is, what are his motivations, and yeah, that sort of thing.

Once he has this information under his belt -- yes, he does have a belt, check to make sure -- Hal then swiftly flies off to Modora, hoping to track down the man in question and kick his bloody face in.

And does he? Does Hal get his hands on Sonar? No. I'm afraid not in this issue. But what he gets in replacement of this is a sign that the Modorian people aren't a race who can easily be pushed about, especially when it comes to facing an opponent who is a lot tougher and a lot bigger than they are.

Now, from a story perspective, I have to say that I did get a kick out of reading this episode. Even though Batman's appearance in it doesn't seem highly necessary -- unless there is a reason which'll become apparent next month -- on the whole I did love the personal and moving tone this tale had in spades. From Hal's interaction with the old lady at the start of the book, to Hal's interaction with Batman midway through it, tonally I thought Robert's dialogue gave Hal a down to earth charm that was just wonderful to follow.

On top of that, I didn't mind reading his take on Sonar and his brand of terrorism either. Despite it feeling slightly one note at the moment, it's still nice to see how the concept of terrorism translates into comic book form, without it coming across as being too tried and tested on the page (Sound bombs, good idea). I mean, let's face it. No country or person likes being dictated to. Yet that said, what lengths would one person or country go to, to stop being dictated to? And would the ends justify the means? Especially if the means results in a death of a innocent?  

Quickly moving onto the art side of things and, well, to be honest, I'm still sitting quietly on the fence if I actually like Martin Coccolo's take on Green Lantern or not -- what with Hal now having shorter hair and a more tidier appearance. One part of me is happy to see Hal's costume having a brief overhaul, simply because initially it did cosmetically appear like a drastic step into Lobo country. Whereas another part of me is wondering if tidier is better, even though Martin does a particularly nice job when it comes to expressing Hal's emotion through his costume.

Also, how about how this issue ends, eh? What? You don't want me to spoil its conclusion? Alright then. I won't. I'll just insinuate how it ends during my final summation. Ha!

THE MUSIC:

For this month's musical match-up I thought it would be a good idea to partner this issue with the Queen song, 'Bicycle Race'. 'And why would I want to do that?', you may ask. 'Simple' says I. As I said before, Modora means bike in Greek.

You may now groan in contempt.  

THE COMPARISON:

On a purely conceptual level this comic is about a man who wants to fight back against terrorism. You know, just like Lieutenant Frank Drebin did in the 'Naked Gun' series of films.

Ouch! Comparison made.

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this issue a surprise guest-star appears in space and says something fairly cryptic. So, out of shear boredom, why don't you try and guess who it is and what they say out of the following eight options?

• Starman: Am I still in continuity?
• ET: Isn't it about time I got a sequel?
• Superman: I wonder what would happen if I'd fly anti-clockwise around the world, really-really fast.
• Predator: Grraggghhhhh!!
• Kyle Rayner: Finally, DC has cancelled the Omega Men.
• Chewbacca: Hhharrrrgghhh!
• Parallax: Hal Jordan must die.
• Alf: Is Starman still in continuity?

Nuff said.