By: Geoff Johns (writer), Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf (pencils), Ed Benes, Rob Hunter, Vicente Cifuentes (inks), Randy Major (colors)
The Story: Hal Jordan, with a few allies, is trying sort some personal stuff out. Krona, the batty Oan who has been in solitary confinement since pretty close to the birth of the universe, blasts them and tosses a defeated Carol Ferris into their midst. Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! And Sinestro shows up to offer some grown-up supervision before the representatives of the emotional spectrum decide to take the battle to Krona.
What’s Good: I am loving Johns’ latest expansion of the Green Lantern mythos. Brightest Day (the series with “what” is going on) has been firing on all cylinders and Green Lantern has been keeping up (the series that answers “why” and “what does it mean”). Krona, a Tolkeinesque Morgoth-type figure, really works for me. Powerful. Driven. Carrying his ancient baggage, shuttered brilliance and seeds of tragedy. The whole early universe flashbacks and the weird struggles between Krona and the Guardians are cool, and reveal more about what the color spectrum is about and why we have Green Lanterns in the first place. The weapon early-Krona made, powered by his own will, and the eerily suggestive language around that are awesome. The Hal Jordan scenes work for me for the most part, although I imagine that Hal’s internal conflict is difficult to write without having him come across as moping and listless. I think Johns pulls it off (barely), but Sinestro steals the scenes he’s in, with the best dialogue and the most dramatic power of the seven ringleaders.
Artwise, I’ve always enjoyed Benes’ work (although he can rub some comic readers the wrong way). His figures are clear and heroic (if a bit exaggerated at times…) and he picks angles and moments for dramatic effect. For example, the visual of the different ring bearers standing on asteroids was striking. Larfleeze crouching à la Wolverine or Daredevil had a lot of coiled power for a character that is essentially a muppet with a power ring. Same thing with Krona fleeing the Manhunters. Dynamic. Tense. Conclusive.
What’s Not So Good: Both writer and art team took some risks in this issue. As I alluded to before, Hal’s pensive sullenness didn’t detract from the book (even though, as the title character, you’d think he’d be the most interesting – that’s ok, Sinestro and Krona carried this issue nicely). Artwise, Benes was going for a strong visual of people standing on tiny asteroids whose gravitational force has to be measured in units that start with micro-, i.e.: you can’t stand on something like that. This briefly pulled me out of the story, but the visual was strong enough for me to get past it.
Conclusion: Month after month, the gradual expansion of the Green Lantern mythos is a fascinating place to be and issue #63 is no exception. Check it out.
Grade: B+
-DS Arsenault
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