Green Lantern #33 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (writer), Billy Tan (penciller), Rob Hunter with Batt and Jaime Mendoza (inkers), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: “Remember being young and not knowing the universe can end?” “Barely. Lately all the universe does is almost end.”

The Review: “Uprising” has been a great boon to Green Lantern, providing a well written and engaging crossover for the Corps. Without an annual to cap things off, as has been the case with other recent Green Lantern crossovers, this issue seemingly marks the end of Hal Jordan’s involvement in the Durlan War. Unfortunately it seems as though he’s going out not with a bang, but with a whimper.

As the Durlans assemble on Zezzen, Hal and the Corps make one final stand, but I never expected it to be such a literal one. Indeed, much of the climactic battle is literally the Corps making a wall. It is, of course, a reasonable strategy but narratively it lacks a feeling of excitement or escalation.

Hal and the Durlan Elder are both pretty cool this issue, but their actions can’t live up to their bluster. “Your simple stratagems cannot outwit me. My mind has spanned millennia,” the Elder sneers late in the fight and I find myself wanting to believe him. Nevertheless, Hal’s response – “I don’t have to be a genius to see that one plus one equals- –you’re screwed” – doesn’t exactly do credit to either of them.

It’s actually kind of interesting; Hal Jordan is one of the more straightforward heroes of the DC Universe. He’s not known for being a brilliant strategist, just a sincere and courageous airman. I kind of like that he’s finding ways to win military campaigns without being forced into the mold of other heroes, but it feels like Venditti could have conceived a scenario that would have played to Hal’s strengths more. And that’s without considering the theme of Hal having to be more thoughtful and responsible as Corps Leader that’s been central to much of Venditti’s run.

While the trope is undoubtedly overused and I typically associate it with Guy Gardner over Hal, Venditti writes a Hal Jordan who’s frankly adorable with kids. The droplings are probably the best part of this issue. It makes perfect sense why Gorin-Sunn is so – forgive me – sunny once you see the way he’s received back home. In fact, it’s odd that this wasn’t a bigger part of the issue, given the constant emphasis on the Durlan’s ‘victory through public relations’ strategy.

It’s an interesting issue for Billy Tan. Tan’s always shown a knack for layouts on this title and this month is no exception. The largely static nature of the final conflict doesn’t afford him the same opportunities as issues past, but the script is exceedingly kind in allowing him to draw many splashes and detailed panels. Tan certainly brings an oomph to the book’s pacing, using his panel arrangements to increase the sense of urgency that’s sadly lacking in the script. And it’s not just splashes and big moments; particularly near the beginning and end of the issue Tan’s comfort in designing interesting and expressive layouts shines through. But despite his best efforts, there’s still not enough energy in the conflict.

The battle also feels a little sparsely populated. I understand that we’re only seeing a portion of the clash but, especially with many of the named characters clustered together and next to no cutaways to other sections of the battle, it can feel like this war is being waged by teams rather than armies.

Nevertheless, Tan turns in some lovely and varied art this month. Though the Elder isn’t looking quite as sinister as in previous months, the monsterous forms that the Durlans assume are pretty cool and make me wish that we got to see more of them. The energy sea also looks consistently good. But the best stuff is in the interpersonal moments. The Droplings are adorable and Tan gets the best out of Hal Jordan. Hal’s smile on the last page is great and the look between he and Gorin-Sunn before the battle starts is a nice moment that conveys both of their feelings wonderfully.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the contributions of the colorist, Alex Sinclair. Though the opacity of the Lantern’s wall hurts the vitality of a couple of panels, the sheer amount of construct green and Zezzite orange make for quite a sight. As ever, there’s a brightness and a pop about the colors Sinclair chooses that really suits the color-centric world of the Green Lantern Corps.

The Conclusion: Green Lantern’s half of the “Uprising” crossover comes to an unspectacular end this month. Despite its flaws, this isn’t really a bad issue, just an underwhelming one. Robert Venditti has done such fine work in the last two issues of “Uprising” that seeing it end in such a generic fashion is disappointing. An overly simplistic plot that doesn’t deviate enough from expectations dooms the issue, despite some winning character moments from Venditti or any number of strong layouts from Tan. There’s still a lot of good here, but mistakes were made at the plotting stage that the book can’t recover from.

Grade: C

-Noah Sharma