Hal Jordan has gone rogue. So it’s just another Tuesday for the Green Lantern Corps. Given how last issue ended, I can feel the series begin to hit its strive. Even though I’ve enjoyed this latest relaunch from the beginning, I firmly believe that the ending of the previous issue was the start of both Grant, Liam, and Oliff began to hit their stride on this series. Warning the following review will contain spoilers. Remember to read your comic before reading this review. You have been warned.
One of my criticism of this series has been Grant’s handling of Hal’s personality. I was worried that Grant would keep Hal as the straight man in order for the more exotic aspects of his stories to take center stage. However that all changed with this single issue, as Grant puts Jordan through a literal walk of nightmares. The bravado that I felt was missing in previous issues was back in full force, but it had Morrison’s unique spin on it, by mocking death and controlled by a space bug (sorry OG Parallax fans). I’m willing to say that Morrison made Hal feel different is because of this issue. This isn’t a young Hal Jordan who’s constantly shooting off the hip, this is a Hal who understand who is he and knows when that brashness needs to make a appearance.
Also part of me can’t see a parallel between this issue and the story of The Devil tempting Jesus in the desert. I do apologize for bringing religion into. but seeing this new Countess character constantly bring up Hal’s faults and failures as Hal struggled through this hallway of nightmares. I’m probably looking to deep into this, but going off his past work (and even this series), Morrison is not above including judeochristian into his works.
Can I personally hand Liam Sharp his Eisner? I’m beating a dead horse at this point, but his work is consistently stunning. The effort that goes into each page is felt on each page, from the back rounds to the storytelling, it’s mind blowing how good his art is. Sharp breathes life into these worlds, telling a story within a story. I also adore how each page is laid out, it has a evil bedtime story feeling it. Almost as if the world itself is swallowing Hal up. Plus I can’t forget Steve Oliff’s amazing colors, that help set the unsettling mood that will plague the reader days after they finish this book. One day I want to go up to Liam Sharp and personally thank him for all the nightmare fuel, I know that this series is based in science fiction but Sharp’s pencils bring a horror element. Seriously, this man deserves a Eisner.
I’m already invested in this series, and at first it seemed like Grant would simply tell basic cop stories with The Green Lantern Corps, but this story now puts Hal as a undercover cop to smoke out a member of The Corps who is helping The Black Stars. It puts Hal into unfamiliar territory and that’s where a character can shine. Then you have the added tension that the Corps will disown Hal if he’s caught, setting the perfect set of stakes (not the food kind) for the reader to care about without making it a story about the multiverse ending. That final page also is pretty damn great.
If you’re not reading The Green Lantern by now, then you need to hop on this crazy train.
The Green Lantern #5 earns a 5/5