Well ladies and gentlemen the final act of Godhead has finally arrived. I’ll admit this crossover has turned out far differently from what I expected. So now that the final assault on New Genesis has begun, I will say that the creative teams have me on the edge of my seat wondering exactly how all this will be resolved. Especially with the wild card of Black Hand introduction from the previous issue of Green Lantern. So let’s without further adieu let’s dissect the final act of Godhead.

This opening nitpick comes stems from the previous chapter of Godhead, where John Stewart’s recent acquirement of a new ring. So either Stewart is hiding this new power until the time is right or somebody didn’t get the memo. Given how intricate a crossover has to be I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and all will be revealed in the next issue of GLC.

Speaking of continuity the last time we saw the space bug aka Parallax he became one with Sinestro or some other crazy comic stuff. So while this scene of captured Lanterns once again reinforces just how powerful the New Gods are. Even the mighty Parallax, the fear entity itself could not break through. This does have a different impact from the previous beat downs by the New Gods. In a way it makes the corps even bigger underdogs, making their eventual victory all the more sweet.

Black Hand has sure become a popular character in recent years within the Green Lantern comics and it could be my memory but he feels like a different character from the previous time he was in a actual issue of Green Lantern. From my perspective Venditti’s take on Black Hand feels akin to Joker, but not as extreme. Black Hand’s characterization is that of he only does what amuses him and only him, and while he still talks about death being the ultimate victor the balance of his childlike expressions about various obstacles that both he and Hal encounter. In short Black Hand comes off as The Joker but a bit more toned down.

With the climax of this issue it feels that Venditti was going for the full circle effect, by having another battle between Hal and Orion at the Source Wall. I did enjoy that Venditti did play up the ghoulish factor of Black Hand using dead Green Lantern’s to combat against Orion and his squad, but it’s seems a bit odd seeing the soldiers of New Genesis react to their new foes. Especially when you factor in that they have fought Parademon’s who are in my opinion more terrifying than a Black Lantern who has no connection to this New Genesis soldier.

In a shocking twist Billy Tan is not on penciling duties but instead Francis Portela and given the Darwyn Cooke variant cover it’s only fitting that Portela drew the issue. His style is what I would like to call pure classic, with few lines and seemingly simple pencils. That is until you examine further and notice all the fine details. I’ll point to his take on the Source Wall as an example of his fine work.

Green Lantern #37 earns a 3/5

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