Well after last months Zero Year tie-in, Green Lantern Corps catches up to the recent events of Green Lantern. It’s been all been from the perspective of Hal Jordan and his “rash” decisions according to some. However there are two sides to every coin, with John Stewart playing the opposite to Hal in this case. We all know what kinda man John is and it shouldn’t be a surprise that he would be against Hal’s extreme decisions as of late, but the true question is will John actually attempt to overthrow Hal which could possibly cause even more inner chaos for the corps. Well let’s open page one and find out what Van Jensen and Bernard Chang have in store for readers this month.
Van Jensen opens up this issue with the Corps returning after full force attack ordered by Hal, John hasn’t forgotten the corps members who were escaped via the citadel. It’s a small character thing but it’s nice to see that no matter the situation John still thinks about his corps first. Bernard Chang comes right in and delivers us an excellent splash page of the Citadel heading straight towards Mogo. Since it appears that Mogo will have a bigger role to play, either Van Jensen or Chang depict a awesome way for Mogo to help. It’s always fun to see imaginative ways to solve huge different situations.
After a romantic reunion and Yrra, John rejoins the rest of the corps for a briefing on what their next move will be. There is a brief scene where John is confronted by Graf and Hannu over the “excessive ring use.” It looks like that this stance by Graf and Hannu will continue to be a plot line going forward, and while many won’t agree with it their stance it’s nice to see some actual opposition given the revelations that Relics theory is possibly right. Although for the actual characters in the book it could be bad for the corps, but it should make a fun read for fans. The way it should be.
So with Kilowog we learn that Jruks people are considering siding with the Khund, who have been a problem in this recently. So of course Jruk is chosen to go on a diplomatic mission. However this possibly the best part of the issue, where Jruk doesn’t understand what that word means nor does he understand peaceful resolution. It’s a humorous scene that breaks the tension over this serious situation. While this was simply a dialog scene, Chang’s use of actual back round is a nice touch that of Oa and it brings this entertaining exposition scene alive. It’s all in the small details.
While The Khund are the main focus for Arisia, Jruk and Feska to head to Ornax this issue makes actually brings the Durlans and their shape shifting ways are the true master minds behind this little plot as one of them appears to be impersonating one of Ornaxians. So we the introduction of Ornax Jensen gives a little look into their brutal culture in which they fight via gladiator style to decide who is right and who is wrong. It’s a classic trope but it works here in establishing what world Jruk comes from adding more depth to his relatively shallow character. It appears that Chang drew from Roman design when coming up for the look of the buildings along with the coliseum and the buildings in the foreground but the Ornaxians themselves are a clash of different warrior era’s, it’s a cool distinct visual.
So the confrontation that people have been waiting for between Hal and John and it’s relatively short sucker punch where John calls Hal out on his recent choices and Hal simply agree’s with John and tells him that he’s more angry at the state of the corps pre Hal Jordan leadership. This makes actually sense given who these characters are and what they have been through recent months. John doesn’t want to rip the corps apart even further, he’s a builder a heart. Chang really delivers with the facial expressions especially the panel where John comes to realization of his actions, plus his excellent story telling from panel to panel in this sequence.
As Arisia and Jruk watch from the blood bowel, it is interrupted by what look like Feska, who is actually a Durlan. Those pesky Durlans, causing Green Lantern Corps havoc without anyone ever being the wiser. It’s cool small plot thread that brings a cool new element to what the Green Lantern Corps are fighting.
The issue wraps up in excellent fashion, where Jensen both sets forth where the Corps is going forward and brings a bit of character growth for Jruk. Chang goes with a awesome double page splash of John’s new official city (with the help of Mogo) and it similar to earlier in the issue it looks like Chang is a fan of ancient buildings. It’s a nice new look for the head quarters of the corps. Meanwhile Jruk character matures a bit due to him choosing the corps over his home world, plus he actually doesn’t kill anything. It makes him connect more with the reader and his fellow corpsmen. Before we go, it looks like the Durlans will be using some of Relic’s tech to take out the running on steam Green Lantern Corps..a nice cliffhanger to end the issue on.
This issue had pretty much everything, almost to point where it seems it was making from last months venture into Zero Year. The secret plot of The Durlans is exciting, not to mention that the Khund are still out there. Combine all this with the growth of the Jruk and John’s characterization of the Hal situation well this was near perfect.
Green Lantern Corps #26 receives a 4/5
You can find more of Ben’s writing at his blog
You can also follow him on Twitter