Throughout time we as people have always found a way to retain some sort of normalcy. No matter the chaos surrounding the world at any given time, it’s utterly important to keep with a routine. It’s not something explored deeply in the realm of superhero comics. Yes they’re breather issues occasionally that give some introspective to the lives of the heroes we follow on a weekly basis, but usually it’s one shattering crisis after another. Forcing readers to keep with up a break neck speed. Does this issue continue the rapid pace or does it slow thing down a bit. They’re will be spoilers, you have been warned.

Personally I loved how Venditti formatted this issue, because a majority of this comic felt like a classic Green Lantern issue. That’s not meant to be a criticism at all, given the how the last arc dealt with the a future without a Green Lantern Corps, it was fun to see them take down Bolphunga and his motley crew (not to be confused with the band of course). However what impressed me even more was the issue headed towards it’s conclusion it became more than just a straight forward comic. With a bi-weekly comic you have to find a way to keep readers invested without burning them out quickly, so by giving us a “classic” Green Lantern story then by having Tomar-Tu have a panic attack during the heat of battle or the hint or that Bolphunga hinting at a murder of a Sinestro Corps member at the hands of a Green Lantern are excellent ways to entice readers to stick with this smaller in scale story arc.

My biggest criticism however centers at the “union” between Green Lanterns and Sinestro Corps.As a reader I should be shocked and appalled that someone within the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps would try and betray this alliance. However outside of Natu and Arkillo I still don’t know anything or care about other members of the Sinestro Corps. I get the book is a Green Lantern comic and they should always take priority, however when the story line is about bringing them together to fight as one I expected more moments similar to Guy and Arkillo’s confrontation. Perhaps Venditti wants to play with the notion that this alliance will never work so why bother giving character development to canon fodder.

Now for something that I’m sure will have people talking, and that’s the redesign of Bolphunga. Having reviewed for this site since 2013 I can’t remember if Bolphunga showed up but I have to admit I love his slender new look. He still sounds like the loud overbearing character that fans know but then again I’ve only read a handful of appearances starring this space pirate. The last arc also left me being critical about Kyle and Natu’s renewed relationship and while I’m still not a fan of it, I can’t deny that I am curious at how Venditti plans to use the death of this future son in this romantic subplot.

Ethan Van Sciver was great on art as per usual, given that we haven’t seen him on this series for quite some time this issue looked more polished and refined than previous chapters. Even though I adore the amount of detail that Van Sciver puts into each page, I could have done with a one less splash page, still impressive but to many can be sensory overload. Overall a great return for Van Sciver on pencils. I had some problems with the overall narrative of this series but this issue by in large was good.

Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #22 earns a 4/5