As much as we love our heroes, It’s a pretty safe bet that most readers find more pathos within the antagonist then the heroes themselves. Look at Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, The Joker, and of course Sinestro himself. It’s been said before that villains form our darkest desires, hopefully not the mass killing aspect but rather the power fantasy pushed to the extreme. The commanding presence when entering a room the respect that comes along with being perceived as the top dog. Before going forward there will be spoilers, so be sure to read your issues before reading further.
If there has been one huge criticism that I’ve had for this series is that it felt a bit decompressed, and for a book that ships bi-weekly it felt like I was reading the same issue twice. This chapter was push in the right direction with some hint at what Sinestro’s overall plot might be and John Stewart mounting a rescue mission for both Hal and Guy. While most of it was Sinestro dealing out exposition about the Fear Engine, while it’s not a gigantic leap for the story itself I found it satisfying enough for me to want to continue on, but that’s only one of three parts on why I want to keep reading.
Going back to the discussion about villains, and while this series is titled Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps this first arc is about Sinestro first and foremost. Most of the book is centered around Sinestro’s lectures about his mandate for his corps. It’s pretty clear that Venditti is having a fun writing Sinestro, whether he has Sinestro smash a gigantic fear fist construct onto Guy Gardner, or scolding one his soldiers for disobeying a direct order and obliterating him to pieces. The combination of charisma and totalitarian attitudes make Sinestro the memorable character that GL fans know and love and Venditti has tapped into that magic. With that being said, the snippet of Guy Gardner serving as a clash of personalities between him and Sinestro was simply pure entertainment, and it felt like natural dialog. New readers will grasp their brief history without being bogged down by pointless references that only fans who’ve been reading for decades will understand.
When you look at Rebirth as a whole, a major criticism is that the art from issue (and in some cases page to page) isn’t consistent. Thankfully that hasn’t been the case for this Green Lantern book so far as Rafa Sandoval killed it with his first three issues and now veteran GL artist Ethan Van Sciver returns for his chapter. Van Sciver’s art is always jaw dropping but there were pages that made my jaw completely fall off, crawl up up body and reattach itself due to his incredible work. Simply put I love how Van Sciver has his characters act, seeing Sinestro with the commanding presence or the look of disgust that he has when he learns that Jordan was not brought to him. It’s no secret that Van Sciver is the definitive artist for Sinestro, but it’s still amazing that no matter now many times he has to draw Sinestro brings out his very best. With Sandoval and Van Sciver on this series, this is one of the best one two punches in all of Rebirth and I’ll keep saying that until people recognize this as a fact.
While this needle didn’t move the plot that much, there was enough progression to satisfy any reader, and honestly the real hook of this series is seeing Sinestro reattempt to retry his strict order policy that got him the boot the first time around, plus Van Sciver’s pencils were on point as usual. While there hasn’t been that much centered on the actual Green Lanterns, I’m sure that Venditti is drawing that moment out so when they all do reunite it’s something special but for now I’ll enjoy Sinestro dominating the universe for as long as I can.
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #4 earns a 4/5