Can you believe that the time has flown by so quickly? I mean shipping a book every two weeks will make it seem that time is somehow moving faster, but it’s time to conclude the first arc of H&TGLC. It’s no secret that out of the two books dedicated to the mythos of Green Lantern. This book is dedicated to older readers who have an affinity for the days of old. Yet at the same time Venditti isn’t making the series unfriendly for new readers who may have only know about Green Lantern from other media. A remarkable feat and let’s see how this final arc wraps up, and there will be spoilers in this review. You have been warned.
In terms of science fiction battle scenes, brutality isn’t something that comes to my immediate mind. Not to say sci-fi hasn’t had brutality but battles from my perspective always had a “cleaner” look to them. The fight between Sinestro and Hal is brutal, it isn’t a bloody battle mind you but that doesn’t detract what Venditti and Sandoval have set out to accomplish. Venditti uses the storied history between these two characters and make their fight feel real and have stakes in what Hal’s doing. Most of the credit should go to Rafa Sandoval as his art is what truly excels this sequence of panels. All their anger, personal issues, and their own tribulations are perfectly captured from Sandoval. Sinestro’s own exasperation or Hal gritting his teeth as he trades blows with his former mentor and current despot.
On the other spectrum Venditti focuses on the still captured Guy Gardner and honestly the scenes with Guy Gardner thrilled me as much as the fight between Sinestro and Hal. Yes it’s an age old trope of removing something that is critical to the characters ability to help people and throw them to the wolves but I can’t remember the last time that I saw any of the Green Lanterns (besides Guy in this arc) didn’t have access to their power rings. Yes most of the GLC we’re stranded in another universe set to die, but they still had ability to use their rings. Here we have Guy Gardner imprisoned in a machine that is feeding Sinestro, and true to his character and to what a Green Lantern is. Guy’s own bravado is tied to his will power and Venditti and Sandoval understand this and use to make Guy Gardner as a symbol of will. I adore how Sandoval has Guy almost smirking in every panel with pain seeping into his every being, telling the readers that he’s had worse and he’s gonna keep going.
Now I will admit that the ending did shock me at first, but I did find it odd looking that during Hal’s “translucent” phase, either the coloring or how Sandoval drew Hal didn’t make Hal seem translucent. Yes through context the reader can understand what is going on but just looking at the page doesn’t mesh with Hal’s previous transformation into pure will. So at the end of this issue it seems that Venditti has seemingly killed of both Hal and Sinestro and you can even see Sinestro’s body decompose you never see Hal’s body at all. It’s definitely a bold way to end your first arc by seemingly killing off the lead character but this is comics and dead is never dead.
Sadly it was a bit anti-climatic initially when John Stewart and the rest of the corps show only to find Guy, Natu with other Sinestro Corps members waiting for them. Each issue prior to this made it seem like the Corps would actually do something besides mobilizing the fleet. Perhaps Venditti’s thinking was to lure the reader into a false sense of security assuring them that the corps will arrive to help Hal and Guy. Either way it just lead to nothing when you look at now.
Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #7 was an explosive way to end your first arc. Venditti has tapped into what made people fall in love with Green Lantern in the first place, Hal’s heroics and epic action that isn’t seen anywhere else.
Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #7 earns a 4/5