Gimme Summa Dat Fear-Based Lovin’
Written By:
Robert Vendetti
Art By:
Ethan Van Sciver, Jason Wright
Lettered By:
Dave Sharpe
Cover Price:
$2.99
On Sale Date: September 14, 2016
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
So far this comic book has not been contrary to its
title: it does feature Hal Jordan, and
it has featured the Green Lantern Corps. They just haven’t interacted with each
other yet. It sort of reminds me of that last season Suzanne Somers was on Three’s Company: she’d pissed of Joyce
DeWitt and John Ritter (RIP) so much with her contract negotiations, that they
refused to share a soundstage with her. So for a bunch of episodes, Chrissy
calls in to the apartment and Jack or Janet have a brief conversation with her,
and then go on their way to the usual fundamental misunderstandings and
pratfalls. I think that’s when Chrissy’s cousin Cindy started, to fill in some
of the eye candy scenes meant for Suzanne Somers. Anyway I would like to see
Hal on the phone to John Stewart, it would be touching. “When are you comin’
home, John?” “Soon, li’l man, soon.” Hey, maybe that happens in this issue! Why
don’t you read on and find out!
Last issue concluded with Hal Jordan all clobbered
and unconscious on that planet whose name I forgot, and so Lord Sinestro
commanded his Yellow Lanterns to bring Hal’s crumpled body back to Warworld,
where he and Parallax are hanging out in planet Oa’s former spot. Now, the
Green Lantern is there, and Sinestro relishes the moment as he strides over to
the battered form to find…Guy Gardner?! This pisses off Sinestro immensely
because he used his most pompous mustache wax today. Guy Gardner taunts him so
Sinestro pounds him with a big skeleton hand that…looks like it killed him? It
should have killed him. It doesn’t kill him, but it should have killed him.
Sinestro knows he heard something about Hal Jordan having been captured…and so
he has, by Sinestro’s own daughter Soranik. She’s trying to revive Hal using
some big construct—she is a doctor, after all—while his ring is kept in a jar.
Its activity within the jar tells how Hal is doing, sort of like a makeshift
heart monitor…and it’s a pretty cool gimmick.
Sinestro can’t be all pining after Hal, though, he’s
got to check the alien beings that his Corps captured to fuel the Fear Engine
(HINT: It’s fueled by fear.) Sinestro talks to a guy whose face looks like it
got pushed through a chain link fence where Jordan is…I guess he can’t stop
pining after the guy, after all. Chain Link Face aka His Name Isn’t Going to Be
Important tells him that Soranik told him to hand Hal over, under Lord
Sinestro’s ssssexy orders. Sinestro
is a reasonable man, so he merely rips Chain Link Face in twain, manifesting
some bony fingers in his guts. What’s with the skeleton motif, Sinestro? Are
you turning goth on us? Then Sinestro says the Corps is not allowed to capture
children for the Fear Engine—he wants the strongest and hardiest of each world,
to minimize deaths. See? He is a nice guy, who just wants to rule like an
asshole! Vote Trump, everybody! Back at Soranik’s clinic, Hal is recuperating, his
entire body sewn together with yellow ring construct thread. Yeah, that’s gonna
leave a scar.
Elsewhere on Warworld, Guy Gardner is in the clutches
of the Sacrament, an ages-old pain cult banished by the Guardians, but allowed
to flourish under Sinestro due to the needs of his Fear Engine. Guy invokes his
Catholic upbringing to let the Sacramentorian know that he isn’t afraid of a
little torture and probably guilt, then Sinestro shows up because he’s a
dutiful leader who stays involved in all levels of his organization. Guy uses
the last of his ring’s power to hurl a construct truck at Sinestro, who brushes
it off as Guy’s construct uniform fades away, leaving him actually naked. Sinestro
asks Guy to tell him where the Corps be at—he doesn’t even offer anything
specific, just says he can tell him now, or after the Sacramentoadie whips and
beats him a little. Guy says, “First, my gear,” to which Sinestro acquiesces
because he’s bored of looking at his junk. Then Guy reaches into the bag and
pulls out a can of beer. He chugs it in one sitting, and crushes the can
against his head. The fact that the beer was undoubtedly warm only enhances the
matter. This is the most perfect Guy Gardner scene I have read in recent
memory.
Fina-freaking-ly, this comic has gelled! I think
bringing some of the core characters into at least the same proximity as one
another helped. The interactions were great, and Sinestro’s got a few bits of
dialogue I’m going to remember for when I want to be a complete prick (HINT: It’s
all the time.) The art is spectacular, but that was never the problem with this
book—the problem was that it just wasn’t doing
anything. Well, now it’s done something, and set a lot of cool pieces into
motion that I am genuinely excited to read about. Let’s just hope that things
keep moving!
Bits and
Pieces:
8/10
Hell yeah! Now we're cooking! Guy's scenes were on point. Van Sciver's art shined as it always usually does. I am interested though in seeing where Soranik's character will go from here since that bit with Hal. John needs to pull his head out of his ass. He should have been helping Guy since like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYeah Deron, it felt great to get excited about this title. Lots of concepts slipped into place that should pay off...hopefully sooner rather than later! The scene where Guy crushed the beer can on his head was just amazing, I could almost see it in real time!
DeleteDoes anybody else feel like this book should have been called Hal Jordan and the Sinestro Corps? The title says Green Lantern Corps on the cover (although I noticed "Green Lantern" had yellow lettering this month,)and they showed up for an entire full page panel at the end this issue. I'm really enjoying the series so far; but having said that, every time I read the new issue I like to picture myself as Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park tapping my finger on the camera lens and saying, "Uh...now eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs... on your...on your dinosaur tour, right? Hello?". Of course I also like to picture Robert Venditti watching the monitor on the other end and muttering to himself, "I really hate that man...". Seriously though, great issue, spectacular art from Van Sciver. I could not agree more with an 8/10 score.
ReplyDeleteIt would be just like that sneaky Vendetti to title this "Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps" and be like, "I didn't say it was Hal Jordan WITH the Green Lantern Corps, it's Hal Jordan in the Sinestro Corps AND ALSO the Green Lantern Corps are around, too! Sorry if you misunderstood!" I really like Sinestro as a character, so I think my patience with him might be longer than some people's. Like a lot of these Rebirthed titles, this has the potential to be good--so let's hope it does!
DeleteSo i havent been keeping up with GL too much lately read the stupid renegade arc and up to issue 5 of lost army is this this issue to come back or do i need to read the first 3?
ReplyDeleteI don't know that you necessarily have to go back and read the first three; but I would still recommend them, especially if you're a fan of the characters in any capacity. I'm not going to spoil anything, but suffice to say that the Renegade storyline comes to an abrupt end in the Hal Jordan and GL Corps Rebirth one-shot.
DeleteYou should read the Rebirth #1 because it does change some things...I would read the others, but you could jump in here. Not a whole lot has happened up until now
DeleteThis issue was so good! I don’t know if it was because so much is finally happening, but the art, the reveals, and the Corps at the very end was amazing. With how Hal’s ring stopped moving, I immediately thought that maybe Soranik implanted some sort of will inhibitor. Or now that I’m thinking about it, it could be an enhancer to counteract the fear engine.
ReplyDelete