Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #20 Review and **SPOILERS**

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Hal Done a Bad Thing

Writer: Robert Vendetti 

Penciller: Rafa Sandoval 

Inker: Jordi Tarragona 

Colorist: Tomeu Morey 

Letterer: Dave Sharpe 

Cover: Sandoval, Tarragona and Morey 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: May 10, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

I can no longer remember the details, but I do remember the feeling of being caught in a lie as a kid. That wave of nausea, a sort of prickling feeling in the back of the head as your mind races while considering a cover-up. Of course, it rarely worked. I recall that my brother was accused of lighting fire to a garbage can, and he lied and said a dog came by and ignited it. I mean, the gall of him! We see a similar situation with Hal Jordan and this week’s issue of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Wanna know about it? Read the comic book! Or check out my review, it’s cheaper.

Explain It!

Since Hal Jordan’s full-on frontal military-style assault didn’t succeed last issue, Corps leader John Stewart goes to plan B: an even BIGGER full-on frontal military style assault! He and a detail of Green and Yellow Corps members (let’s call ‘em “Greenies” and “Yellahs” like they probably would in the military) hop in their super bad-ass warship constructs to rendezvous with Hal, already engaging the pointy enemy…and it’s not going so well. Even some fancy construct turrets can’t make a dent on these things, because (as Hal figures out) they’re constructs themselves! Which shouldn’t make a difference, really, Green Lanterns have had construct fights against each other in the past. But I’ll explain this away with Hal’s revelation that he created these monsters by ditching Krona’s glove on an uninhabited planet back in issue #1 of the series. Or was that the Rebirth issue? One of the two. See, what’s happening is basically all Hal’s fault, a by-product of him manufacturing a ring of pure willpower…he was too willful.

Back on that dead planet, Sarko is still holding Gorin-Sunn and Space Ape hostage, basically so he can crow about how dominant he is. Supervillains need to boast a lot, and if there’s no one immediately around to listen, it just looks weird. He’s still singing the same song about the combination of the Sinestro Corps and Green Lanterns being an abomination (that would make a good School House Rock type tune: “the combination is an abomination…”), but it’s cool that Gorin-Sunn and Space Ape are still drawing breath. Do you think they’ll end up saving the day? That would be pretty great. Anyway, back to the battle: a full-frontal military-style assault against the prism birds didn’t work, so plan C is for Mogo to shoot an even bigger construct blast from her…chewy center, I suppose. Surprise of surprises, it doesn’t work. The blast draws the prisms to Mogo’s surface, then they all combine into even bigger robotic monsters that, frankly, are pretty awesome now that they’re on land. This is when Hal fesses up about having caused all the hubbub, and John takes that important information and commands that the combined Lantern Corps CHARGE THE ENEMY!

So we can say that neither John nor Hal understand the concept of “strategy.” It’s always ATTACK WITH FULL FORCE MOTHERFUCKERS which honestly works like 2% of the time. At least Soranik Natu is evacuating the injured and sick, into the impenetrable Sciencells which is…a damned good idea, actually. I think she should be running the show! Hal and Arkillo appear to join the fruitless fray, while Hal takes off in a construct fighter jet to head back to that dead planet and retrieve Krona’s Gauntlet, and hopefully end this mess. Once Hal breaks free of the immediate area, John Stewart tells everyone to lay down their rings because…of reasons? And back on that dead planet in Space Sector 563, we learn that Hal’s gonna have trouble retrieving Krona’s Gauntlet—because Sarko’s already found it, and he’s wearing it! And it looks good on him, to boot.

I loved the stupid bravado of Hal, John and Guy in this issue, to the extent that I hope it eventually proves them unfit to lead. The scenes with Sarko on the Remote Planet of Exposition were sort of silly, but necessary I suppose. Overall, this story feels like a bunch of bone-headed dudes having a farting contest, and it’s enjoyable on face value. Hopefully it goes somewhere interesting soon, and we’re not staring down the barrel of another bloated Green Lantern arc that’s resolved when someone cuts the Mega Fart and blows all the repercussions and actual story to smithereens.

Bits and Pieces:

The Prism continue to attack Mogo, and the combined Lantern Corps continue to fight back. We learn the source of their woes, but that doesn't seem to do them a lot of immediate good. The story moves along a little, the crazy constructs look great, there's nothing wrong with the nuts and bolts of this Green Lantern comic book.

7.5/10