The Green Lantern #9 Review

Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowki
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 3, 2019

I have come to an impasse with this book.  I want to like it, but I also really want a coherent, cohesive story to get me there.  I just don't see that coming any time soon so I am just going to go with the flow.  Let's see how this works out...



The issue opens with Marvel Maid, Logi, Quisto and more being wiped out in a devastating attack.  Not Quisto!  Say it ain't so!!!  Just like the last issue with Xeen Arrow, most of these characters are from one or two issues from over 50 years ago so pardon me if I tell you that I could give a rats ass about them!!!!

We then jump from Planet Kranaltine to Planet Athmoora which is a backward planet that Abin Sur visited in Green Lantern #16 in 1962 and again...  I understand that people love Grant Morrison for his imagination which is boundless...I just wish an editor would reel him in a bit so we can get a story, let alone a story arc out of him.  This book has literally become anything and everything Morrison throws at the wall and it's so frustrating!

After meeting the colorful locals, we finally get Hal by the middle of the issue and he comes in wearing armor and flying a dragon.  I would really like this if my head wasn't spinning from all the names that were being tossed about for pages on end. 

Hal then gets attacked by Ah-Bah-Nazzur (is that a spoiler?!?), talks to his ring, and has a construct sword battle as his ring's power is depleting.  We then get a crazy 1 + 1 = 7 way for Hal to figure out his situation and then realize that he is not speaking to the guy who died for him to get his ring...or is he???  It's a parallel universe thing you see and while I don't really have any idea what is happening, it ends in a cliffhanger with a couple of cool Lanterns and a Timothy Leary wannabe!

I really don't have any idea what the hell happened in this issue.  It looked fantastic due to Liam Sharp's awesome art, but someone needs to find out what Grant is on and maybe he'll share some of it with the rest of us!  I know that I risk being called a dummy because I "just don't get it", but...I JUST DON'T GET IT!  I am not going to pretend that this hodgepodge of nonsense has any deeper meaning than a guy giving random shoutouts to obscure characters and I won't fake the funk and give it a higher score to seem smarter than I am.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue is a fantastic looking bunch of nonsense.  Grant Morrison is too busy throwing obscure references at the reader to tell a coherent story and I've pretty much had enough.  Take the Morrison name off this book and I bet all those scores above mine would plummet very quickly!  It does look great though and that is almost all of my score.

4.5/10