The Green Lantern: Season Two #5 Review

Right in the Kisser!

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Liam Sharp
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 7, 2020

I have struggled with Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern since it began, and this second season has been even tougher!  Morrison has gone high camp with a series of (almost) one-shots, and Liam Sharp has joined him in the lab to cook up a new art style with each issue.  While I understand that a lot of what we are getting will eventually weave into an overall narrative, it's not easier on my brain in the here and now.  As someone who is not well versed in Silver-Age (and earlier) Green Lantern lore, some of the issues have required a bit of homework to understand where Grant is coming from, and that's no fun for a lazy guy like me.  So, are we going to finally get the Season Two story rolling after the last issue's crazy cliffhanger?  Let's find out...



The issue opens with some behind the scenes bits that lead up to Hal getting choked out by Hyperwoman the last issue.  We get to see Zarl Vorne, whose first appearance in Superboy #52 (October, 1956) matches well with Liam Sharp's art style here, complete with newsprint coloring.  When we finally get to Earth, we see Hyperman ready to squeeze gal reporter, Allie Astra's head until it pops.

We finally catch up to the last issue's cliffhanger about halfway into the issue, and that's when things heat up.  While Liam Sharp goes with a romance comic look, Hal does not write love letters and smooch with the ladies. It's a battle royale with Hyperwoman, Hyperman, and even Hyperdog going at Hal!  He eventually comes up with a plan but takes a beating getting there.

I like seeing Hal use his brains, especially when his ring is on the fritz, and I have to admit, when the Ornithoids show up to help out, it felt like a deserved moment, and I'm sure those reading each issue also had a smile on their faces.  

Yea, Morrison ends with a "the hero is dying" cliffhanger, but who knows with him!  Of course, if Hal does die, he'll come back in the craziest and convoluted way you can imagine.  I don't know if that is a good or bad thing!

This is the most straightforward issue of Season Two, but Morrison still makes readers work for it.  This Green Lantern book is like some new-fangled math that makes you go through 25 steps to get 2+2 = 4.  I'm sure some are enjoying the journey, but I am growing tired of it and want to know I am on the right road and using the right map.  I can't say I am always sure of that.

Liam Sharp's art is excellent as far as single issues go, but I wish we were getting a more consistent style.  I understand he's experimenting and having fun, but people complain when a book changes artists every issue, which feels like this.

Bits and Pieces:

With The Green Lantern: Season Two #5, Grant Morrison finally gets the overall plot moving forward, but there is still some work needed to decipher it.  Liam Sharp's art is excellent, but the changing art styles and the loose narrative make everything feel like a wacky experiment instead of an important book.  This is the only Green Lantern book on the shelf nowadays, and sometimes I'm starting to think Morrison and Sharp are taking advantage of that.

6.5/10