Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1 Review

   

   

Written by: Jeremy Adams

Art by: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira
Colors by: Luis Guerrero
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Cover art by: Lucio Parillo
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: July 11th, 2023

Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1 sends Hal Jordan through the best and worst moments of his life as Insomnia's influence creates a world of nightmares that not even the greatest Green Lantern can escape.
Is It Good?

This is fine. With all due respect to Jeremy Adams, Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1 is just okay. Nothing particularly surprising or revelatory happens, and the art is great, but that's all you can really say about this issue, pertinent to the Knight Terrors event.

If you're up to speed on Knight Terrors, you know Deadman (using Batman's body) is looking for a way to stop Insomnia from acquiring the Nightmare Stone to make his power over Earth's nightmares permanent. Insomnia put the whole world to sleep during that conflict, forcing each hero to grapple with one or more personal nightmares.

Does Hal Jordan's trip through his deepest, darkest fears have any pertinence to the fight with Insomnia? No, not at all. If you're pinching your pennies to buy only the comics pivotal to the Knight Terrors event, this isn't one of them.

Are you saying it's a bad comic, Mr. Grumpy Reviewer? No, not at all. In fact, it's an engaging two-parter that works as a bottle story. Hal faces one personal demon after another - his father's death, the weight of assuming the ring for the first time, departing the Corps after the Untied Planets took over, and Parallax. In other words, you get the greatest hits of big events that shaped the man Hal is today, so that's saying something. Bonus kudos to Adams for using a funeral scene to recognize Hal's Jewish heritage.

What's so bad about this issue? Nothing. The issue itself is fine. What's bad is how foolishly the Knight Terrors event interfered with the Green Lantern title's momentum when it's just getting started and how little this issue has to do with Knight Terrors.  We are only two weeks into the event and it's obvious that the writers of these tie-in issues have been given little to no information or guidance on how to actually tie into the main Knight Terrors event. If DC had scaled down the event, or better yet, not made it an event at all, Green Lantern would be in a much better place. Adams is doing his best with the assignment given, but this issue didn't need to exist.

   

How's the art? Excellent. Pansica and Ferreira turn in a fantastic collection of pencils/inks for a top-tier-looking book. You could argue against the whole intent of the comic within an ill-conceived event, but you can't argue against the quality of the art.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces:

Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1 is a well-written and well-drawn comic that didn't need to exist. It has nothing to do with the main Knight Terrors conflict and nothing to do with the main Green Lantern series already in progress. Overall, Adams does a great job with what he was given.

7.5/10