Thursday, May 16, 2024

Green Lantern #11 Review



  • Written by: Jeremy Adams

  • Art by: Xermanico, Amancay Nahuelpan

  • Colors by: Romulo Fajardo Jr.

  • Letters by: Dave Sharpe

  • Cover art by: Xermanico

  • Cover price: $4.99

  • Release date: May 14, 2024


Green Lantern #11 takes Carol Ferris for a walk down the aisle while Hal marshals the rebel Lanterns to confront Thaaros before the United Planets Council.

Is Green Lantern #11 Good?

Oh, Carol. You can't quit Hal Jordan. You never could, and you never will. That's the message Jeremy Adams sends to longtime Green Lantern fans, and it's a sure bet things are about to heat up in Sin City.

When last we left Hal Jordan, he infiltrated the OA Sciencecells to rescue what few Lanterns he could and at least one U.P. Lantern after learning Lord Premier Thaaros is orchestrating the destruction of Lantern batteries across the galaxy. 

Now, Carol Ferris laments yet another Hal Jordan disappearance, especially after the drone takeover at Ferris Industries left the company in tatters. Overcome by a need for stability, Carol asks Nate to elope to Las Vegas.

On OA, Hal discusses the Thaaros situation with his allies, and they agree that the tenuous nature of the U.P. Council might unravel if Thaaros was publicly exposed. At first, they believed it wouldn't work without proof. Fortunately, the U.P. Lantern they freed from the Sciencecells announces he'll testify that he witnessed Thaaros giving the order to destroy the batteries.

The Lanterns crash through the U.P. Council chamber door and accuse Thaaros of his crimes. However, the plan fails because the entire U.P. Council has been replaced by Thaaros's shapeshifting brethren. Let the fighting commence.

Meanwhile, Carol and Nate arrive at a Superman-themed wedding chapel to get married. The ceremony goes off without a hitch. But before rings are exchanged, a Star Sapphire ring materializes in the air in front of Carol.

Backup Story

Guy Gardner makes contact with OA to tell them he's apprehended the fugitive known as Lobo. Unfortunately, the Czarnian Guy has in custody isn't Lobo, and the communication sent was intercepted by every bounty hunter in the galaxy. Just as a barroom brawl over the right to turn in "Lobo" commences, the Czarnian is beamed up to Brainiac's ship with Guy along for the ride.

Frankly, I'm not a fan of Kevin Maguire's art in this backup but the story is amusing, and it unexpectedly (cleverly) incorporates Guy into the House of Brainiac story happening over in Action Comics.

What's great about Green Lantern #11? Adams uses this issue to initiate another welcome change in the status quo - namely the revelation that the U.P. is a bunch of baloney and now the heroes have a justifiable reason to take it out. If you could point to one thing Adams is doing consistently well, it's correcting and undoing mistakes of the past while bringing something new to the table. Establishing a new GL Corps was the right move. Exposing the U.P. is another right move. 

What's not so great about Green Lantern #11? Carol running off to get married seems out of character for her. Depending on how complete or binding the ceremony turned out before the Star Sapphire ring materialized, the "marriage" could add months of annoying drama that nobody is looking forward to. Surprise developments should fill the reader with anticipation, not dread. Let's hope Adams chooses not to repeat the mistakes Zeb Wells and Nick Lowe are unceasingly making with the Peter/MJ relationship over at Marvel.

How's the art? Xermanico's eye for dramatic compositions, energy, and character acting are on point. That said, Xermanico's stylistically rough hatching and contour lines don't seem to be a good fit for a Space Adventure comic.


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

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Bits and Pieces

Green Lantern #11 is another strong entry in the series when Hal and his rebel group of Lanterns expose the U.P., and Carol Ferris makes an impulsive move. Adams excels at telling stories that correct and improve on past mistakes from previous writers, so this does well to stand on its own and set the stage for potentially cool developments in the future. 

8/10

1 comment:

  1. Good thing with Jeremy Adams titles is even if you have a problem with an issue or two, he can get it back on track soon enough in the next issue unlike some other writers who keep on that track for ages until you can't stand the title anymore. I was critical of the previous issue ( pacing problems, too many human lanterns and the earth centric lantern core, a bit scattered plot with too much info taking focus away from Hal before we managed to establish him in this new title) but this issue got it back on track mostly. We focused less on the earth centric lantern core so I could ignore that and while I still say John should have been here instead of other human lanterns in this issue or Kyle should have been more prominent than certain other characters if we are going with an earth centric lantern core, that part could also be ignored if you want it. Aside from that, we had interesting plot developments, more galactic type side characters making appearances and having a role in plot and also ongoing development for our main character Hal in the form of his backstory with Carol and what's going on with her that gives a more personal and character driven side to this plot that is also neatly merged with superheroic action. I really liked the bonus story with Guy. My score would have been higher if we had John or Kyle in this issue instead of others (mostly cause out of the earth lanterns, they have been established better and also their power sets make more sense but also cause they are better written characters and I don't appreciate being forced to read other characters that clearly have failed and don't work just because the writers desperately want them to work, Cruz and Mullein especially. They just flood the number of earth green lanterns, making it nonsensical and not being well written in the first place while also taking the spot from better written characters. Feel free to create and write new characters but their writing quality and whether they fit in the story or not will determine if they are an enduring character and good ). My score 7 out of 10.

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