Written by: Jeremy Adams
Art by: Xermánico
Colors by: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Cover art by: Xermánico (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: October 16, 2024
Is Green Lantern #16 Good?
Hachi Machi. Jeremy Adams swings for the fences in an issue that feels as big and epic as any DC comic in years. No one issue in any of the multitude of failed DC events in the last few years reads as grand in scale and well put together. You get the feeling that something important is happening, which is how every DC comic should read.
When last we left Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern: Civil Corps Special #1, Hal, Carol, and Jon confronted the joint council of Thanagar and Rann to warn them about Thaaros, but their warning came much too late. Meanwhile, Guy and Shepherd infiltrated the Sciencecells on Oa, and Alan Scott created a healthy distraction for the Unseeing.
In Green Lantern #16, the desperate escape from genocide begins. Hal, Carol, and John get a thousand survivors or less aboard the Rannian Battle Cruiser as what's left of Thanagar burns. Outside Mogo, forced into a Red Lantern state, and Thaaros's spectrum-shifted Lanterns charge the Rannian ship to prevent witnesses from escaping the scene.
Jeremy Adams launches the issue into an all-out fight for survival against overwhelming odds. You won't find any MCU-styled quippy humor or attempts from our heroes to be kinder and gentler. This story is fight-or-die time, and it'll get your blood pumping.
Escape won't be easy. The Rannian ship's engine is damaged, and the forces are closing in. Hal sends Carol down to the engine room to use her ring's power and expertise with engineering to fix the ship, despite her uncertainty as a new hero. Hal and John head out into open space to hold off the pursuing Lanterns. Their job starts simple enough, but the fight gets complicated when Varron, aka Star Shroud, joins the Durlan forces.
Aboard the nearby Durlan ship, the shapeshifters discuss how they intend to hold control of the spectrum-shifted Lantern force now that Thaaros is dead. The answer might come by way of Thaaros's experiments on the young Earth girl back on Oa - Keli Quintela, aka Teen Lantern. What the Durlans don't realize is that Keli's unconscious mind has been contacted by John Stewart's construct "sister," Ellie, and the two begin planning an escape.
I'll be the first to say I'd be happy if we never heard from Teen Lantern again, thanks to Brian Michael Bendis's abysmal writing. However, Adams has my interest if he can find a way to make the character more interesting and less obnoxious.
The issue concludes with a dead enemy who isn't so dead, Guy and Shepherd staging a prison break, and Carol's efforts to help the Rannian ship escape running the ship into another problem... maybe.
What's great about Green Lantern #16?
Jeremey Adams's inaugural issue for what amounts to a Civil War is steeped in action, drama, twists, turns, surprises, and wow moments aplenty. If every DC Comic started a new arc with this much gusto, the Publisher's sales numbers would be in a much better place.
What's not great about Green Lantern #16?
Similar to the criticism about the Green Lantern: Civil Corps Special #1, Varron, aka Star Shroud, doesn't make any sense unless you've read the recently canceled Green Lantern: War Journal series. It would have served the story better to have a brief primer somewhere rather than prompting readers to go back and read a series nobody liked.
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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Final Thoughts
Green Lantern #16 is a hard-hitting, all-out action fest to begin a war with stakes, consequences, drama, and surprises. Jeremy Adams's script makes this issue feel more important than anything DC has produced in years. Plus, Xermánico's art is excellent.9/10
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