Review: ‘Green Lantern’ #2 Pulls Hal Out Of Tailspin

Hal Jordan’s life has been turned upside-down. Green Lantern #2 is determined to show how an experienced pilot and turn that around.

Jeremy Adams, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Dave Sharpe continue Hal’s comeback while Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Montos, Adriano Lucas and Sharpe set up John Stewart’s future.

Shortly after regaining his ring, Hal begins to test its limits. After taking down the Demolition Team, he starts testing his upper limits- though that might bring his time back in the uniform to a halt. And in the present, Hal has to figure out his work situation. Thankfully he’s got Kilowog and a hell of a lot of determination.

This is another issue that I think the dual timelines are to the story’s detriment. This issue, the flashbacks are a lot of fun (great callback with the appearance of the Demolition Team). I enjoyed the present day storyline as well. However, including them both in the same issue has created a disjointed feel to the story. I almost feel like it would have been better served to have the flashback portions to be the first two to three issues, then jump back into the present day, “Hal putting his life back together” storyline following that. 

Sharpe really brings the dialogue to life, playing with fonts and balloons to mimic a soundscape on the page. I do wish his white-on-green captions were easier to read, which could be tweaked with a darker green or a grey text instead of white.

And a side note here, after seeing Shazam!’s cliffhanger and now Green Lantern’s both leading directly into Knight Terrors, I don’t totally understand why DC is putting the regular series on pause. It feels like it would make more sense to just continue the regular series for the most part, as really the ongoing series aren’t pausing. They’re leading directly into this crossover.

Xermanico’s art continues to impress, especially with Fajardo’s colors. He balances the grounded elements of the story, such as Hal’s job hunt, with the fantastic. Hal coming home to Kilowog getting him a beer is incredibly relatable, despite the fact that one of these two “guys” is a giant pink alien. Meanwhile, every construct looks great- from Hal’s fake ghosts in the flashbacks to the simple, average pair of pliers, the only construct used in the present day sequence. Fajardo’s colors, a key part of any Lantern book, gives the ring’s energy an otherworldly glow while making everything else look and feel as vibrant, while down to earth.

The John Stewart back-up just gets me excited for that series, now confirmed to be coming in September. It’s tense, gritty without going too dark, and centered in John’s character. 

Green Lantern #2 is available now from DC Comics.