Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #37

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Rafa Sandoval

Inker: Jordi Tarragona

Colourist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

This is a very typical issue of Robert Venditti. He decides to throw out a brand-new story that hasn't been established as opposed to actually continuing a story that he's already set-up. Let me explain.

The Guardians of the Universe came back in the previous issue, which is a very big deal for the Green Lantern mythos. John Stewart also sees it as a big deal, as he takes issue with the Guardians returning after their actions. Hal, Kyle, and Guy also feel the same way and hence there's an interesting underbelly, a potential conflict between the main Lanterns and the Guardians. But John sends them away to investigate something that turns out to be Zod and his family. I really want to see the other storyline play out, but Venditti is cutting it short, only to revisit it at a later date for the sake of a "long-form story".

This wasn't a bad issue by any means; it's just paced oddly. I liked some of the Zod scenes since Venditti and Rafa Sandoval do a great job of selling the threat of Zod and his family. This isn't the first time this book has picked up a thread left by another book; issues #30 and #31 dealt with the Superman/Parallax story that started in the SUPERMAN book, and now the hanging Zod threat from ACTION COMICS is now picked up. I like that continuity synergy that this book brings out from time to time.

Sandoval's art is pretty magnificent. There's a really epic double-page spread near the end of the issue which really impressed me. The team of Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Tomeu Morey is one of DC's current best in my opinion.

This is a story that doesn't really need to be told since there's a far more interesting one just waiting on the backburner involving the Guardians, but this issue sure was pretty to look at.