Green Lantern #19
Geoff Johns has been writing Green Lantern stories for close to a decade. His stories have been both big and small. This penultimate story sets up the final chapter, but in all honesty it seems like this title could run nearly forever. This chapter moves characters in the story carefully along the plot of the comic. It is clear that this is setting up the final chapter for all of the big moments of the series finale.
Even though the title features great characters this comic features far too many of them. There are three main characters in this title that almost get equal screen time. While at times over the last month or two the Green Lantern title can feel fragmented it always has maintained a high quality. The supporting cast in this title is so vast seeing your favorites is cause for celebration. While Johns has been juggling the cast with mixed results for some time now, ambition is always something to be admired in the medium of comics.
The issue has two fill in artists in the form of Ardian Syaf and Szymon Kudranski. Kudranski’s pencils feel very close to Jim Lee and do not exactly live up to the high standards of the series regular Doug Mahnke. However all of the splash pages delivered from the artist show a sense of finesse that the others are lacking. While Kudranski has the potential to deliver interesting pencils, his work does seem rushed. Syaf has been illustrating a death world that is draped in surreal shadow. The art is extremely stylized and works very well within the context of the story. Moments with Hal Jordan are drawn truly beautifully and gives the art a visceral context.
Even though the title features inconsistent art, Johns has a great script filled with surprises. Ideas that have been building for many months begin to culminate within these pages. The character arcs for Hal Jordan and Sinestro are starting to come full circle for the title. The First Lantern has been a unclearly defined villain at this point and must be fleshed out by series end. If Johns decided to take the tale back to the very beginning characters like the Spectre and Parallax would be very interesting to revisit. Sinestro truly starts to pay for his sins as a villain here, and these next moments of his life are going to define him as a character in the New 52. Simon Baz has not been completely fleshed out by any writer yet, hopefully he will stay in the book or live up to his potential in Justice League Of America.
Although it seems obvious that Johns could write Green Lantern forever, the title is beginning to wind down. It is up to next issue to see if following Johns down the rabbit hole will truly pay off. Next months issue is called “The End Of Everything.” Johns has much to deliver to this series in one issue.
Even though the title features great characters this comic features far too many of them. There are three main characters in this title that almost get equal screen time. While at times over the last month or two the Green Lantern title can feel fragmented it always has maintained a high quality. The supporting cast in this title is so vast seeing your favorites is cause for celebration. While Johns has been juggling the cast with mixed results for some time now, ambition is always something to be admired in the medium of comics.
The issue has two fill in artists in the form of Ardian Syaf and Szymon Kudranski. Kudranski’s pencils feel very close to Jim Lee and do not exactly live up to the high standards of the series regular Doug Mahnke. However all of the splash pages delivered from the artist show a sense of finesse that the others are lacking. While Kudranski has the potential to deliver interesting pencils, his work does seem rushed. Syaf has been illustrating a death world that is draped in surreal shadow. The art is extremely stylized and works very well within the context of the story. Moments with Hal Jordan are drawn truly beautifully and gives the art a visceral context.
Even though the title features inconsistent art, Johns has a great script filled with surprises. Ideas that have been building for many months begin to culminate within these pages. The character arcs for Hal Jordan and Sinestro are starting to come full circle for the title. The First Lantern has been a unclearly defined villain at this point and must be fleshed out by series end. If Johns decided to take the tale back to the very beginning characters like the Spectre and Parallax would be very interesting to revisit. Sinestro truly starts to pay for his sins as a villain here, and these next moments of his life are going to define him as a character in the New 52. Simon Baz has not been completely fleshed out by any writer yet, hopefully he will stay in the book or live up to his potential in Justice League Of America.
Although it seems obvious that Johns could write Green Lantern forever, the title is beginning to wind down. It is up to next issue to see if following Johns down the rabbit hole will truly pay off. Next months issue is called “The End Of Everything.” Johns has much to deliver to this series in one issue.
A Look Inside
