Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artists: Ethan Van Sciver and Liam Sharp

Colourist: Jason Wright

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

I'm mixed on this issue. On the one hand, Robert Venditti grounds this issue within the context of this series; on the other hand, this issue only focuses on the fight between Hal and Dawnbreaker, when I actually also wanted to see the fights between Wonder Woman and the Merciless, as well as between Aquaman and the Drowned. We get absolutely none of that, which really frustrated me.

Venditti isn't doing a good job with these opening scenes. Last issue's opening scene featuring Cyborg's narration wasn't handled very well, and this issue's opening scene just confused me. Hal talks about the 52 multiverses in existence but then goes on to claim that there is only one Coast City. That's simply wrong and is a direct contradiction, obviously since there are Coast Cities on other worlds. I just don't get the logic Venditti was applying to this monologue.

The true star of the show here was the art. Ethan Van Sciver is the artist for the vast majority of the issue, while Liam Sharp handled the last couple of pages. Van Sciver's work is pretty damn stunning. The immense use of blacks and the lighting effects on display are something we rarely see from Van Sciver. The sequence depicted is also particularly well-written and well-plotted. The basic idea of light versus the dark is physically represented in the darkness with Hal's ring lighting is up every once in a while. As for Sharp's art; it's good, but it's coloured to make the transition between the two artists more seamless so it's not representative of what Sharp is capable of as an artist.

My excitement for this crossover is officially dead, no matter how excellent the art we've been getting is. Seriously: Porter, Sharp, and Van Sciver have gotten the short shrift when it comes to the quality of writing here. This issue focused on the wrong things when it had this big sandbox to play in.