Absolute Green Lantern #15: I Know Why The Caged Bird Kills

A war rages on two fronts on the route to Mogo. Outside the lantern, John, Guy, and Hal do their best to hold off Black Hands Katma Tui and Salaak, meanwhile Jo and Tomar Re continue to do battle for her mind and soul.

This arc of AGL has leaned more into traditional Green Lantern storytelling with less lore and more “ring-slinging”, and this isn’t a bad thing at all. Along with the pulse-pounding action, the creative team also balances pathos and mystery.

Al Ewing being as good as he is is no real surprise at this point. Ewing expands more on the Golden Light and how it could become a hindrance to John Stewart and his allies. There is also the interesting inversions of the characters of Katma Tui and Salaak, who are nothing like their Earth-One selves, though Katma does have a somewhat eerily flirtatious conversation with John that harkens back to their Earth-One counterparts relationship. He also gives a further look into Tomar Re’s psyche when Jo figures out his master plan and how she comes more into her own power and how (un)limited it is by her imagination.

Sid Kotian’s art continues to kill it, creating various different imaginative, and even at times gross, ways the characters use their various light wielding abilities. This is all once again wonderfully enhanced by Prasad Rao’s spectacular colors that seem to burst from the pages.