Green Lantern #24: Carol, Constructs, and Hal

Hal and Carol’s storyline is a mixed bag. This isn’t a new development in Green Lantern #24; it’s been a part of the series for a few issues now. Adams’ continued development of Carol as a member of the Justice League and a higher profile hero is welcome. Especially welcome is a brief sequence about her difficulty making creative constructs on par with Hal’s. But Hal’s continued presence and the flirtatious behavior it leads to weakens Carol’s development somewhat. Early in this story arc, Carol was resistant to Hal being in her life in any kind of romantic way lest it detract from her goal of developing better as a hero. Hal has become more important as the arc has gone on, though. And while that makes sense to a degree given that this is Green Lantern and not Green Lantern & Star Sapphire, it’s becoming a disservice to the character.

That said, Hal and Carol do work together in Green Lantern #24’s plot involving Happy, the axolotl. The easy banter Adams has established for the two characters plays effectively into the positive mood Happy inspires. Hal and Carol feel less overtly manipulated (as opposed to everyone else in the area) and thus able to use the emotional spectrum to respond to the threat.

The storyline featuring Kyle, Conner, Odyssey, and now Dan Garrett continues to be the stronger of the two. The larger ensemble and lack of a romantic undercurrent between anyone makes for more interesting dialogue exchanges. There is also concrete plot advancement where Hal is dealing with one-off consequences, some of which feel inconsequential.

Green Lantern #24’s layouts add a lot to the action sequences in both storylines. Ordinary square and rectangular panels make up the bulk of the issue. These panels don’t form standard grids, and sometimes they are superimposed over splash pages, but they create a sense of ordinariness. This contrasts heavily with uneven panels placed at unusual angles during the issue’s action. Regardless of how much of the issue’s final layouts owe to Adams or Xermánico, they successfully enhance the issue’s visual experience.

Xermánico’s art is a definite attention getter. Close-ups on characters are occasionally inconsistent, especially in Carol’s case where different expressions sometimes seem to distort her features from panel to panel. Action sequences and wide views featuring the larger character ensemble, on the other hand, are very successful. This is most evident in Kyle’s storyline. Late action sequences feature significant detail from clothes to weapons to small pieces of debris.

Hal’s storyline features similar detail in action, but in that case it is very much the result of Fajardo Jr.’s coloring. Xermánico’s lines in several panels and spreads are thin, allowing Fajardo Jr. to add detail through a variety of shades. Orange and pink especially get this treatment.

Fajardo Jr.’s work on characters is more subtle. Small patches of shading above the eyes, below lips, and along jawlines (to name just a few features, both facial and otherwise) add needed detail, especially in the case of somewhat less consistent art.

Helping Green Lantern #24’s visual experience along are Sharpe’s lettering skills. Hal and Carol’s storyline in particular is text heavy. Sharpe keeps dialogue bubbles out of the way as much as possible, in several cases using long connective tails to keep conversations along panel edges.