Green Lantern Corps #2: The Personal Touches

Large scale science fiction epics such as the storylines running through Green Lantern and now Green Lantern Corps run the risk of sacrificing character oriented stories in favor of big picture ideas. Random aliens across the galaxy being overcome by emotions may lead to exciting and unpredictable fight sequences, but they won’t necessarily connect on an emotional level for existing characters. Fortunately Green Lantern Corps #2 suggests that won’t be the case.

Hawkwoman leads a trio of Green Lanterns back to the ruins of Thanagar in Green Lantern Corps #2. She, John Stewart, Kilowag, and Razer find Atrocitus’ ship above what remains of the planet, drilling beneath the surface. Hawkwoman and the Green Lanterns split up to disable the ship and follow Atrocitus’ people into the planet. And as if this isn’t dangerous enough for the Green Lanterns, it gets even worse when Sorrow shows up.

Green Lantern Corps #2’s return to the utterly destroyed planet Thanagar is well-timed. Unlike the fractured emotional spectrum which so far has been seen to be the major fallout from the “Civil Corps Saga,” Thanagar’s destruction exacts an emotional toll on established characters. Hawkwoman is seeing her ruined planet for the first time. And she laments how Thanagarians have become barely tolerated refugees. This contrasts with the more abstract stories of unfamiliar characters getting overwhelmed by one of the colors of the emotional spectrum (as seen recently in Green Lantern #20). In addition, the trip to Thanagar ultimately carries with it a new plot point.

The fractured emotional spectrum storyline isn’t completely absent in Green Lantern Corps #2, though. Sorrow’s appearance overwhelms Atrocitus’ minions and threatens to do the same to the Green Lanterns. The issue also features a recent addition to the Green Lantern Corps, Razer. He was formerly aligned with the rage and hope emotions, but with the batteries destroyed he finds will is the best way to keep from being overwhelmed. Hence his becoming a Green Lantern. Razer’s explanation is brief and easy to understand, boiling down what is going on in the “Fractured Spectrum Saga” to a very easy to understand idea.

Pasarin, Albert, and Prianto deliver an attention grabbing, pop-off-the-page full page spread on Green Lantern Corps #2’s second page. It is the half obliterated Thanagar. The art more than lives up to the brief build-up in both this issue and the end of the previous one. Pasarin and Albert fill the page with detailed planetary debris in all manner of shapes and sizes. In some cases they maintain smooth, curved sides that Prianto colors identically to what remains of Thanagar’s surface. What remains of the planet occupies much of the page’s right side, and the surface looks perfectly ordinary with an expansive ocean and cloud cover. Prianto fills the approximate center of the destroyed planet with a bright orange/yellow starburst, more striking in color than anything else on the page. There are other big moments and eye popping visuals in the issue, but nothing quite as good as this.

The trio of artists also succeed at smaller, more intimate character moments. Particularly noteworthy is a brief sequence where Hawkwoman and John Stewart are forced to hide in a closet to avoid an alien that serves Atrocitus (and also looks like a cat). The two characters are shown in the closet over a mere four panels. The first shows both characters standing in profile, staring at each other. The second is a close-up on Hawkgirl’s face with the third offering a similar close-up on John Stewart’s. The final panel is again back in profile, this time only on their faces. Hawkwoman stands ramrod straight. Stewart leans slightly back from her. Hawkwoman looks up at Stewart. Stewart, the taller of the two, stares straight ahead. Generous shading around Stewart’s cheekbones and jawline suggests a clenched jaw. The darker coloring in the closet forces an intimate mood. There is no dialogue, so new readers won’t necessarily know what the background to these characters is. But the art team makes it clear that there is some kind of deep history here.

Most of Green Lantern Corps #2 is light on dialogue. Hampton and Adams let the art do the talking in many key moments (such as the above Hawkwoman/John Stewart sequence). As for the dialogue that is in the issue, especially in the more text heavy panels, Sharpe does an outstanding job keeping dialogue bubbles largely out of the way of the art, pushing them as close to panel edges as possible.