The Green Lantern #2: JAILBREAK!!!!

I didn’t want to reveal A THING about this delight of a book, I had such a good time reading it the alien characters in general make this so perfect. For the first time in recent memory Oa genuinely feels like a melting pot of dozens of cultures, species like Xudarians and Spiders have distinct likes and dislikes. Really great! An especially good moment was Hal talking about how much humans hate spiders while Xudarians consider bugs food, setting Tru up perfectly to play predatory bad cop in a sequence that could have been a cop drama like Gotham Central.

I knew I was going to end up comparing this series to Ed Brubaker’s sublime gritty crime drama and it didn’t take long. Swap the space effects for Gotham and Evil Star for Riddler and this feels pitch perfect. Amazing the way Morrison has blended the two genres into something truly phenomenal.

The art by Liam Sharp was incredible for alien effects with ships and alien monsters looking just amazing and detailed. I still have to say I don’t like the way he draws Hal, the proportions seem off for some reason, which is weird since everything else looks so great.

Colors by Steve Oliff were flawless in the settings, with spectacular sequences taking place in deep space and on Oa, the varied colors of distant stars and a bustling spaceport were beautifully conveyed.

Industry veteran Tom Orzechowski letters this series and his work these 2 issues has been top notch, with huge stretches of dialogue (it is Morrison after all) flowing organically without feeling cluttered.

I will note that this issue is a bit light on the high stakes action Green Lantern has been synonymous with since Geoff Johns’ run, instead exchanging it for a jailbreak with no casualties and an effective interrogation that felt like something real! This series has achieved something I asked for way back in Hal and the Corps #34  —a Green Lantern series focused on police work.