Green Lantern #47 Review

With the Green Lantern Corps gone, Hal Jordan is the only will-power-based warrior left in the universe.

So, who’s been murdering Yellow Lanterns in deep space?  And what’s up in Coast City?  Your Major Spoilers review of Green Lantern #47 awaits!

GREEN LANTERN #47
Writer: Robert Venditti
Penciler: Billy Tan/Martin Coccolo
Inker: Mark Irwin
Colorist: Tony Avina
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Green Lantern: After a stint as leader of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan has gone rogue, stealing a prototype gauntlet from the GLC’s secret armory, and gone on the run, allowing the Corps to put all the blame on him for any any all negative press the Corps had encountered in the New 52.  Of course, since he did so, all the other Green Lanterns have disappeared, leading to a strange new status quo for Jordan.  Now, returning from deep space, he is ready to take some time to check in on his family back in Coast City, California on Earth…

YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

As our issue opens, we find a pair of Sinestro Corpsman on the run, in mortal terror of something unseen, gibbering in panic that all the Green Lanterns are supposed to be gone, only to be cut down by green power bolts.  Who could it be?  (Whoever it is, it looks remarkably like Harold Jordan.)  Back in Earth’s orbit, Hal puts his new colleagues on hold, leaving them in orbit (including the one guy who clearly wants to murder him) in order to check in on his brother on Earth.  I have to say, while Billy Tan’s art isn’t bad, the new Jordan design (long hair, long coat, gauntlet to channel GL power rather than a ring) is pure 90s nonsense, and looks really goofy.  Thankfully, Jim Jordan insists that his brother get a haircut before they meet the family, after which they set off for the seaside amusement park where a strange man (from a country called Modora, making him a new version of classic GL villain Sonar) starts blowin’ stuff up. Using his gauntlet (“more powerful than a dozen power rings”), Hal saves who he can, but seemingly misses one victim: His nephew Howard.

THE HAIRCUT ALREADY?

I’m not 100% sure about this issue, in terms of the ongoing storyline.  Hal’s bold new look (for some values of “new” anyway) is already going by the wayside, and the mystery of the GLC is maddeningly vague this issue.  Indeed, the pacing of the entire comic feels off, with Hal spending a lot of time explaining to various people what he’s all about, strange detours in plotting and artistic difficulties in recognizing who’s who that undermine some of the drama of the reveal.  Of course, the best part of the issue comes on the final page, as the slayer of Yellow Lanterns is revealed to be…

…Hal Jordan, Parallax, from a previous iteration of the universe.  It’s a strong reveal, and one that sets up an interesting (if somewhat on the nose) rivalry of Jordan vs. Jordan for the future.

THE BOTTOM LINE: WEAK ISSUE, STRONG LAST PAGE

All in all, it’s not my favorite issue of Green Lantern in recent memory, even if it does finally start to step away from the endless spiral of massive space armies at war.  It’s hard to like the modern Hal, for a lot of reasons, which makes this issue’s focus on family a good thing from a storytelling standpoint, but indistinct art and uncertain pacing leave it less than successful, meaning that Green Lantern #47 earns a somewhat disappointed 2 out of 5 stars overall.  If things go the way they’re looking, we could get some strong drama out of Parallax Vs. Green Lantern, but this issue feels like marking time until we get to that point…