The Green Lantern has been framed for murder, but… Who could pose as a flying man with a magic ring? Your Major Spoilers review of Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #2 from DC Comics awaits!

ALAN SCOTT: THE GREEN LANTERN #2

Writer: Tim Sheridan
Artist: Cian Tormey
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Editor: Andrew Marino
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 28, 2023

Previously in Alan Scott: The Green Lantern: Alan’s search for the killer framing him continues! But why are the murder victims people from Alan’s past, and how does this connect to his brief stint in Arkham Asylum!?

A DISTURBING NEW TAKE ON ARKHAM

We open with The Green Lantern and Doiby Dickles in hiding, intending to investigate the recent murders in Gotham, but suspected by the police of committing them. Doiby asks a question that sets Alan thinking back, remembering just a few years earlier. Alan had been given the option to commit himself to Arkham Asylum’s Deviant Wing rather than be discharged from the service dishonorably. While in the “care” of the doctors there, Alan encountered Billie, whose family had put her away because they found her homosexuality embarrassing. It’s Billie who takes the strange green meteor and carves it into a Green Lantern, and it’s Billie who tries to get Alan to accept himself rather than conform to social norms that shouldn’t apply.

It’s also Billie who sets him on his path when she is lobotomized by the doctors because she refuses to live as a man.

LOTTA BUILD-UP TO SOMETHING THEY’VE ALREADY SHOWN

The traditional origin of the original Green Lantern is revisited here, with the Lantern flashing once to bring life, once to bring death, and once to bring power, with a meaningful train crash involved, but this issue reframes that. Rather than being on the train as an employee, Alan is fleeing the Asylum with other inmates, having finally decided to take Billie’s advice to heart. I had some issues with the clarity of the timeline last issue, but there are no such problems here. The combination of captions and dialogue makes it clear when and where it all happens, and even the most problematic parts of the story are easy to parse (which actually makes them more horrible). The art is also clear, and I have to say that the final page reveal of ~~The Red Lantern~~ the mystery villain is a very strong bit of composition. It’s just a little bit dulled by the fact that a Who’s Who page gave us the whole story behind the mystery several months ago.

BOTTOM LINE: IMPROVES ON NUMBER ONE

All in all, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #2 is a winner, taking one of the earliest superheroes and giving him a modern spin, with the full force of retrograde attitudes to alternative lifestyles proving to be the worst “supervillain” in recent memory, rounding out to 4 out of 5 stars overall. I’m interested in seeing where this all goes, even if the Red Lantern is fait accompli.

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