The emotional spectrum is being destroyed, one battery at a time, and Hal Jordan is helpless to do anything about it.  Your Major Spoilers review of Green Lantern #8 from DC Comics, awaits!

GREEN LANTERN #8

Writers: Jeremy Adams and Ron Marz
Artists: Amancay Nahuelpan and Dale Eaglesham
Colorists: Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Alex Guimaraes
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Paul Kaminski
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 13th, 2024

Previously in Green Lantern: Hal Jordan has discovered that the United Planets, the organization that has kept him trapped on Earth, is consolidating the power of the emotional spectrum in dangerous and nefarious ways.

STILL STUCK

Green Lantern #8 begins with the Blue Lantern Razer telling Hal about how the blue central power battery was destroyed and then how the planet it was on was raided by pirates.  They realize they need to get to Oa to warn someone about this, but Hal still can’t escape Earth no matter how hard he tries.  The pair decide to seek help from Madam Xanadu who explains that Sinestro had come to her with the same problem and that there isn’t anything she can do.  But there’s a place in Spain where they might learn more.  They are then attacked by United Planet Lanterns who reveal abilities that neither Hal nor Razer predicted. After the attack, Hal heads to Spain.  In a follow-up story, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner reminisces about his early days as the only Green Lantern and realizes that he’s lost himself a bit.  He’s joined by Sojourner who tells him she thinks she’s figured out what The United Planets are up to.

FINALLY, SOME PROGRESS

This series has been spinning its wheels for a while now, focusing more on “moments” rather than actually pushing the plot forward.  But, here in Green Lantern #8, we finally see Hal show a bit of agency and try to figure out what’s going on.  Everything in this issue actually feels like it’s leading somewhere, even the fight with the United Planets Lanterns manages to reveal an interesting twist.  While this progress is a nice change of pace, it comes with a price and that is the ongoing love story between Hal and Carol being put on the backburner in an obvious way.  The interactions between Hal and Razer are nice and it is fun to see a character basically bust Hal’s chops and call him out for all his more annoying qualities, but some of Razer’s “alien unfamiliar with Earth culture”-isms are kind of cringey and cliché, so his inclusion here is a bit of a mixed bag. Somewhat surprisingly, the backup story here is one of the best parts of the issue.  Getting a chance to see Kyle reflect on times gone by as well as seeing him team up with Jo are both just feel-good moments.

DYNAMIC AND VIVID

The art in Green Lantern #8 features some of the best art that this series has seen.  The characters all have a variety of facial expressions that manage to not come off as distorted or unnatural, the action scenes are fluid and have a good sense of motion, and the colors pop.  There’s really not much to nitpick here.  That unfortunately can’t be said about the cover.  While it doesn’t have much impact on the issue itself, the main cover prominently features a Hal Jordan who I think is supposed to look determined but looks more like he’s pouting, and Kyle Rayner who frankly looks like a psychopath.

BOTTOM LINE:  NOT PERFECT, BUT HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Green Lantern #8 is a good-looking book that does a good job in getting the overarching plot, which has been stagnant the last couple of issues, moving forward.  While not every interaction between Hal and Razer is great, for the most part, they’re decent and they manage to poke a little fun at Hal.  Also, the backup story doesn’t feel tacked on and feels consequential to both the characters involved and the ongoing story.   4 out of 5 stars.

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Green Lantern #8

80%

80%

Moving Right Along

Green Lantern #8 brings some progress to a series that has been sorely missing a sense of movement, even with the big moments that have happened in the last couple of issues. Its backup story is also a nice addition that doesn’t come off as filler.

• Writing

  7
• Art

  9
• Coloring

  8
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
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