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Underground > Comic Books >

Green Lantern: On The Ring Again

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02:39 / 23.12.04

New issue out and it's pretty damn good. Great art by Ethan, and Geoff Johns really justifies this whole "Parallax as impurity" thing far better than I thought he would. It really all makes sense.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

15:38 / 23.12.04

It seems as though he's setting up Parallax to be some sort of inborn flaw within all individuals who possess the ring, like a dual nature generated not unlike a mental virus.

So, pretty much like Kyle's darkside in Winick's run. Why bother? They're bowing to the HEAT fans, why not just print a full page letter apologising for ever removing Hal from GL, then have him walking out of the shower saying "Wow, what a wacky dream I just had!" Then they can just go back to their sad Seventies cyan circle jerk...

17:07 / 23.12.04

Well, obviously the explaination given in the latest issue was a little different than what I had assumed, but sufficient none the less... And you know, I don't know that it was necessarily "giving into HEAT" that lead to Jordan's return. Let's cut the shit; first and foremost Hal's return is an easy way to make large scale flow, visa vie "the return of a classic, much-beloved" blahblahblah. Rayner has just as much potential as Jordan ever did, anyone who tells you different doesn't know what it means to be a writer. But this story has in turn further alluded to a complex and captivating persona for Jordan (and the GL mythos in general) as envisioned by Johns & co., and from that has expanded nicely GL's role within the DCU. I'm glad DC's switching things up a little, making sense of some convolution. But more than that I'm stoked to be this interested in a character I've never really read before. If nothing else that says something about the success of the story.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

18:08 / 24.12.04

New issue: IBID my earlier remark thar Johns has a LOT of work ahead of him. I really like the fruity new-age explanation as to what the green energy is, using willpower to manipulate the emotional energy of the universe is a great idea and the concept that Parallax is a living flaw imprisoned in the central battery looking for a host is also nice.

I keep imagining it's terribly convoluted and confusing for the casual reader, but I appreciate thar Johns is not, as others have pointed out, retconing or undoing the work of the past few years but instead using those stories to make a new mythology rather than a staggered series of one-offs and 'event' comics as they currently stand.

07:56 / 25.12.04

Let's be honest, even if this retcon is just giving up to HEAT, and the whole explanation is long, drawn out, and complicated... that's comics history. I am starting to see a picture, where basically all of comics history is an explanation for some continuity error, or another retcon "back to basics." That's where all the fodder for the good writers comes from.

Witness Earth/Universe/Paradise X

15:28 / 30.12.04

from Rich Johnston's former rumor site, All The Rage, over at Silver Bullet Comic Books....

---------------------------

Got A Light?

Geoff Johns (JSA, Teen Titans) is rumored to be working on a second ongoing Green Lantern series that will spotlight the Green Lantern Corps led by John Stewart.

This is probably the Green Lantern series that Dave Gibbons has been working on for the last few months and will be released to coincide with the new Hal Jordan Green Lantern ongoing series by Johns, Pacheco and Van Sciver.

DC wanted a second GL series to capitalize on Geoff John’s successful re-launch of the title, and to offer John Stewart fans (especially those who know him from the animated series) a book of their own.

No mention of Kyle Rayner though…

This Has A “Little Green Men” Factor Of Seven Out Of Ten

20:49 / 18.01.05

Unrelated to the 'vote for Ethan!' thread that just came up, I was rereading GL: Rebirth #3 last night and I really have to hand it to Ethan for his super-cool design (creepy sci-fi/fantasy stuff) of the Parallax creature, and the subtle recurrence of what he and Geoff have made the Parallax 'logo' (taken from the chest emblem of whoever created the original Hal Jordan Parallax costume...maybe Darryl Banks?).

19:13 / 19.02.05

#4 is out, and it's pretty darn good. Great superhero action, the story actually felt like it really BUILT to something, I got revved up for the climax even though I knew perfectly well where it was going. That to me is that mark of some good storyteling.

And great art by Ethan once again.

20:27 / 24.02.05

No one else reading this? I really liked #4 - great build-up to the end, an amazing Spectre shot, Ethan goes crazy on this issue, and just superhero good stuff all around...

21:09 / 24.02.05

I really liked the way Geoff managed to make Sinestro a scary villain, and the way Etah drew him was excellent. Anyway I think this mini is very good, a lot better than I originally expected (being that I had never read anything from Geoff before) and I even got goosebumps with last last page.

Spyder Todd 2008

23:00 / 24.02.05

I'm gonna agree on the much "better than expected" bit. The fact that Johns somehow managed to make Hal going crazy-evil 10 years ago make sense, AND explain how the yellow flaw worked made me overlook the fact that I dislike his take on Bats. Art is spectacular as always. An even though this series is going to end in a predictable, traditional, property damage insuing metahuman battle royal (the only way you can solve these things in comic books), it's still gonna be rockin' to watch.

I just really hope Kyle doesn't die though...

13:25 / 25.02.05

I was going to avoid saying anything until the first story arc is done, but it's really much, much better than I expected. Everything's spot-on. And Sinestro reminds me of Vincent Price, so that's an unexpected little gem.

13:31 / 25.02.05

Kyle is alive and kicking on the cover of the Rann/Thanagar War #1. Geoff Johns even pointed out "Look, Kyle is alive in this upcoming comic book" at a recent convention.

Kyle lives.

14:05 / 25.02.05

More on Kyle from Dave Gibbons, who's writing the upcoming Rann/Thanagar war miniseries (this from a Newsarama article):

>> And yes, like Geoff Johns, Gibbons also noted that Kyle Rayner is on the cover of issue #1 – signifying that he apparently doesn’t die in Green Lantern: Rebirth. “Just as Adam Strange has been through a war of sorts before our story begins, so has Kyle. The scars of Rebirth are starting to heal for the Lanterns and the Guardians are thinking once more of the part they must play in the evolution of the universe. As Kyle was finding, even before Rebirth, his destiny lies increasingly off-world. How he will respond to his new role and the orders he receives is what we'll see the beginnings of here. Like much else in the DCU right now, we're in the foothills of massive changes that are building for anyone with a Green Lantern ring.”

02:29 / 27.02.05

It was kind of cheesy that Geoff Johns has Ganthet refer to the Green Lanterns as 'his points of light,' though, evoking George H.W. Bush's infamous "Thousand Points of Light" speech.

18:15 / 28.03.05

#5 out soon...this week or next, I think.

19:07 / 28.03.05

Next week (4/6).

Nearly a two month wait. Too bad it wasn't more of a suspenseful cliffhanger.

14:42 / 07.04.05

Well, that was kind of... blah. The issues leading up to this were so much better. Hal and Sinestro's conversation during the fight was amazingly dull, but I liked Sinestro's parting line.

The attention-grabbing move by Batman at the end was a nice suprise, but really, it was kind a stupid move. If he really feels Hal is such a threat, he should have tried to knock him out with the batarang. Or better yet, just talked to him. Instead he went for that half-assed attempt at physically intimidating him, which is just going to make Hal pissed off and not listen to anything he has to say.

14:47 / 07.04.05

I agree that the previous issues were better than this one. Ethan is still doing some really nice work on this book, though.

Although at least this is better than Countdown -- and Johns is writing Infinite Crisis, so maybe (hopefully) it'll be more similar in tone to Rebirth or Johns' Titans and JSA than Identity Crisis.

18:16 / 07.04.05

The part I found weird was the way that Ethan is using Lantern symbols in the iconography. Reminds me of the (over)use of ankh symbols in past versions of Doctor Fate.

20:35 / 07.04.05

Yeah, I applaud them taking a chance with something new artistically with the characters, but it was a bit much.

Although when Walt Simonson did the stylized ankhs in his Dr. Fate stories, it looked cool

20:48 / 07.04.05

This issue felt a little bit like padding. Is it me or not only Batman is opposing Hal? It seems as if the rest of the JLA is ready to stop him on that last page, after all they are behind Batman all looking tough.

01:37 / 08.04.05

I have to agree with you there. When Walt does nearly ANYTHING, it's cool.

Ethan Van Sciver

18:59 / 08.04.05

It's not so much 'iconography' like Dr. Fate's ankhs as it is a warning. The GLs are a police force, and the symbols on their chests and rings flash and strobe like police sirens. It's like flashing a badge, a logo that anyone in the universe can recognize from a distance and know what they're in for, and what it represents.

Plus, their costumes are made of green energy. I hate that they've been made to be so static and to look like spandex. They glow, they change, they spark and intimidate.

Ethan V.

20:30 / 08.04.05

Fair enough, Ethan. But it looked to me like they had lantern symbols floating around them for no particular reason. I'll look at the art again, from this perspective, and re-evaluate my stance.

13:30 / 10.04.05

I'm starting to become curious about this "emotional spectrum" idea of Geoff's. The problem is, while there are (according to most theories) about 8 basic emotions, "willpower" isn't one of them. So I find myself wondering how he's going to fit 7 emotions in 4 or 5 colors.

For the record, the basic emotions are supposedly:

Acceptance, Joy, Anticipation, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, Surprise & Fear. The lists vary a bit, but this is the one I've seen most often. Other emotions are either blends or more extreme versions.

01:39 / 11.04.05

OK, Ethan, I reread the issue, and I think your idea worked pretty well...except for the "Polish off your rings" panel, which is just a little overdone.

18:05 / 12.05.05

One punch!!! hahahahaaa! Okay, that was pretty cool. Anyone read #6? I thought this was a very strong final issue. Hal Jordan punches Batman outright cause Bats was just getting too uppity, ready to accuse Hal of not being trustworthy (again). The issue had a nice finish, also, and a smooth lead-in to the new ongoing GL series.

14:40 / 13.05.05

Nice to see big-headed Hector Hammond back (did he ever get a supervillain name?)...last time I saw him was in the final arc of Grant Morrison's JLA, when Mageddon took him over to spread its influence over humanity. I feel like I thought HH died at some point since, but I could be wrong...

I notice Prentis Rollins gets cover credit but didn't actually do anything in the interior credits - he inked some of the first issues of this mini, I guess?

Ethan's art looked fantastic in this issue - he really does a nice job with giving each GL "corp" character their own look (Guy, John, Hal, Kyle). Many comics artists can fall into the trap of all their male characters looking the same except for a different hairdo, this is very much not the case here. I liked the military movie feel of "Hold the line, guys" and the reciting of the oath, while borderline cheesy, was old school fanboy fun.

And EVS nailed Guy Gardner's expression when Guy says "ehh, I lied [about not missing the power ring]."

20:27 / 25.05.05

Geoff Johns on big-headed Hector Hammond (with a MODOK shout-out):

NRAMA: Finally, Hector Hammond's warning at the end of Rebirth #6 - "And won't it be ever so delicious and exciting when THEY find their way back TOO."

1) Does Hammond really say things like "delicious and exciting," and if so, does he have a problem with getting respect from other villains? and 2) Who is he referring to? Is there a yin/yang thing when a hero returns, that their enemies find their way back as well?

GJ: 1) Yes, he says things like that and you'll see why in Ethan's first arc. Hammond doesn't get respect from other villains, he gets fear and uneasiness. After all, who wants to hang out with a guy with a giant head and drools a lot? Ethan and I have talked endlessly about this creep and his role in Jordan's new adventures is going to be fairly significant. I want to see him fight Modok.

20:56 / 25.05.05

They glow, they change, they spark and intimidate.

I love how this ethic has been taken up with regard to how each member of the GLC uses their ring, too. That part felt just right. Guy's ring sparking, eager to be unleashed, John's contructs being highly technical with nuts and bolts, etc.

This has also cropped up in the GL: Secret Files & Origins entries for the GLC-ers. Hopefully it's something that will be kept in mind for the future - the idea that not every GL uses his/her ring the sme way. That it reflects the personality of it's wearer.

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:53 / 19.08.05

Can anyone tell me if the following is true:

The explanation for the white streaks in Hal Jordan's hair was... because Parallax had entered his body. Parallax is some kind of essence of cosmic fear or something like that, and what does happen to your hair when you are afraid?

Because if it is, I think Geoff Johns may be quite literally brain-damaged.

12:40 / 19.08.05

I thought it was just his body getting a bit rejuvenated and de-aged due to the power of the ring, the Guardians and the Spectre giving him a helping hand a bit too.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:46 / 19.08.05

His hair went grey because he was re-juvenated and de-aged?

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

13:15 / 19.08.05

Nope it was the fear. The streak left when Parallax did. Choked me up, it did.

Kidding.

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