Green Lantern Corps #27
writers- Van Jensen and Robert Venditti
art- Bernard Chang
“In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power... Green Lantern's
light!”
The Green Lantern credo is a statement
pledged by the mightiest group of heroes the galaxy has ever known.
Protecting the highways and byways of space is their job, but with
recent events, that job has become more and more difficult. Oa has
been destroyed. The Green Lantern Corps has been turned upside down
and Hal Jordan has taken on the mantle of Corps Leader.
Unfortunately, the criminals held in the Oan sciencells have escaped and have used a shapeshifter to imitate Hal. They've broadcast a message across the galaxy in his guise, stating that the power from the Green Lantern rings actually comes from the life force of the universe, and using that power is shortening the length of life as we know it. The impostor Hal Jordan also said, that the Green Lanterns have no intention of relinquishing their power and are going to continue using the rings. This has Hal and the rest of the Green Lanterns looking bad in the eyes of the entire known universe. What a great way to target the Corps in an intergalactic war. Following that, is where Green Lantern Corps
#27 begins.
Near the borders of the Khundian
Empire, someone has destroyed a Green Lantern Corps Sector House and
has either killed or kidnapped the Lanterns who were based there. It's fitting that issue #27 is called “Forensics.” From the first page, it feels
like a really good space mystery. Green Lanterns John Stewart, Vath,
Oliversity, and Stewart's sweetheart, Fatality, all dig up clues to
find out what happened at the Sector House and are overwhelmed with shock when they discover that the ones responsible are far more dangerous
than the band of escaped convicts they once suspected.
Van Jensen and Robert Venditti know
what they're doing in the writing department. I became a huge fan of
all the Green Lanterns back in the 80's. Hal Jordan was always the
favorite but Green Lantern Mosaic made me enjoy John Stewart.
I liked his attitude. It was realistic and didn't feel like
something out of a comic book. These writers have certainly picked
up on that, and thanks to them, I'm finding this book to be back on
my list of Top Picks. They also have the mood and mystery of a
regular “who dunnit” down perfectly. Green Lantern Corps #27 is
like Sherlock Holmes meets Sci-Fi with a superhero twist. And the
relationships within Stewart's team are interesting. Nobody trusts
Fatality, and Stewart has made it clear that anyone who threatens her
will end up in a big world of Green Lantern hurt. At the same time,
these are Green Lanterns and they are the men and women assigned to
protect the universe. The writers keep that little layer of
character dynamic just under the main theme of the story, so we know
that the good guys are on the job, but we fear what they could be
capable of. Will they save the day or will they destroy each other
in the process?
Another cool element of this issue is
the return of the Durlans. They're a race of shape shifters that
most of the galaxy believes to be a rumor. These guys are like the
Sasquatch of deep space, but they show up and decide to team up with
the big brutish Khunds. I personally haven't seen these two in the
same story since 1989, during DC's Invasion cross-over, when the
Khunds took on the US Marine Corps and the Durlans took over Cuba,
pretending to be Fidel Castro.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to more
from Van Jensen and Robert Venditti in this book and hopefully others
in The New 52.
The artwork on Green Lantern Corps #27
is done by Bernard Chang, illustrator of Wonder Woman, The Second
Life of Doctor Mirage, and How To Make Money Like A Porn Star. It's
pretty much near perfect for a book that is bustling with characters
and vast portraits of wide open space filled with alien armadas. His
close-ups give the right amount of definition to the characters and
his talent allows him to bring all the various alien beings to life.
There's never a shortage of action in Green Lantern Corps #27, and
Bernard Chang proves that he's on top of it in every panel.
As I was saying earlier, Green Lantern
Corps is back on my list of Top Picks. In fact, it may be at #1. If
you haven't read a single issue of this book yet, #27 isn't a bad
place to start. But you'd better hurry, because I have a feeling
things are going to get pretty heated and in a big way. It looks
like we're in for another multi-title storyline that will play
throughout all of the Lantern books.
I recommend Green Lantern Corps #27
highly. Put it on top of your want list today.
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