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Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro (The New 52)

1 rating: 4.0

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heh, pretty entertaining.

Jan 24, 2013

by Madpenguin
posted in Speech Bubbles: Comics & Graphic Novels

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Long time enemy of the Guardians and The Green Lantern Corp., as well as former Green Lantern himself, Sinestro, finds himself a Green Lantern once again. Despite wanting nothing to do with the corp., the Guardians force him into service. Sinestro soon learns that his former Sinestro Corp. is enslaving his home planet. He leaves to Earth to recruit his old nemesis Hal Jordan as back up to help him liberate his world. -summary

Man, there is no way I can keep this a secret. DC is confusing me like hell with their idea of a complete reboot in resetting their universe. Even more than Batman and Nightwing, Green Lantern doesn't feel like a reboot at all; it feels like the complete follow up to War of the Green Lanterns, which saw Sinestro forced back into the Corp. The Green Lantern mythos has not went through any changes, which pretty much renders DC's claim for the New 52 appealing to new readers as cheap talk. In addition, it creates a plethora of plot holes that older fans will quickly see, which leaves the actual existence of many storylines questionable; with that said, if there's a single book in the New 52 that makes DC's entire change look like a gimmick it's definitely this one. However, since DC is basically telling us to forget about what happened previously, I'll judge this book based on the quality content inside, but I am not that crazy about DC's "take it or leave it" attitude. They clearly green lighted themselves to use whatever previous content they want, and are saying the hell with the rest only when it suits their purpose. Anyway, Geoff Johns continues his stellar run on the series with Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro. This book collects issues 1 - 6.

This story manages to pull off a good share of things that make "debut" series great. The character development is very strong here as you will get to know both Hal Jordan and Sinestro well. Jordan has been discharged from the Corp. and he's forced to deal with life on Earth. This means being unemployed along with three months behind in rent. His ex Carol is in his life attempting to get him back on his feet, but these things all come off as being stale to him; Hal wants to become a Green Lantern again. Sinestro appears to grant him his wish. He gives Hal a ring, but with stipulations I won't get into. Together they leave for Sinestro's world to take on his former Corp., whom have completely denounced his teachings.

I love how Johns has continued Sinestro's development. Over the last eight years while writing the Green Lantern series, Johns managed to provide a certain amount of depth for Sinestro that no one before him was able to do. The character has been more interesting than ever, and I find it difficult to believe people will come away disliking the character. He's still authoritative, appears to be a master planner, and no matter how many defeats he has suffered to Hal, he still sees himself as far above him. I think it was a great move making Sinestro the main character.

There's a good amount of action to be found despite not being the focus of the story. Johns wants readers to understand the connection between Hal and Sinestro. There's a good amount of wit between the two which resembles a buddy cop movie. I enjoyed their uneasy alliance formed only for the greater good. The character development also reaches the Guardians of the Universe, as you can tell they're going to play a huge role in something very big on the horizon; the fact they plan on keeping these plans secret from the GL Corp. only builds towards the suspense.

Once again, DC sees to it another one of their books is firing on all cylinders when it comes down to the pencils. Doug Mahnke's character designs are pretty much flawless until the last issue. There are just some cool moments of Hal and Sinestro, as well as the various alien designs of the Sinestro Corp. There appeared to be little, if any shorcuts at all in their designs. The backgrounds have the usual sci-fi feel of the Green Lantern series, with the big red planets and star-filled settings. The action has some gory moments of aliens being impaled and just ripped to pieces. My only issue happens to be the obvious anime influence in the last issue. I would really appreciate if anime stayed out of American comics for the most part.

Now here comes the difficult part of my critique. I really don't see how this book could be meant for newbies, since it does reference a pass event that played a crucial role in setting this story, moreover, there are various character appearances that will only be familiar to long time readers. I can imagine the various question marks, yet I do know of some newbies who found the story interesting despite these things though, and it's mainly because Johns does a well enough job roping you in. But I do know of some who did not care for the story. The new potential fan bases that I know of are somewhat divided.

In any case, for the newbies whether you liked this or not; I highly recommend you guys back track to Green Lantern: Rebirth at the very least and then work your up to War of the Green Lanterns at some point. I guess it's not important before coming into this since it is a reboot, but you'll be treating yourself to some of the finest stories to come out of DC. For the curious who haven't read the book; I think you guys should just skip this and familiarize yourself with the GL universe first by beginning at Rebirth as well. It also wouldn't hurt if you tracked down Emerald Dawn as a starting point. There's a reason the Green Lantern series has been looked upon favorably for the last eight years at least. Personally, I enjoyed it more than the Batman books. And long time readers, I advise you guys to just take this story as it is. You're going to develop a serious headache if you try to piece together whether Blackest Night even happened at all. Forget about Hal Jordan and Barry Allen's rebirths, forget about the Black Lantern energy that played a role in War of the Green Lanterns. DC is clearly just doing whatever the hell they want to do. In closing, due to it's nice artwork, focus on Sinestro and Hal, as well as setting the stage for future storylines. It's still an entertaining book.

Pros:
-Solid artwork and characters

Cons:
-Highly questionable as a reboot, and newbies may have questions

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woopak_the_thrill January 26

I reviewed issues # 1 and 2 of this New 52 GL series. This along with Aquaman is one of the more interesting titles. I liked how they made Sinestro do something creative and clever with the power ring.

Madpenguin January 26

This is something I could have easily given a +1 to, if it wasn't because I chose to accept it for what it was. This is not a reboot, and it seriously contradicts previous stories. By picking up after War of the Green Lanterns, it opens up a lot of continuity problems that makes the stories difficult to buy into. Batman is the same. I mena seriously, Justice League takes place five years before the heroes begin their careers? So you're telling me Batman went through 5 Robins in 5 years? I see some serious retconning in the future.

woopak_the_thrill January 26

I know what you are saying--I really don't understand the dynamics the New 52 is trying to do. Some areas just did not make sense.

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FM_ALEX January 24

I hear you man, even though I like this title it did not feel like a reboot really.

Madpenguin January 24

It's not a reboot. Far from it.

FM_ALEX January 29

Indeed, and also even thought I gave you three thumbs on everything this site didn't count some. I redid it but I have no clue if it has done this on others.

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