Pick of the Week
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
I wouldn’t have called this one at all. I had a mighty stack of 14 books this week, and there were quite a few I was looking forward to, and quite a lot of them were good. But somehow, when I finished this book, which I read second overall, I just kind of knew it was the one.
I’m not a fan of retelling origins. It gets done far too often, and most of the time they’re stories we all know. How many times have I read a version of the beginning of the Fantastic Four? Far too many. Same goes for Spider-Man and Batman. I get it. I know the deal. However, if you can find an angle that fleshes out who a character is in a way we haven’t seen in a while, that’s a skill. Furthermore, after Hal Jordan’s resurrection, and the new and returned readers following the Sinestro Corps War, I think people could use a refresher on just who this guy Hal Jordan is.
I’ve made it known many times that in the hands of many writers, even Johns at times, Hal Jordan is played to bland and stale. We just don’t know who he is, because I don’t think the writers know who he is. The exception in recent years is, of course, Darwyn Cooke, who seemed to know exactly who Hal Jordan is in the New Frontier. I guess Geoff Johns got wind of my displeasure (plus, I call him, like, all the time to kick around concepts I have), because what we got here is the first glimpse I’ve had of what Hal Jordan is really all about and where he comes from in a good long while. There are hints of this stuff in the book normally, but I just felt like this was character development at its finest.
We all know the story of Abin Sur’s crashed ship and how he finds Hal Jordan, who has no fear, but what about Hal before that? This is that story. Hal idolized his father, a fighter pilot who died flying the planes both he and his son loved. It only steeled young Hal’s resolve, but on the other hand, it tore his family apart. His mother, stymied by fear, forbid Hal from doing what was in his heart, which of course, drove him right to the Air Force the moment he turned 18. This split the family, brothers and mother, and it really leaves you with a sense of the greyness of Hal’s actions. Did he do the right thing? Did he do the wrong thing? Who can say? There’s no wrong, but there’s no right either, and it just gives you something to think about. But the story is consistent with who Hal Jordan is, and really adds flesh to his character going forward, which is sorely needed. This Hal Jordan is not bland and stick-straight upright, but a real person (or character actually) who is human and makes choices that may not be the best. He’s rash and impetuous, but passionate and bold. He’s well rounded, and most of all, he’s interesting. With this story, Johns made Hal Jordan more human.
There was nary a superhuman fight to be found in this issue. There was some drunken bar brawling sure, and even a couple plane crashes, but this was really a family drama. After the full on action of the Sinestro Corps War, and the aftermath of the Alpha Lanterns, the decision to put the brakes on and go back to examine Hal Jordan could have been a momentum killer, but instead, I feel like it was exactly the breathing point I needed. We’ll go back and check out the current events soon enough, but right now, this is a bit of a soul injection, and I’m not sure there’s a character who is more deserving of this attention at DC.
I was a few pages into this issue, and I wondered who the artist was. It was Ivan Reis, but I guess I didn’t look at the beginning, and I was stuck by how impressive the art was. I think most put Ethan Van Sciver above Reis in the batting order of Green Lantern artists, but I think Reis is either getting better, or getting a chance to show his chops off. As I said, this is a family drama, and the whole story is told through dialog, facial expressions, and body language, and it’s the latter two where Reis really shines here. He also threw in a couple of really nice splash pages of the aforementioned crashes, but this is mostly a story about people, and it’s dramatic and well done. He’s got to draw Hal Jordan as a kid, and a teenager, and a young adult, and amazingly enough, he looks like Hal Jordan in all those stages. This is no mean feat. It just felt like good, classic comics, which isn’t as common as you’d imagine.
I’m so glad to see the character development being thrown Hal’s way. He needs it, and this is just the kind of thing I like to see done. The next issue might have the classic Abin Sur story, but this is a beautiful way of explaining a hero’s roots, and how he came to be in the real sense, and that made me a very happy Green Lantern fan.
Josh Flanagan
Man, the brother’s mustache was awesome!
josh@ifanboy.com
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I’ve heard Hal Jordan’s origin story SO many times, that when I picked this up I thought it was going to be crap. Lo and behold, and much to my surprise, it wasn’t. I loved this book (my favorite of the 3 I read this week), and don’t even care that I knew everything except the last 2 pages or so by heart.
Also, I really liked New Avengers this week. I can’t remember who drew it, but it’s SO much better than Yu’s art has been, and Echo has been fascinating to me since she was Ronin. Also, loved Wolverine’s line when he’s trying to warn her about the Skrull behind her and then remembers "She can’t hear me." I didn’t get Mighty Avengers since it was the end of an arc, but does anyone know/think that the next one (the first Secret Invasion one) will be a good place to start?
@deezer – David Mack was the artist on NEW AVENGERS.
This is the first Green Lantern book i have ever read and I figured with a title like Secret Origin Part 1, it would be a good jumping on point. Holy Crap was I right. Art and story were off the charts. Probably one of my favorite things in comics is the inner monolague that characters have. The very same reason for my fondness of Wolverine and Deadpool. It was definitely one of the high points of this, my first Green Lantern Story. I’m for sure on board now.
My pick was transhuman by hicman. It was smart and kept me entertained the most this week.
And that answers my question about whether to pick this book up. I flipped through it in the shop and almost did, but I decided to wait for early returns from Ifanboy. Looks like a winner!
I loved this issue. It was Awesomeriffic. I am now using this term to describe this book. Fantastic, terrific, and awesome weren’t enough.
A sad thing befalls me, I have to purchase my pull next week because I have to pay "The Man" some taxes. So no GL for me
Ouch, just think you’ll get that nice ESA in a couple months that you will have to pay back to the man next year… wait a second, that made it worse.
yawn.
I don’t know how many times I can read the conversation between young Hal and young Carol outside the fence the day Hal’s dad died.
You yawned me! I got yawned?!
When was the last time you actually saw that scene? Was it like, in the past couple years, or a decade ago. I’ll admit, it felt familiar, but I liked how it played out that he wasn’t afraid to break the rules, and she tried to tell on him. Oil and water man!
My pick of the week is Ultimate Iron Man II #4. There was a lot of action this week and Obadiah always cracks me up. I also like the fact that Iron Man is part Wolverine and part Lizard and can grow back body parts heh.
If you like Obadiah, you need to read the Ender books, specifically the latter Bean books. There are a few characters that have a very similar personality in there, like Bean and Achilles especially.
And….back on topic.
Hm, never picked up a green lantern book in my life, but this looks like a good place to start. Btw I heard daredevil was pretty crappy this week……………………… GREG RUCKA save this book!
I just started reading Green Lantern recently. I picked up the Sinestro War HC a few weeks ago, and I loved it.
I was so glad to hear that there would be an origin story. As a new reader, it is great to be reading how Hal grew into his character. This was by far my favorite comic this week.
Sorry Josh, you get a yawn out of me too. Well, not so much you, but Johns does. Even as I read it, I wondered, "I wonder if the fanboys will be harsh on this book because it is a complete rehash of stories told all the time.." I was genuinely surprised when I say it was the pick of the week. This isn’t to say it is bad. Not at all. The art was great and the story was solid so I could give it to anyone marginally interested in Green Lantern and figure they would like it. It’s just been done before…over and over. You asked Jim if it just felt like it’s been done a lot, which is a good question, but I haven’t read a ton of GL books and I felt like i had read each word of the Hal Carol exchange.
If Spider-Man did something similar to this, it would be considered a filler issue. Here’s the difference: Hal Jordan. Hall Jordan is kick ass crazy cool, so when a story focuses on him as opposed to Green Lantern, that’s the vibe most people will take away.
Oh yeah, I did love that Reis emulated the Carlos Pacheco panel from issue 3 when Hall punched his commanding officer. Good stuff.
Also, what is "Hal" short for? I’ve wondered for a while.
@Andrew It be short for "Harold." I found that out from New Frontier and The first issue from the GL Series after Rebirth; which Darwyn cooke did, too.
This issue of Green Lantern and the latest All-Star Superman were neck-to-neck in my pick of the week. Still not sure which one I would pick — I guess it’s a tie.
I still haven’t had a chance to buy GL, but I got through my initial stack of books and wanted to mention a couple titles I liked this week.
Wolverine-First Class is an awesome Wolverine & Kitty Pryde story. It’s all-ages, but it doesn’t feel like kid stuff — or, not in a bad way. I love the art, too. I don’t know why we’re getting a wave of good Wolverine books all of a sudden (I’m used to assuming his solo titles will be awful), but I’m happy to see it.
Xmen: Legacy is proving to be a great core X-men title. I bring this up because somebody commented there could be confusion about whether this is an out-of-continuity mini, but it isn’t. This picks up the numbering from the Adjectiveless X-men series, and it picks up with Professor X and Magneto after Messiah Complex. Anybody who was a fan of the classic Magneto-Xavier confrontations (like ‘God Loves, Man Kills’), or of their relationship in the movies, ought to give this book a try.
@ chrisgo: if you like this, definitely check out the Sinestro Corps War, it was AMAZING (the first hardcover is out now, I think).
@Josh: Up until the point where he slips through the fence, the conversation between Carole and Hal was in one of the Rebirth issues (not sure which one). Although it never mentioned that Carole wanted to be a pilot too…
Also, totally loved Wolverine: First Class. It wasn’t at all what I expected, but it was awesome nonetheless. Hopefully it’ll be like X-Men: First Class and be consistantly good.
Havent finished reading my books for this week yet, but this was definetely a good one. It put me in Full on Green Lantern mode. Much to my delight, the Hardcover collection of the Sinestro Corps war showed up at my door this morning, and I have been GORGING my self on all things Green and Lanterny all day!
Well time to tear myself away form OA and check out Ultimate stuff (Human and Iron Man that is.)
Ill check back in later.
@deezer and Josh:
Yeah, the fence scene ("My dad’s flying that plane," "My dad owns that plane") was in Rebirth, the 2nd issue if I’m looking at my trade right– in 04 or 05, that would’ve been. Some of the stuff from GL #29 about Hal’s mom– making him promise never to be a pilot, not wanting to see him as long as he was in the Air Force, then Hal punching the General to get thrown out of the Air Force, then Hal going to see mom but finding out she was dead– that was in the "No Fear" hardcover from 2006.
I had just recently re-read Rebirth, and read No Fear, so yeah, GL #29 was very familiar to me— thus causing the "yawn."
That’s what you get for going and re-reading things.
I don’t even know where my rebirth issues are.
That’s what Geoff Johns gets for being so good that I WANT to go re-read his stuff!!
Am I going to be the complete lame-o who admits I like origin retellings? Not when they’re just filler, obviously, but with a good writer and artist, it’s like a cool cover of a great song.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t been reading comics for that long — I don’t know how I’d feel if I’d read every issue of GL. But since I tend to like these kinds of stories when they involve my favorites, I probably wouldn’t mind this, either.
Haven’t picked up a GL book since the initial run of this series. I really enjoyed this book and it was a great jumping on point. I’m looking forward to many more GL issues in the future.
I concur, I enjoy origin stories.
Finally finished my stack a little while ago, and I have to admit that this was indeed the best book I read. It may be a rehash of things we know, but I really enjoyed the emotional aspects of the story. Reis’ pencils were mad ballin’. I definitely dug it. Real talk.
The rest of my stack was pretty decent, but nothing to sing home about. After all this All Star Superman talk here and on the forums, I feel like I should go buy it. It must have been pretty good.
I have just picked up my stack (thanks to the time it takes to get comics to inland Australia). This is the issue I am most excited about reading which means middle of the stack (Countdown issues first, great books second and trades last) So its this issue and my new Lawless Criminal graphic novel that I am looking forward to reading.
Nice issue of GL, definately. And the brothers are mentioned here and there but I never really knew anything about them, so it was nice to see their origin stories as well, and where they’re coming from in regards to Hal.
Though I thought it was strange to have a whole origin issue and then, just one last page dealing with Abin Sur. Seemed like an afterthought, tacked onto the end.
Also, Reis, that guy is SOLID. He’s up there with Alan Davis.
This issue did what it was supposed to do…make me hungry for the next issue. The story is well done, the art is amazing, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of this arc. Pick of the week for sure.
I also jumped on to All Star Superman this week and now feel compelled to find the back issues. It’s only on 10, so I’m thinking that they will be out there to buy.
I only had 3 other books and none of them even came close to these two. Great pick Josh.
So. many. good. books.
NA 39 has to be my pick though. Bendis and Mack are a great storytelling eam and i was reminded of how much I like Maya Lopez. and Wolverine for that matter. Mack has such a great composition sense. From the opening sequence to the half-page and full page splashes. And that kiss at the end was really something. I still think Mack is making her look to much like Elektra. I know he’s going for Mayan, but the nose still looks Greek to me. But this is a nitpic I guess.
green lantern was good but its been consistently good since the start of the Sinestro war and I am not sure that this warranted pick of the week as I don’t think this issue was that much better than what we have been reading for the last 12 months. Don’t get me wrong it was awesome and a i enjoyed it but I think New Avengers could have pipped this to the post. it wass an average week so I know it mst have been a tough call
Great review. This book was gooooooooooood stuff! I liked the cuts to Abin Sur. I have a feeling this will make an amazing trade.