Comic Books

GREEN LANTERN #1

The red-hot GREEN LANTERN team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke introduce an unexpected new Lantern.

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
Variant cover by GREG CAPULLO

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 1.5%
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Avg Rating: 3.9
 
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Comments

  1. I’m excited for this book for two reasons:

    A) It feels like forever since I read a comic with Mahnke art. I miss the guy.
    B) Sinestro back as a Green Lantern should open up a ton of story ideas

    But I worry that this book is going to to add very little and be the same before the relaunch. I want Johns to just start from scratch and tell exciting stories and not bog down in slipping in ties to future events. I want to love this book but we’ll see what happens on Wednesday.

    • According to Ron and Conor, this was the best GL since a long time. I trust their opinion.

    • Well so far they haven’t been wrong on most of the books. But I just hope Johns just tells stories involving Sinestro and others without going into:

      “Hey here’s a two page sneak preview of an event that’s coming your way in a few months”.

      One of the reasons I dropped the book because the endless hinting and releases of major events turned me off the title.

    • Agreed, TheNextChampion. I’m a sucker for major events, and even I am tired of the endless set-up stories.

    • I am a little burnt out on GL, but if Conor and Ron say it’s a good read, I’ll give it a shot. Maybe I can get re-energized on this title.

  2. This book seems like it will be the least re-booted of the bunch. As a new guy to DC it scares me. My hope is that it is accessible.

  3. Never read a GL title before nor did I see the movie (yet) but I will give the main GL book a try. The preview pages were an interesting read, even though I’m not too fond of space stories in general.

  4. Just tell cop stories in space. Just set your DVR to Law and Order and riff from there. Let’s take a break from the epic space stuff, huh?

  5. Time to break out my crystal ball and gaze 2 days into the future to see my reactions/ratings of the second week of DC’s relaunch.

    As I say the magic words, “GD”, I can see the mist present starting to clear and Wednesday is coming into view……

    The first comic I read is Green Lantern. Looks like I give the comic’s writing a 3 which is in running with my feelings about Geoff Johns lately, dudes been phoning it in. But then the art I give a 5. Doug Mahnke is one of my favorite artist period! Love his work.

    The next comic on the list is Batwoman. At last this comic is in my hands. Feels like forever since it was announced, but finally I am reading it. And I’m loving it. And I’m giving it “Pick of the Week!” along with most other iFanboy’s. Worth the wait.

    I don’t know much about Frankenstein, but after Animal Man I am looking forward to what Jeff Lemier is going to do with this one. Looks like a give the writing the 4. Looks like I’ll be picking up issue 2 for sure!

    After that great read I dive into the 2nd Batman comic of the relaunch, Batman & Robin. I’m digging it, both art story and art. A solid 4 book.

    After what David Finch did to Etrigan in Batman: The Dark Knight, I am looking forward to reading the character done right in Demon Knights. Paul Cornell doesn’t let me down and I love the comic! YAY!

    Hey, what’s a Image comic doing in my stack of DC comics? Oh wait, Grifter is now part of the DCU. But alas, it reads like a 90’s Image title and I’m bored. I may not be back for issue 2.

    I know next to nothing about Resurrection Man, so I am pleasantly surprised that I dig this issue.

    Uh oh, my magic power is waning, I can’t gaze into the future for much longer. must….. see…..my…..ratings….for….the ……rest……

    Red Lanterns: 3
    Suicide Squad: 2
    Superboy: 3
    Mister Terrific: 2
    Deathstroke: 2
    Legion Lost: 3

    • Use that crystal ball for good and don’t buy the average (2) books.

    • did you smoke something before you wrote this? do you see rehab in whatever balls your looking in?? wait for the books to come out, read them and then judge them as you see fit on their respective sites. till then, try and land your spacecraft.

    • @sitara, this was all in fun man. I will be picking up all of the number 1’s tomorrow and rating them accordingly here on my favorite comic book. A site where everyone gets your tongue in cheek humor and would never joke around about something as serious as drug-addiction, a disease that kills. Most of us know someone that is struggling with addiction. Rehab is just one step in many on the road to recovery over the disease – a disease that is powerful and cunning.

      now if you will excuse me I must get back to my spacecraft.

    • hahaha! well said, sir. perhaps i took your comments too seriously. i personally am an alcoholic who no longer drinks. its a choice, not a disease.
      p.s. can i take your ship for a spin

    • i’ve never heard of weed killing anyone

  6. pretty excited for this, it will be the first Green Lantern comic ive ever read.

  7. I’m wondering if Blackest Night still happened, or any of the crazy things Hal did as Parallax. I’m interested to see how new this series will be, considering from what I know it seems to pick up where it left off.

  8. While I’m sure this issue will be good, I’m more looking forward to where the series is going. After reading the solicits for the next few issues, it seems the guardians are really going to put Sinestro through his paces. Pumped!

  9. I am definitely looking forward to this. This will be my first Green Lantern comic. Is Hal Jordan the Green Lantern in this title? If so, I hope that Johns writes him with that arrogant asshole tone of voice like he had in Justice League #1.

    • Nope. Hal Jordan has been kicked out of the Corps by the Guardians, and they installed Sinestro as a GL, instead. (I don’t think you’re meant to understand the Guardians motivations, as they’re mostly a-holes.)

      Um, I never thought about new readers, grabbing for their first Green Lantern book and being disappointed that Hal Jordan (or any of the Earth lanterns) might not be the main Green Lantern in it. (I think Hal is in the book, just not as a Green Lantern.) So, @bcoop704, are you disappointed, may I ask?

    • Never read a GL book either, and I think it’s confusing that Hal is not the main character in the book. I mean he is Green Lantern in Justice League. That book is set 5 years ago, but still…. after the first arc they will be in present time, so how does that work then??

    • @martinNL yeah it’s probably confusing since you didn’t read anything before this. Hal got kicked out really for no good reason… but yeah Sinestro seems to have taken his place. As far as JL goes… we’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe they’ll throw John Stewart in there… I HIGHLY doubt Sinestro would ever agree to be a member of the Justice League.

    • @ctrosejr I am not disappointed, necessarily. Geoff John’s is a good writer and trust his ability to make something interesting of this. As martinNL said, however, it is a bit confusing to not have Hal as the Green Lantern in this particular title. I’m looking forward to it though. Is there a preview of this one online?

  10. i want to like a Green Lantern book…i’d love a space cop type of story. In the past i just got burned out on the endless epic-ness…too many spreads of 10,0000 characters combat screaming into battle…it all becomes grey noise after a while.

    I might do a wait and see until thursday on this one.

  11. Like TNC, I am getting this because I want to see Mahnke’s art, but I feel so abused by the Green Lantern books that I am really hesitant about it…I hope it’s awesome, because this is the only chance I feel like giving it.

  12. Gonna give issue 1 a try at least. Hoping its good, I expect it will be. Glad its 2.99 too!

  13. sinestro as the green lantern! you can tell that johns has wanted to write a sinestro book for a while and if you ask me, he was born to do it. but with him as the protagonist, who, i wonder, will become the next great GL villain? what made him such a great villain is that he doesnt view himself as evil and actually believes he is doing the thing. excited to see how he will contrast with the super-human community, can you imagine sinestro in the justice league, that could be fun

  14. Haven’t read much Green Lantern since Sinestro corps war and i read Darkest night in trades{ which was a bit of an ordeal} hope this is easy to get back into.

  15. It is exceedingly hard to believe this is currently the most pulled book of the week. By most accounts, Green Lantern 1) is changing the least of any relaunched titles 2) has been a jaw-injuring yawn for as long as I can remember.

  16. I like the new take on GL being Sinestro. The movie threw me off the book but this is going to get me back I hope plus I bought all #1’s of the new 52 so thats one thing

  17. As a huge fan of Green Lantern (I have a whole tumblr dedicated to it) and a big supporter of the relaunch, I’m a bit disappointed they aren’t giving new readers a better jumping on point. I read the preview and this isn’t terrible but if someone saw the movie and liked it and was interested in reading some GL books this would be kind of confusing for them.

    That said, I’m going to read the crap out of this. I love Sinestro and I’ve been saying since I started reading GL that I wanted to read more stories with him in green.

    • So you think all new readers are morons?

    • If the “New 52” is supposed to be a jumping on point, GL failed spectacularly. This book would make almost no sense to a newbie. I think keeping the events of Blackest Night etc was a mistake, the GL universe is SO convoluted that anchoring it with the backlog is a weird choice.

      Oh, and Hal must be pretty awesome to make a jump like that, straight horizontal.

  18. Whether or not a comic has good entry point for the moviegoers doesn’t seem to matter.

    I don’t think movie going audiences are translating into comic buyers.

    Prove me wrong if you got stats.

    Marvel has been careful to have a new series that are light on continuity for Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.

    I don’t think that is the problem.

    • I’ve never seen stats that support this, i have heard from many LCSs anecdotally that each big summer movie is followed by both comic fans and non comic fans trying the comic. The shop will often direct them to new reader friendly TPBs rather than whats out that month. So I’m certain it does happen, but not in a large degree. Scott Pilgrim and Watchmen certainly expanded their audience because the movies (both of which underperformed theatrically but had huge boosts in sales on the books) but it’s a far cry from the days when Detective Comics jumped from 80,000 copies a month to 300,000 copies a month after the Burton Batman movie.

    • Don’t have to worry about “entry points” for Watchmen or Scott Pilgrim.

      Wasn’t aware that the book’s audience expanded with the Scott Pilgrim movie (loved that move by the way).

      It seemed to be a successful book that was well-loved and hyped despite the movie’s poor performance.

      Anecdotes are valid, especially if it means a lot more people are entering the shops who wouldn’t have before.

      Still, I think it is unfair to criticize the new Green Lantern comic cuz it might not be a good entry point for non comic fans, especially since it hadnt been released til today.

  19. I’m excited. The old series ended at just the right time for me (read: just when I was getting sick of the Amazing Technicolor Lantern Wars), and the fact that SInestro’s a lantern again (it is again, right? Or is this a flashback?) really gets me interested.

  20. Here’s my problem with this. I enjoyed it, very solid issue and glad it’s been brought down several notches from the lazer light orgy we’ve been getting in green lantern the last year. However this reboot is supposed to be for new readers right? So why did this seem like just the start of a new arc for current green lantern readers? Seriously if I handed this #1 to someone who has never read comics before they would be lost. The guardians aren’t explained, the purpose isn’t explained, heck the entire corps or even that they were on planet Oa wasnt explained. Even a few paragraphs of explanation on the first page would have gone a long way to help catch-up new readers IMO. My point is as a Green Lantern fan I really enjoyed the issue but it really misses the mark as an entry point for new readers.

    • I have the same complaint. You could argue that people don’t need that background on the character because of the movie, but I still think that it’s strange how unaffected this is by the reboot. It may be an interesting story, but I wonder if it will be hurt by not being as new-reader friendly as the other 51.

    • Yeah my big hope from all of this was that when this was all over 6+ months down the road I would have perfect 1st volume trades to either gift or recommend for people that wanted to get into comics depending on what character they seem interested in. It looks like I will have some good trades from this but sadly green lantern is not going to be part of that. Looks like people will still need at least 5 or 6 previous volume trades before being able to just jump on board with what’s happening now.

  21. Quick question. I stopped reading comics early last fall. I am doing my best to get caught back up. I’m in early winter 2011 right now……. I really want to start reading the new stuff, my favorites are specifically all the Green Lantern series comics.
    Should I just start reading at the new #1s coming out, or am I going to miss things?

    • You can start on the new number 1 without having to get caught up, but if you want to know what lead up to sinestro now being a green lantern then you might grab the last War of the Green Lanterns arc because this picks up right after that.

  22. I am sadly not impressed. I wanted to see the series slow down a bit and focus on the “Green Lanterns” and that was what I thought they would do bringing it into the reboot. They didn’t. In fact this picks up and just continues the same storyline. Not an impressive storyline at that…*sigh*.

  23. Batwoman was great and I knew it would be my pick of the week……That said, this issue surprised me enough that I had to make this my pick instead. I have always had a hard time identifying with Hal Jordan, even when he was written well. I just didn’t understand why everyone seemed to think he was the greatest Lantern. I have always identified with Kyle, John, even Kilowog better than Jordan. This issue has actually given me a character to latch onto with Hal. I honestly think that his story overshadowed Sinestros and cannot wait to see how he gets past this rejection. Not to say Sinestro’s story isn’t good, its great and the art is always great when Mahnke is involved. This book was just so much better then I expected.

  24. This was just alright. Was nice to have Hal back on Earth for a change, interacting with Carol, etc. But it doesn’t seem as if that will last long. I am SOOOOOO tired of the Guardians being dicks, that they immediately ruin the enjoyment of any book they show up in. Can we please send them off to some black hole for a year or two? This book was better than GL has been in a while. Still though, didn’t do too much to rekindle my excitement for the series. I’m willing to give it a few more issues to get me back.

    And yeah, this was by no means an entry point for new readers. I think it’s pretty clear what went down here. Geoff Johns got a free out from the relaunch because he is Geoff Johns. There have been a lot of people pointing out how quiet Johns was during the media onslaught for the new 52. Everyone knows that he is mr. old school continuity. That his big thing has always been fixing old continuity and making it work in the modern age. So it’s pretty fair that DC would allow his pet book to remain exactly as is. I’m almost guessing they had no choice but to let him do what he wants.

    • Just to clarify. I gave the book a 4. It was pretty good. I know it sounds like I didn’t like the book much. But it was a well done issue. I just don’t know if it was good enough to help me overcome my recent Green Lantern apathy. The book has been extremely blah for a while now. I know this is John’s baby, and it’s not going to change too much. But I kind of view it similar to Daredevil. We had so much of the old dark and gritty Daredevil for so long. So when the new Mark Waid book hit, it was a gush of fresh air. I feel that GL could use a similar refresher. But I know we won’t see it as long as Johns still is running things.

    • I think you nailed it. The reason Action and JL are crazy good and exciting is because they’re new fresh takes on old characters. GL seems like it’s still in old continuity, nothing new, nothing fresh, same technicolor yawn.

  25. I was never a big fan of GL before because it seemed like a whole lot of new characters to have to learn about, and I just didn’t have the patience. Hopefully I can get into it now with the relaunch.

    The writing was decent like all Johns stuff – Mahnke’s art, though, isn’t really my cup of tea.

  26. I was very underwhelmed. Issue 2 better have a lot more Sinestro or I think I’m off the Corps for good.

  27. Well, it was more of the same. Granted, it feels like the book is heading in the right direction (More character, less plot all the time in your face), I’m just not that into it any more. Might just pick up Kyle’s book instead. At least his mask is awesome.

  28. 4 star book for me. I’ve been loving the GL story since Rebirth and this is just a continuation for me. Not a great issue but not bad. This book does get an extra bump for me personally. When I first heard of the 52 reboot this and Batman were my greatest worries and while Dick as Batman has indeed gone the way of the Dodo I am relieved to see my favorite story of GL continue as if nothing happened. I had heard that this was indeed the case but until I read this issue I was holding my breath.

    I was hot and cold on the art from page to page. Sinestro in space looked awesome but some of the close ups of Hal were downright scary looking. I like that Hal is having some personal trouble. Its like he’s Peter Parker or something. Ha.

    This one is a definite for me. I will be staying on with this series for the foreseeable future. If you liked it before you should like it now if you didn’t like it before then don’t bother.

  29. Being a huge GL fan and having followed it for the past couple years… This was by FAR the best book I read this week. Although I’m disappointed they didn’t start with a new-reader friendly story, this was a fantastic continuation of the series. I can not wait to see where this goes.

    • Oh forgot to say this…

      While I absolutely love Mahnke’s art, that Ivan Reis cover really made me wish he was drawing this book. He really does the best Sinestro.

  30. Mahnke brought it! Wow!

    Overall the book is cool but not more than that for me. It probably has to be better than this for me to keep reading.

  31. 5/5! I consider this book undroppable!

  32. Green Lantern was marginally entertaining because Geoff Johns seems to have a hard on for Sinestro and really plugs into that character. But for Christ’s sake…his Hal Jordan is a douche bag of the highest order. This is sacrilege to treat Jordan in this manner…I don’t care how down on his luck he is right now…cut him some slack…he aint Peter Parker. B-

    • Hal doesn’t really deserve much slack. He’s been off-world adventuring for three months (their time). As a result, his home life has fallen apart. He hasn’t paid any bills or seen his friends or family in a long time. Your landlord doesn’t care if you’ve been out saving the universe. It’s a creative approach, and a great way to re-ground the character.

      This Hal is pretty much right in line with Johns’ previous characterization. After eight years of being written this way, it can hardly be called sacrilegious. Sure he’s self-centered and emotionally unavailable, but who isn’t? I’ll take douchey Hal over possessed, ally-murdering Hal any day. He’s more entertaining this way. Not everyone is Clark Kent.

    • You need to bone up on your Hal Jordan history. For much of the 1960s Hal Jordan was VERY down and out. Hell, he lived in his car!

    • @Conor: Was that for me or bwilliams? I’m up on my history. I was trying to say that Johns’ Hal remains true to the core of the character. He’s kinda at his best when he’s at his worst. If anything, one could argue that Emerald Twilight/Zero Hour was the sacreligious treatment, not Johns’ version.

  33. I’ve tried to like Green Lantern for a while, and it never works for me. Even though this is a reboot #1, i felt that there was a bunch of previous stuff that happened that i needed to read to fully appreciate whats happening here. Not a good pure #1 for me. The art was adequate….my ever expanding pull list needs some cuts, so i doubt if i’ll stay with it.

    • The art was akward and ugly in certain panels.

      I was definitely disappointed, but thought it was good. I wanted something excellent. 3/5

      I trust Johns. He gets some issues to keep me.

  34. The DCnU has divided me, utterly, and I wanted to dislike this, but damn. I thought this was terrific. As an issue and as a #1.

    That said, I don’t know why I’m surprised. Johns and Mahnke on GL is a blessings. I really can’t wait a month for the next installment.

  35. I guess im a Green Lantern comic reader now after loving my first ever read issue of it

  36. I’m blowing the curve and giving this a 5. I like it a lot. I thought the art was very nice except for the panel of Hal asking Carol what she’s doing tomorrow night. Really like the story and possibilities this offers – can’t wait to see what happens next.

    Now, regarding the chief complaint that this isn’t a reboot of GL… You’re right, it isn’t. I think we were told this going in, though, that it was the least-rebooted book of all. Try non-rebooted – they just took up where things were before the Flashpoint minis. Story-wise, I don’t have a problem with that – in fact, I’m glad it’s a continuation of the situations from that story. That said, this totally flies in the face of why DC said they were rebooting: to bring new readers. A new reader is not going to know the history of everything that lead up to this. So, it’s not really a jumping on point, like the vast majority of the other titles are. For me, a long-time GL reader, its great, but I can see how some new readers might be put off. Then again, this is one issue – you’re not going to get all your answers in #1, or it would be a “one-and-done.”

  37. I was unimpressed. I didn’t believe for a moment that this book would be more about Sinestro then Hal, but I would have liked a little more about the guy. As for Hal’s section of the book, I like the fact that he’s having trouble adjusting, but to be honest I don’t really care about Hal struggling to pay his bills. Hal was dead for years. I assume he would have been evicted then too and would have had trouble coming back. Unless it was wiped from continuity.

    • By the time Hal died, his apartment was decimated along with the rest of Coast City. So yeah, I guess you could say the Mongul and Hank Henshaw evicted him.

    • LOL, true enough. I didn’t really read Green Lantern until after Kyle Rayner had taken over just prior to Zero Hour. What bothers me is that as a long time reader of DC I can see how the events of the past are so connected to the present. The Death of Superman in ’92 resulted in Hal going bonkers and murdering the corps. Now with Green Lantern seemingly continuing on where they left off, but with Superman drastically different (at least as far as Action Comics is concerned) I have to ask if Superman has died in the reboot and if not how will that be addressed, if at all, in Green Lantern with regard to the Master of the Manhunters and the destruction of Coast City.

  38. I liked this alot.

    In my opinion, this was Johns responding to the outcry for a back-to-basics approach. Contrary to what many may think, I know for a fact that he does listen to fan complaints, and often makes an effort to addrress them in an issue months down the line. Having Hal come back to find his Earth life in decay (on top of being stripped of his ring) was a smart choice. Johns could have easily had Hal segue comfortably into life in Coast City through the use of the relaunch, or just general comic book rules (or lack thereof). You want back-to-basics? How bout Homeless Hal? How’s that for basic? Enjoy.

    And what did we learn in the issue this month?: Coloring mistakes are about ten times more confusing when it involves the Guardians of the Universe.

  39. Well it’s a 4 some of the art was well just not that impressive which kinda hurt the action. Love where we are and and I like the direction we are headed on this series.

    Just sayin’.

    K

  40. i wish they would just get a new artist on this one. dont get me wrong, mahnke is great and all, i just feel the need for a fresh perspective on this. this is a common criticism on this book, however most people say they want johns to leave, for a little while at least. its not the writer but the artist.

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