I was skeptical, at first, about the new Green Lantern. Not that I didn’t trust Geoff Johns, but the origin was rife with cliche. The first issue was better, but this, the second issue has sold me on the book for a pretty simple reason:
Baz doesn’t win the obligatory superhero fight in the issue because he’s stronger than everyone. He wins it because he’s smarter.
Along the way, Johns is playing with Green Lantern’s powers, and turning a boring, God-like character into somebody genuinely worth reading.
I don’t hate superhero fights, in fact I quite enjoy them, but they are a bit obligatory. And Johns knows it, so, first of all, it starts out as a reasonable conversation where Baz flatly states that Superman could kick his ass and that maybe he could take Batman.
And the Justice League actually listens. In fact, until something goes wrong, it’s actually a reasonable conversation. And when the crap does hit the fan, Baz doesn’t stand and fight, he runs like hell, and Doug Manhke gets to show off his love of cars:
Johns is slowly establishing that Baz can use the ring but he doesn’t have unlimited power like Jordan or Sinestro.
If the issue has a flaw, it’s the fact that it’s got a lot of plotlines to juggle. There’s the Third Army, there’s Black Hand, and frankly, Baz’s story is by far the more compelling.
But, in the end, this is how you reboot a superhero. It’s familiar enough to be faithful but different enough to stand on its own.
Let me know what your favorite book of the week was, and let’s talk some comics.