Gotta
say, I'm a little disappointed. With our expectations as a
fandom as high as they got from the Sinestro Special we were
bound to be disappointed... but this really doesn't take us
anywhere new.
In a
nutshell, we get more of the Sinestro Corps killing GLs left
and right, a bit of inner-Guardian intrigue (is the
"Prophecy of the Blackest Night," stemming all the way from
Alan Moore's tale in "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps
Annual" #2 a truth or a falsehood is the question posed that
is dividing them), and Ganthet and his girlfriend apparent
(this I actually kind of like as a subtle angle) confiding
in Hal that he needs to assume more of a leadership role to
see things through with this war. And it ends with what we
can only assume is going to lead directly into Hal vs.
Kyle-as-Parallax in the next issue. I do like the dichotomy
that seems like will be portrayed in the issues to come
(perhaps foreshadowed by the flashbacks to Kyle's original
confrontations with Hal-as-Parallax), Hal now fighting --
no, literally -- what he used to be that caused so much pain
to so many people. As we will see Hal fight
Kyle-as-Parallax, I wonder if it will become a sort of
cathartic "Battling past demons as I battle a current one"
angle... that interests me. What interests me as
well is the very nature of the Parallax symbiote itself.
From what I gather, it doesn't necessarily possess someone
entirely, but rather plays upon their fears/insecurities and
sort of fleshes those out to make them a new person
en masse. From Kyle's exchange with Hal this issue, his
"updating" of the Parallax costume (understandable, artist
that he is)... I wonder if his malevolence towards Hal is
stemming from some kind of deep-down, buried, perhaps
subconscious resentment of Hal returning to life and
replacing/eclipsing him as the "beacon" of the Corps. If you
look deeply enough into things (though I could be looking
way too far into this) I think the psychology of what
we're looking at is fascinating.
That said, I
really don't get the last bit in the issue where -- from
what I understand -- Hal is confronting what is supposedly
(according to Ganthet) his only fear. Hal is sooo afraid his
father felt a bit of fear when his jet plane was about to
crash? Is that against the rules? And what, if he finds out
his father did, does this somehow tarnish/ruin Hal's memory
of his dad or something? Seems rubbishy at a glance... and
makes Hal seem like Shallow Hal.
Aside from
the brilliant two pager with the Guardians discussing the
Prophecy of the Blackest Night it mostly feels like a redux
of the Sinestro Corps Special before it. It's like... yes,
we get it, the Sinestro Corps are killing GLs... give
us the next chapter already.
But again, I
think my (and doubtless others) expectations were way blown
out of proportion after reading the Sin Special... there's
literally nowhere else to go after such a special and
cliffhanger that isn't going to disappoint in some way. Hey,
we finally get a new name for Superboy Prime! Guy:
"Super-Psycho Junior."
Going a bit
back on the negative side of things, the way Reis draws
Kyle's mask is one of the worst renditions I've ever seen...
and it's not even limited to the Parallax version of the
mask. On page 3 we see a flashback to Kyle fighting Hal in
GL #0... mask looks the same there. No attempt of depth or
dimension to it whatsoever, and literally does make it look
like he has no nose (or like his mask literally squashes his
nose flat to his face, a common complaint associated with a
lot of artists attached to drawing Kyle over the years aside
from the original Darryl Banks). Of course, aside from
Kyle's mask -- which, in the grand scheme of things in the
issue, is a miniscule matter -- Reis' work and Oclair's
finishing touches here are gold.
I don't want
to come across as overly negative, but a lot of this is just
my kneejerk fanboy reactions to the issue. I did enjoy it --
it just doesn't seem a suitable direct-continuation of the
Sinestro Special... yet it's also worth noting I'm still
fairly on the edge of my seat in wanting to read the next
issue. So what does that say?
