Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Green Lantern #15
DC Comics
Johns, Mahnke, Alamy, Irwin & Champagne
Green Lantern breaks out of its slow building story about the new Green Lantern as this comic book advances that plot forward in a big way. The comic book continues to churn the whole Third Army subplot but it is very slow going. The book gives a token nod towards the Hal and Sinestro subplot, which is almost puzzling because it literally provides no new information. Overall, the book is a mixture of good character work, unexplored subplots and main plot advancements. It's a decent read but nothing great.
Simon Baz begins to investigate his own case in hopes of clearing his name. This plot gets somewhere and gets there quickly. The comic book really shows Baz to have a unique personality whereas previously he felt very generic. This book takes Baz to a new level, thankfully.
However, the execution relies on some very old tricks, such as Baz's ring running out of juice and him not knowing how to charge it. These are the traps of rolling out new Green Lanterns: they all follow the same basic path. Right along those lines an experienced Green Lantern arrives to show Baz the ropes. The character's entrance is a very good tease for the next issue.
The parts of the book that I was less than impressed with were the subplots. The Green Lantern line is billed with the banner, "The Rise of the Third Army" and yet the book has barely spent any time with this. It appears the third army is nothing more than Black Lanterns without a ring. The subplot with Hal and Sinestro goes nowhere in his issue. It's almost as if Johns gives some panel time to the characters just to remind the readers that they exist.
The art has five inkers. I was hard pressed to tell the difference. This is an enormous compliant to the book. The book has a very Steve Dillon-like feel to the pencils. The characters all have a very simple and realistic look to them which is a bit of a departure for a Green Lantern book, but it works well. Overall, the artwork is fairly good but the comic book's story really doesn't utilize all the talents of the artists in involved.
Green Lantern is a serviceable comic book. Each issue I find to be entertaining. There isn't anything in here terribly original, but there is a certain level of comfort when a comic book delivers something expected. I'm not a fan of the slow subplots, but I am glad to see the new Green Lantern getting a little bit of personality to warm up to. This was an entertaining, but just an above average read.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
