Broken Frontier

Green Lantern #53, by prolific writer Geoff Johns, does one thing rather well. It sets up a new modus operandi for the Green Lantern title and all its characters, the dichotomy of which was perhaps shaken up the most during Blackest Night. Not many can argue that this book, where the seeds were sown for many years, would have the most to gain or lose during event’s aftermath. With a major thread line for this story over the last twenty-five plus issues being the lead in to Blackest Night, it’s only natural to think that GL proper might lose something after the conclusion.

Johns takes no time setting up what looks to be the ongoing story’s next mega arc, weaving its way throughout other smaller adventures. One of the dangling plot points at the end of Blackest Night was the abduction of Parallax, the physical embodiment of fear. Through cryptic dialogue, a shadowy figure with green shackles communicates his machinations to a drooling Hector Hammond. It’s dense, but leads to an interesting reveal that could easily carry this book until the next shake up.

The rest of the issue takes its time re-introducing Hal Jordan and his off again love interest and part time Star Sapphire, Carol Ferris. Sinestro and his duty of delivering the next plot-heavy order of business interrupt their flirtations. All of these developments are necessary to move the story forward, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little disappointed to have Hal and Carol’s flight time cut short.

The last third of the issue was designed as all set up. The end dovetails into all the related Green Lantern titles, that’s four books including this one and Brightest Day #1. That’s a lot of business to have to get through and a few too many threads to follow. Luckily, all the plot points are organic extensions and it doesn’t feel like too heavy of a push.

Doug Mahnke’s art is reliable as always, but the multiple inkers take a toll on the consistency of his work. It’s not a jarring transition from one to the next, but does become noticeable in certain scenes. If it comes down having multiple inkers in order to keep this lynchpin book on schedule, then one assumes that this is the lesser of evils.

This is not a life altering issue, nor is it mediocre by any means. It’s a business as usual type of story, concerned with reestablishing characters and relationships. With a book this consistently good, it has to be a stand out issue in order to gain the highest praise. Perhaps that’s Green Lantern’s greatest strength. It’s a consistent read and delivers over time. After such highs during the lead in to and duration of BN, it’s time to bring this book back to its natural and character focused base.

This still continues to be one of the best superhero books DC is producing and now is a natural time for new readers. The switch in gears was a tad jarring, but they nail the landing. It’s difficult not be excited or intrigued about where this story’s going. Heaven help me, I’ll most likely be picking up all four of those teased books in order to find out. Jeepers, they got me!