New 52: Green Lantern #1

Sinestro: part one

Writer: Geoff Johns

Pencils: Doug Mahnke

Inking: Christian Alamy

Have we already reached rock bottom with DC’s re-launch? Green Lantern #1 is the poorest, laziest effort from Geoff Johns – and he is responsible for bringing Green Lantern back to prominence, and that’s what makes this first issue so loathsome: it’s as if Geoff Johns has lost touch with the very characters he helped revitalize.

Green Lantern #1 isn’t a new series in fact if just seems like a re-origin story. Hal Jordan had his power ring taken away by the Guardians. It now resides with his nemesis Sinestro. Hal is trying to adjust to normal life on Earth, something he is utterly failing at. And Sinestro somehow sensing this  -- I’m not kidding Sinestro seems to sense that Hal hates normal life half way across the universe – Sinestro is willing to help Hal become Earth’s protector once again.

By the end I asked, “Why did I need to read this?” Truly there is none. Johns has been a fantastic writer for DC since the mid-2000s; now it seems like he falls into expositional singularities when trying to explain something. This issue is literally one line of exposition after another.

Hal with his "It's time to eat your soul" look.

Johns also slaps the audience in the face by demeaning both Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. He plays both characters off as stereotypes; Hal is the bachelor unwilling to commit to a relationship, and Carol is only concerned with getting married – really is that what Hal and Carol have dissolved into?

Green Lantern #1 isn’t worth even a slight glance. This is not how you restart a series. It is a good example of how you can alienate a loyal fanbase. I must admit I had a hard time not vomiting by the end of this one. For the love of all that’s good skip this comic.