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A review by rhganci
Green Lantern Vol. 2: The Revenge of Black Hand by Geoff Johns
4.0
While the first volume of GREEN LANTERN's New 52 story left me a bit disconnected from Hal Jordan's adventures in Space Sector 2814 as they continued rather uninterrupted from the pre-FLASHPOINT storyline, VOLUME 2: REVENGE OF THE BLACK HAND measured new and old into a cool, threat-level-midnight story about the impending collapse of the Green Lantern Corps and How Hal (Is Going to) [Got] His Ring Back. That, I assume, is all coming in Volume 3, but for now, I'm far more satisfied with John's second New 52 GL book than I was his first.
This story split its duties between continuing the story of Hal's temporary GL ring and his rivalry-based team-up with Sinestro, whose actions in the middle and at the end of the previous volume amp up to full concern here, with the Book of Black leading the danger in concert with the Guardians of Oa, who now want to destroy the Lantern Corps with something called the Third Army. I thought the story of the Indigo Lanterns, a context-rich story section that did a lot to bring me up to speed as a "new" reader. Key background includes: The origin of the Indigo Tribe, the fate of Black Hand, and the nature of the Guardians' new approach to galactic stability. Johns moves through the complexity of the lore much easier this time, with a steadier hand and a more engaging plot to get the information to us, and to get us to think about the things that we as readers are supposed to be thinking about with so much richness.
The second half of the story deals mostly with setup for the final Johns volume of GL, what I assume will include some kind of resolution to the "Is Hal Jordan a Green Lantern, or not?" question, which I consider the chief concern of the story: in the Justice League book, which directly references some of the goings-on in Hal's solo book, he appears to be 100% a member of the GL corps. I enjoyed the action sequences at the graveyard, the cliffhanger that Johns leaves us with (part of which does a lot to set my expectations for V3), and the significant but restrained role that Carol plays in this story, more as a catalyst for Hal's character than a key player of any kind. I hope to see more of her in the coming months, ring or not.
Doug Mahnke's art continues it strong presence in bringing the GL world to life, especially his settings. This volume takes us from Coast City to a prison world, and from there to a jungle and to Sinestro's secret lair and back to Earth again. Exciting, intense, and much more coherent to new and returning readers this time around, REVENGE OF THE BLACK HAND seems to be a book with mass appeal. It really raises the stakes and makes great use of the GL lore, and as a middle-act of a larger drama, definitely improves on the groundwork that the first volume established. Johns' final contribution to the GL sector of the DCU can only do the same, and this volume did much to set expectations and make promises for that conclusion.
This story split its duties between continuing the story of Hal's temporary GL ring and his rivalry-based team-up with Sinestro, whose actions in the middle and at the end of the previous volume amp up to full concern here, with the Book of Black leading the danger in concert with the Guardians of Oa, who now want to destroy the Lantern Corps with something called the Third Army. I thought the story of the Indigo Lanterns, a context-rich story section that did a lot to bring me up to speed as a "new" reader. Key background includes: The origin of the Indigo Tribe, the fate of Black Hand, and the nature of the Guardians' new approach to galactic stability. Johns moves through the complexity of the lore much easier this time, with a steadier hand and a more engaging plot to get the information to us, and to get us to think about the things that we as readers are supposed to be thinking about with so much richness.
The second half of the story deals mostly with setup for the final Johns volume of GL, what I assume will include some kind of resolution to the "Is Hal Jordan a Green Lantern, or not?" question, which I consider the chief concern of the story: in the Justice League book, which directly references some of the goings-on in Hal's solo book, he appears to be 100% a member of the GL corps. I enjoyed the action sequences at the graveyard, the cliffhanger that Johns leaves us with (part of which does a lot to set my expectations for V3), and the significant but restrained role that Carol plays in this story, more as a catalyst for Hal's character than a key player of any kind. I hope to see more of her in the coming months, ring or not.
Doug Mahnke's art continues it strong presence in bringing the GL world to life, especially his settings. This volume takes us from Coast City to a prison world, and from there to a jungle and to Sinestro's secret lair and back to Earth again. Exciting, intense, and much more coherent to new and returning readers this time around, REVENGE OF THE BLACK HAND seems to be a book with mass appeal. It really raises the stakes and makes great use of the GL lore, and as a middle-act of a larger drama, definitely improves on the groundwork that the first volume established. Johns' final contribution to the GL sector of the DCU can only do the same, and this volume did much to set expectations and make promises for that conclusion.