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Monday, May 30, 2005
Green Lantern #1
Back in January I wrote a post decrying the over-reliance of past continuity in superhero comics, especially the ones that feature artists I really look forward to reading. Carlos Pacheco is one of those artists and I certainly had my doubts that the new Green Lantern series would be accessible enough for those who don’t have a large amount of knowledge about the DC Universe (although I probably know more than most people, thanks to some pretty awesome reprint collections that have come out, not to mention three of the ACAPCWOVCCAOE being big DC fans). I was contacted by someone close to the book that assured me that the new series would be an easy read for new and old fans. That convinced me to at least give the book a chance. Here is what I found.
I’ve enjoyed Pacheco’s art where I’ve found it, but I’ve never been a follower of any series he’s been an artist for. I found out about him reading Rich Kreiner’s “Meet the Comic Press” column in The Comics Journal. Kreiner was reviewing some magazine that had a Pacheco sketchbook section and Kreiner said something to the effect that he’s an artist that could be a modern age Gil Kane (I don’t have the magazine with me right now so I can’t reproduce the exact quote). Reading that, and being a big fan of Kane’s work, I decided to find some of his stuff. Reading JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice and Fantastic Four: Into the Breach I saw that Pacheco was one of those few great artists that make a scene and its characters appear real fluid and attractive. He can definitely bring a sense of grandeur to the superheroes he draws just because there such an elegance to the simplicity in the way he draws bodies and faces, but there’s also a comfortable “down-to-earth” feeling as well, probably due to his straightforward storytelling. Having him draw a regular series starring a character that I always felt had a great design (designed by Gil Kane himself that is) was the real attraction for me when it came to this book.
Pacheco here doesn’t disappoint. There’s a distinct feeling of optimism about the look of this book and it’s one I feel is pretty welcome. Not that some bad things don’t happen (and Pacheco draws those pretty good, too) but seeing Green Lantern fly after a runaway jet plane I did get the feeling that Pacheco and writer Geoff Johns said “alright, let’s have some rollicking super-duper stuff happen.” I also noticed a feeling of certain starkness, more so than any other Pacheco book I’ve read, brought to this book. The backgrounds aren’t cluttered at all which makes scenes such as the early jet flying one all that more effective. Having spent some time in the Central California that this book takes place in this seemed to be a smart style to go with. The geography of Green Lantern’s surroundings is an important part of the story, both the air force base where he works at and the California town he’s trying to see rebuilt.
The rebirth of Coast City was the part of the book that actually struck me the most. In a lot of Marvel and DC books we have characters dying, getting dark and going through self-doubt so that the stories will feel like something real important is happening. In contrast to that, both Hal Jordan and his hometown are coming back from when a previous crossover event (in this case the Zero Hour story of a decade ago) caused all kind of havoc in the lives of the characters of DC. Is this a sign that the new Green Lantern series is an antidote to many of the other comics that are coming out at the same time?
The rest of the story did a decent job of establishing Green Lantern as the kind of guy who really gets what it means to be heroic and save people. After reading this one issue anyone can get that Hal Jordan values comradery, likes to solve problems, loves to be around aircrafts and can be all too human in the presence of a lovely lady. Darwyn Cooke made it clear to me in New Frontier, easily the best superhero comic book to be seen in a very long time, that Green Lantern is one of the most important parts of the DC superhero line. He is that guy who represents the forward-thinking days of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s where people were excited about science and knew that if you were honest and smart you could achieve greatness. There was an optimism about the times that matches the brightness that character should have. Johns doesn’t make anything about Green Lantern edgy for today but the character and his world don’t feel stale either.
What I didn’t like about the book was that there was so much reverence for the superhero world of Green Lantern that the book can feel very delicate and in fact a bit slow. I like my superhero tales to have something resembling a manic energy to them, although that wouldn’t be appropriate for this particular tale. This inaugural issue is about the characters, the main one really, and we only get some hints of upcoming plots. DC has this great tradition of their books getting so filled with plots that they can feel like they’re going to burst. The issues of Justice League of America that Gardner Fox wrote are the best example of this and Grant Morrison and Mark Waid proved that that sensibility can be recreated in modern superhero comic stories. I’d like to see some of that done here; especially if the stories get real cosmic which I think would be a cool place to go with this character.
As for the accessibility of this book, I can say that I had no problem following along. I have read some issues of earlier volumes of Green Lantern. The run by John Broome and Gil Kane (the absolute best creative team DC had in the ‘60s) I liked a lot and I’ve also read the Steve Englehart/Joe Staton run, which was good when it was called Green Lantern Corps. Other than that I really don’t know much of ol’ Lantern (other than what I know from listening to this guy) but this book made clear anything that I needed to know to get what was going on (even including an origin sequence drawn by Evan Van Sciver). Hell, I really liked the caption box explaining who Green Lantern was that appeared in the title page. I’m not going to mind if Green Lantern’s past is brought back as long as delving into continuity isn’t the point and it’s all done in service to a good story anyone can enjoy.
Things are so here at the Brill Building that taking on another title is too much to ask for, what with the finical situations and the personal upheavals coming up. I have a pretty good feeling that this title is still going to be coming out when I move in a few months and maybe then I’ll really think about following this title. Month after month Pacheco sounds very tempting and Johns is writing a superhero book that seems to find more use in the hopefulness of superheroes instead of getting real dark. That certainly sounds like a superior direction to go with.
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