Hal is back on Earth for what seems like a normal family dinner. However, not is as it all appears and this is a job for Green Lantern.
Grant Morrison’s run on The Green Lantern so far has been completely unlike any other Green Lantern run. This is Grant Morrison shaping Hal Jordan in a Grant Morrison fashion, rather than Morrison shifting his style to the character. Luckily, this has transformed into something spectacular. With this annual, Morrison eschews the story being told in the main series and tells a smaller, stand-alone story that feels both Morrison and classic Green Lantern.
The best part of this issue has to be the decision to bring Hal’s crazy world into the mundane life of his family. This is a part of the character that really hasn’t explored much in the past other than an appearance here and there. There’s just something about the complexity to Hal’s family that feels right up Morrison’s wheelhouse and, it turns out, it is. Family drama is key in this issue and it makes for some tense and humorous scenes throughout the issue.
Then, there’s also the heavy sci-fi use in this issue. It’s something that feels right at home in anything Morrison or Green Lantern. Morrison introduces a new alien that functions like radio waves in this issue and it doesn’t feel out of place at all. In fact, it acts as the perfect foil for Hal’s cousin, Harold Jordan aka AirWave. This creates for a fun dynamic where a D-list character can be the hero whereas the A-list hero isn’t.
Really the only problem that there is from a story aspect in this issue is the ending. I’m not going to spoil it, but there’s a certain thing that happens with the ending that’s a terrible cliché. It’s a cliché that rarely, if ever, works the way that the writer wants it to in any medium. It works even less here because of the context of the character and the story. The story works without a last-minute twist and it’s a baffling choice why it was done.
Giuseppe Camuncoli makes a welcome return to DC Comics with this issue though and his art continues to be great. Coming off the back of his excellent work with Darth Vader, it’s wonderful to see him tackle a different character based around the stars. His art in this issue is very kinetic and moves at an extremely fast pace. This is fitting simply because when you have electrical beings, the art should convey that, and it does so here. His layouts are fantastic as well because Camuncoli knows how to pace extremely well. Nothing feels too fast or too slow, but moves at the exact speed that the issue needs to move at. If Liam Sharp wasn’t doing the regular series, I’d say that Camuncoli should take over.
[…] CHECK OUT: The Green Lantern Annual #1 Review: Time With Family Can Be Rough […]