Review: Green Lantern #17

By MrComicBook on Feb 23, 2013 with Comments 0

With the Green Lantern side of the DC universe ending a big event, it should have been a time for the new Lantern, Simon Baz, to get his footing as a member of the Corps. Instead, we get ANOTHER event.

#17 picks up around where #16 ended. If you haven’t read the other Green Lantern books, don’t worry, you’ll get the gist of what is going on fast. It is fun to see Geoff Johns throw Baz into this situations and see how reacts. That is the easiest way to get to the heart of a hero. Baz is more likable than ever, showing his will power very well. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Baz when he was first announced, but he has grown on me very fast. The story is full of action and detailed character moments, two things that have been the hallmark of Johns’ run on the title. Since Baz has been introduced, Johns has been writing one amazing book. Green Lantern was suffering a little underneath Hal Jordan, being the same old book with nothing new. Baz has a lot in common with the rest of the Lanterns on Earth, but just enough to set him apart.

Green Lantern has been subject to events like Wrath of the First Lantern before. These are events that span every Green Lantern book, and you have to buy every one to understand the story. As someone who has a massive list of comics to buy every week, I can’t always add two or three extra books I’m not reading because of an event. So when #18 comes out, I plan on not knowing what is going on. I can look up spoilers on the internet, but I’d rather not. What happened to events where you didn’t need to buy a ton of books to understand. All the Spider-Island tie-ins were self contained, but had small ties into the greater event. If you weren’t reading Amazing Spider-Man, but reading Herc, you’d be fine. The same could be said with Brightest Day (to a degree). If writers are going to make readers buy every book, they should attempt to pick them up organically. This could be made easier by a recap page, something DC is terrified of doing. It helps bring new readers into the fold without sacrificing pages for the writer and artist. If Green Lantern #17 had been more loosely tied into Wrath of the First Lantern instead of a major player, this would have been a great issue. Instead, it’s just an ok issue. And with Johns’ run winding down, I was hoping to not see an issue like this.

Doug Mahnke and an army of inkers create a great looking issue. Baz’s greenness (pardon the pun) to the Corps is evident in his eyes. As usual with Mahnke, the action flows very well, with every Lantern construct popping off the page. The First Lantern has a great look to him. Black Hand is still the only Lantern enemy that I truly like, and that is due to Mahnke’s creepy pencils. There is an aura of deadness to him, even when time shifts and we see him as a young guy. For the prologue, we have Dan Jurgens on breakdowns, and Phil Jimenez finishing up. The art looks identical to Jimenez’s work, to the point it is difficult to tell that Jurgens’ actually broke down the scenes. It has a great, cheesy 80s quality too it, although I`m not sure if that was the intention.

Green Lantern #17 could have been a great issue, but a lousy event has brought it down

Green Lantern #17 gets 2.5/5

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MrComicBook

Senior Writer, Entertainment Reviewer & Editor at ComicBookTherapy

Kevin Finnigan is long time comic fan. He studied American History in college, wanting to become a teacher. As you can see, it didn't work out. He reads books by all the big publishers, and dabbles in indie publishers as well.