Broken Frontier

Beware of War of the Green Lanterns Spoilers!

Who would have ever thought the new Green Lantern of sector 2814 would be Sinestro? It came as a big surprise to me, but looking back it makes perfect sense because Sinestro is the Darth Vader of the Green Lantern Saga.

Sinestro was formerly the greatest of the Green Lanterns before he was consumed by his desire to embrace fear as a means of control much like Anakin Skywalker was a powerful Jedi Knight before he was seduced by the power of the dark side. After waging a war against his former brethren, Sinestro is now poised to set out on a quest of redemption.

Looking at the Geoff Johns run on Green Lantern from the beginning shows an entire saga not unlike the original Star Wars trilogy. No Fear, Revenge of the Green Lanterns, and Wanted – Hal Jordan are akin to A New Hope in that they establish Hal Jordan as the hero; Sinestro Corps War is The Empire Strikes back because it has exciting new characters, big battles, and explores the mythology of the Corps more than ever before; and Blackest Night and War of the Green Lanterns is Return of the Jedi because it’s where Sinestro finally changes as a character and vies for redemption. I would argue that Sinestro tried to redeem himself by taking control of the white entity at the end of Blackest Night, but that ended up being a more ego-driven maneuver which caused it to end in failure.

But at the end of War of the Green Lanterns, looking into Sinestro’s eyes as he listens to Hal Jordan speak about why he fights for the Corps was nothing short of awe-inspiring – you could feel the change of heart happening within him. Sounds like a familiar scene from Return of the Jedi where Vader looks from his robotic stump, to Luke, and then the Emperor before turning back to the light side of the force.

When people ask me who my favorite super hero is, I say Green Lantern, but what I really mean is the entire Green Lantern mythos. I don’t care for Jordan since he’s brash, egotistical, and generally a dull character. My favorite character has always been Sinestro since – in addition to being a total bad ass with or without his ring – he fell from grace, did his best to change the universe, and has now finally embraced what he truly believes in. It’s hard not to feel for the guy as a personal, emotional struggle occurs within him – just like Darth Vader.