Broken Frontier

It’s One Year Later and Hal Jordan is having a hard time accepting the new world. Of course, having a price on his head and dodging alien bounty hunters isn’t helping...

I suppose it should not come as a surprise that, out of all of the One Year Later titles, it is Green Lantern that gives readers their first hint of some of the sweeping changes that are now affecting the DC Universe. After all, Geoff Johns, the architect of Infinite Crisis and one of the 52 collaborators continues to handle the writing duties on this title. Here he gives readers not only a different world but also hints that the past year has not been easy for Hal Jordan.

In a high-octane opening, Green Lantern finds himself fighting off a group of Rocket Reds over Russia as he tries to arrest an alien bounty hunter called the Igneous Man. It seems that an international treaty is hampering heroes from traveling wherever they need to in order to pursue criminals and save lives. Hal is more than content to ignore this but other members of the superhero community are not at all pleased by his attitude. As Hal also struggles with a personal problem, a new menace is brewing in space with a very old connection, and an old friend makes an explosive appearance.

Geoff Johns has taken the OYL opportunity to really move this title on a fast track. There is a lot of information, not only about the new world order, but also hints about other heroes and dramatic turns for the main character. Johns’ skill is such, however, that all of this information never overwhelms the story. New plot threads are laid in this issue while other, older ones, are followed out. One of those newer threads is a looming threat that holds great promise for being trouble of the best kind.

Aside from the story elements, the other new addition to this title is penciler Ivan Reis. Reis has been named the permanent artist for the series now, ending the practice of rotating between the works of Carlos Pacheco and Ethan Van Sciver. Although both Pacheco and Van Sciver did beautiful work on the series it will be nice to have some stability and a consistent look for the book. I will also say that DC could not have made a finer choice in Reis. Having previously worked on Rann-Thanagar War, Reis has proven that he can handle widescreen, space action. Here his action sequences are dynamic, the aliens have a perfectly ‘alien’ appearance, and the quieter, personal moments feel just that.

All told, Green Lantern has fully lived up to the One Year Later hype, giving readers a little bit of mystery, a new world order, and a hero with a matched set of mental and emotional baggage. For any fan of action, adventure, space opera science fiction, and good, old, fashioned drama, Green Lantern is a must-read title. It’s One Year Later, and a new adventure is waiting...go on and explore.