Broken Frontier

Sinestro's reign as the lead Green Lantern is cut short, as Hal Jordan just has to take back the lime-green-light.

Everything changed thanks to Flashpoint. Well, everything but Batman and Green Lantern. They've just kept the majority of their stories, shrinking them down to about five years worth of tales. Hal Jordan's been incredibly busy over the past five years, and when a chance to live a normal life not as a Green Lantern arises, he of course jumps at the chance.

Or not. When one of his most hated enemies, Sinestro, was chosen as his replacement, Hal slunk off back to Earth, and failed to make anything of himself. When a person that's flown for years either thanks to planes or a ring has to be brought down to reality, getting a car loan becomes an issue. This would be an interesting turn of events; Geoff Johns writing one of his prized characters that he's redefined for the modern era to be redefined as a person, not as a superhero. Challenge him with real-world problems, show how out of touch he is, and how it doesn't really matter if you've saved the universe dozens of times, your credit can still suck so hard you have to ask a semi-girlfriend for help with a car loan.

Disappointingly, the removal of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern only lasted for one core issue (alongside side stories in other books). Readers who were ready for Sinestro's run as the lead Green Lantern for a year or so will be disappointed, as now it looks to be that he gets co-starring credit at best. This move makes the most sense for DC Comics, as with the Green Lantern movie introducing Hal Jordan and Sinestro as both heroic leading Green Lanterns, but comes off almost as a writing restriction. Geoff Johns may have planned this all along, but readers who have heard about Sinestro's starring role will be sorely disappointed.

There are a few caveats to how the situation pans out, and it'll be interesting to see how these develop, and how long Johns keeps them running. Hal isn't a full Green Lantern; he's effectively been deputized by Sinestro, and has a limited amount of power and control over his abilities. He's on the short leash of his jailor.

Doug Mahnke works wonders with the alien co-star of the cast, Sinestro. He understands and draws the character to have an air of regality, as if it's below him to deal with the commoners of Earth. Johns does well even writing the dialogue as such, with Sinestro awkwardly dismissing the platitudes of the humans he saves. The only real awkward part of the presentation is that Mahnke's Hal, half the time, looks like he's wearing eye liner or lipstick. Something about his facial designs for the character have him coming off as a 1980s David Bowie or another androgynous musician of the era. Everything else is fine; suit designs (even if Hal's New 52 design boils down to the addition of shoulder pads by Mahnke), crowd scenes, constructs, and the like. Hal's face just makes you want to punch him… which might actually be the most accurate depiction of Hal ever.

Green Lantern continues to do well under the focuses of Geoff Johns, and Mahnke's art is great when it comes to the interstellar nature of the hero. The only missteps seem to be related to Hal Jordan, leaving readers preferring a Sinestro-guided book, instead of a Sinestro-guided Hal.