Broken Frontier

The mystery behind the reemergence of the Star Sapphire grinds to a halt, as Hal Jordan and Co. lick their wounds in the process.

There are simply way too many shades of color comprising the power base of the Green Lantern mythos. First we have the emerald power rings wielded by the might of the Guardians, and then we have the dastardly Sinestro taking up the mantle of a yellow power ring to honor the fearfulness of Parallax. To round this out, we have the powerful urges of the violet light of love which stem from the Zamarons, allowing for a trio of splintered power bases all competing for dominance in the universe.

Are you confused yet? Well, you should be since this current issue attempts to resolve some of the answers surrounding the reemergence of the Star Sapphire. My only complaint though was that nothing was ever really resolved, since the plot thread is obviously going to be an ongoing element in the series. If anything, we learned that Hal may have a new lady love in his life, and this could become complicated with the news of Carol’s divorce from Gil. To top that off, the Zamarons return home with wishes of culling together all the power sources from both the emerald and yellow rings to combat a mysterious prophecy.

Again, it sounds contrived for the most part, but I trust that Geoff Johns has a master plan building to unfold over the next several months. His story here though is always brimming with interesting revelations, and he certainly knows how to weave the events transpiring in this issue into a tapestry of intrigue and dynamic adventure. It was also nice to see some of the supporting players like Carol Ferris and Cowgirl take centre stage in an effort to round out certain aspects of Hal’s personal life yet to fully blossom. At least there are hints of love triangle still to come, so we’ll see what Johns has up his sleeve with this thread.

As for the art in this issue, Daniel Acuña finishes up his brief stint with a solid enough effort. I found some of his pages breathtaking, but my one complaint with his work is that he relies heavily upon using a rich color palette which ostensibly hides some of his drawing ability. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I am quite relieved that series regular Ivan Reis will return next issue.

I am glad this series appears to be picking up speed and unfurling epic spanning events in such a short time. I wonder though if readers will accept the overhauling of the Green Lantern mythos, especially after learning what role the Zamarons will be playing in this cosmic drama. Johns’ plotting certainly takes centre stage with this issue, so it will be interesting to see how much momentum from that will carry through to the next issue. I guess I will have to return next issue to find the answer to that one.