Broken Frontier

Green Lantern meets the creatures that have been playing with mankind’s evolutionary ladder as well as their latest ‘improvement’– the villain Black Hand!

With the sixth issue of this series, Geoff Johns hits his stride and begins digging at Hal Jordan’s psyche. All of this in the middle of a pitched battle between Green Lantern, Black Hand, and the Gremlins. Readers also get more of a look and understanding of Black Hand’s new power, and it is an interesting one. Johns plays around with multiple forms of opposing forces in this issue and leads the reader down some intriguing paths; most notably questions about the legitimacy of resurrections.

Johns also displays his knack for taking established elements from a character’s past and building upon them. The flashback scenes in this issue are enlightening, emotional and point to some interesting future directions and problems for Hal Jordan. For fans of continuity, there is a certain amount of retconning here but it is nothing terribly jarring and it serves the character well. A few well-timed sly and sarcastic quips round the story out and prove that Johns has an ear for dialogue as well as timing for action sequences.

Original solicits had Ethan Van Sciver as artist on this issue but Simone Bianchi, slated to handle art for some of the coming issues, has stepped in and given fans an early taste of things to come. Bianchi’s art is stunning and unlike almost everything seen on the shelves today. Even the villains, Hector Hammond, the Shark, and Black Hand, although rendered as grotesques, have a fascinating quality in their ugliness. Bianchi’s work has detail, grace, and an almost ethereal quality to it. Each panel is a true work of art that draws the reader in and captivates the eye.

Part of this otherworldly look is achieved by Nathan Eyring’s colors. The tones are muted and soft here, unlike the bright, hard colors we’ve seen so far in this series. The sepia-toned flashback sequences even meld smoothly into the rest of the coloring on this issue. Eyring’s name is not one I’m familiar with but after this issue, it is one I will definitely keep watch for.

I will admit that I am a Hal Jordan fan but I will also admit that the first few issues of this series moved a little slowly. The constant delays and lack of a regular release schedule hurt the flow of this story arc as well. With two issues released within a month of each other, however, it is to be hoped that this title has gotten back on track. Geoff Johns is a writer who is known for layered plots, building slowly and steadily to smashing conclusions and he is starting to do so here. For this style to work, though, the series needs to get on schedule and stay there.