By Cat Wyatt

It’s only been two weeks since the last issue of Hal Jordan, and the Green Lantern Corps came out, but it feels like it has been months. I’ve been so anxious to see what was going to happen next, and leaving Hal all alone in Zod’s control has not been comforting to me. There are a lot of things in motion right now, from Zod officially making a move to the Guardians interfering with the way John Stewart runs the Green Lantern Corps. I’ve been looking forward to seeing where it was going to go next.

It will surprise exactly no one to hear that the Guardians were a little bit upset with John for failing to stop the renegade rescue mission (you know, the one he intentionally pretended to be unaware of so they could actually do their jobs and save Hal). I’m not surprised with the Guardians that took exception to it (though I do wish we had seen Ganthet speak out in John’s defense – this is exactly what he had been tasked to deal with), but I am disappointed. I was surprised by the level of sass John threw their way – it was glorious.

Meanwhile, on planet Jekuul the fight between the Green Lanterns and the House of Zod is in full swing. With Kyle infused with the willpower (and catchphrases) of two Green Lanterns he’s finding this fight to be a little easier. They’re still outnumbered if one considers the worshippers that Zod has converted.

I’ll admit it’s been really interesting to see the power scales and balances going on here. One the one hand we have a handful of exceptionally talented Green Lanterns (one of which being the most creative lantern known in their history). On the other hand, we have Zod and his family being infused with the power of two yellow suns. If you had asked me before all of this how I thought the fight would go, I probably wouldn’t have been able to give you an answer.

Now you’re probably wondering how Hal has been doing during this whole fight. He’s still trapped in prison somewhere, but he’s conscious and very very aware of the fight going on. It seems like he’s pretty much getting the play by play courtesy of his ring (which is on Kyle, so this makes sense). Too bad it doesn’t seem like he can communicate with Kyle at the moment, I imagine that would be pretty useful right about now (Hal must have gathered some useful information during his imprisonment – this is Hal we’re talking about after all).

The fight while being outstandingly epic is probably one that’s better seen than described. With one major exception: the fight Guy Gardner gets himself into. It didn’t occur to me before this fight actually started, but somebody was bound to get stuck fighting the kid. Unfortunately that somebody is Guy. Now you may assume a guy like Guy (no pun intended there) would have no problem taking on a kid. But we have to remember that Guy had an abusive father, and he would rather die than lay his hands on a kid. So everyone else is putting their all into the fight, while poor Guy is getting the snot kicked out of him by a little twerp. Frustrating to see, but I actually totally get where Guy is coming from (and I hate to say it, but somebody with a more innovative use of constructs would probably have been a better match here).

And once again I find myself anxiously waiting for the next issue. I desperately want to see how this fight ends (though for all I know it won’t actually conclude next issue, something I’d be okay with). They’ve done a great job building up for this fight. Even though it’s lasted more than one full issue now, I don’t find myself frustrated or anxious for more information. There’s a balance being found here, with the dramatics, plot, and I’ll say it, Green Lantern sass. It makes for a fascinating read.

The cover for this issue is probably one of my favorites, at least for now. Both Hal and Kyle are beautifully rendered, while also being clearly shown as being connected to each other via the ring. It’s actually pretty clever – somebody not reading the series wouldn’t know that, and thus wouldn’t get a spoiler. That’s the perfect combination for a cover if you ask me.

Score: 4/5

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40
DC Comics