JohnLees
Tuesday, July 07, 2009, 02:36 AM
The Blackest Night is upon us. After two years of hype (or more, arguably, as we’ll discuss soon), this week sees the arrival of Green Lantern #43, the official prologue to next week’s Blackest Night #1. For those who have been living under a rock, The Blackest Night is the third and final part in the “War of Light” trilogy writer Geoff Johns has crafted over the course of his Green Lantern relaunch - the first part being Rebirth and the second being The Sinestro Corps War – in which the dead of the DC Universe are set to rise from their graves as Black Lanterns. For longtime Green Lantern readers, the very title alone is enough to draw climactic expectations, as it builds on the 1980s Alan Moore story – Tygers - which introduced the prophecy of “The Blackest Night” as signaling the demise of the Green Lantern Corps. But we have been promised that this is not just a Green Lantern story, but rather a tale which will have major ramifications throughout the DC Universe. So, with this epic event set to dominate DC’s schedules for the next few months, I thought now would be the best possible time to take a look back through Geoff Johns’ acclaimed run on Green Lantern, and see just how we got to the point we have now reached.
In order to get the full scope of the road to Blackest Night, ideally I’d have asked you all to read the entirety of Green Lantern Volume 4, along with the entirety of its sister title, Green Lantern Corps, and various tie-ins. Furthermore, beyond that, The Blackest Night seems set to not just be the climax of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern saga, but rather the culmination of a whole era of DC Comics events, stretching back to Identity Crisis, then taking us through Infinite Crisis, 52 and Final Crisis. In various ways, these stories all dealt with the DC Universe becoming darker, of death’s shadow looming ever larger over our heroes, yet peppered throughout these events and the pages of Green Lantern, we’ve also had our share of miraculous resurrections. The Blackest Night feels like a reckoning for all of this, and so it all comes into play when looking at how we’ve got here. But according to Johns, at its core The Blackest Night remains a Green Lantern story – a Hal Jordan story – and so in picking out the reading list for this meeting, I’ve settled on four graphic novels which offer a comprehensive insight into the current Green Lantern series: No Fear, The Sinestro Corps War (in two volumes) and Secret Origin. The focus of today’s meeting will be using these texts to examine the key themes and ideas driving Geoff Johns’ relaunch of Green Lantern, and talk about how the series has been setting the stage for The Blackest Night.
I think a good place to start would be where we finished when discussing Green Lantern: Rebirth in Meeting #4. I mentioned this quote from Geoff Johns, used in his original pitch for Rebirth:
We want to keep all this as simple and connected as possible, we want to reach a strong status quo of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern after this series. His journey will not be one of redemption or guilt, but one of rebuilding.
Rebuilding Hal’s life, rebuilding Coast City, rebuilding the Corps, rebuilding a hero. Our theme for the monthly book.
So, in wrapping up Rebirth, the stated aim for the ongoing series that was to follow was a focus on the central theme of “rebuilding”. Just how did Johns put this into action? To answer this, we’d best look at the first graphic novel on our reading list, No Fear. If Rebirth was a closing of the books and a tidying of continuity, then the first issue of the new Green Lantern series, “Airborne” (though in this collected edition, “Airborne” is actually the second chapter, with nothing done to separate one chapter from another),is the true "new beginning" for the Green Lantern mythos. The whole issue feels like a big sigh of relief from Geoff Johns in the wake of Rebirth: he's untangled all that continuity, labored through all that exposition, and gotten Hal Jordan to where he wants him. And now he can just focus on starting fresh, rebuilding this world and telling a damn good story.
I like how the issue starts with a four-page flashback to how Hal Jordan became Green Lantern, with a brief summary of what the ring is and who the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians are, all drawn by the ever-excellent Ethan Van Sciver. If I was a comic fan back in 2005, and I'd never read a Green Lantern comic before, but decided to start with this new #1, I'd find this opening very helpful indeed. It all ties back into the ideas of accessibility discussed in our “Power of #1” meeting.
As for the story, one of the key functions of this opening three-part arc is in establishing Hal's Earth-based supporting cast, with us being introduced to Jillian “Cowgirl” Pearlman and General Stone in short order, and Hal’s brother Jim is brought back into the fold. Some of my favourite moments in this opening storyline are the meetings between Hal and Jim Jordan. In a genre where the key family dynamic tends to be the parent/child relationship (which of course also factors into Green Lantern), the sibling relationship is one that is explored less often in a superhero's supporting cast, with Hal Jordan being one of comparatively few top-tier superheroes who had brothers. Here, their discussions often revolve around Coast City, which emerges almost as a character itself. There is a real sense of sadness in this strangely empty city, which artist Carlos Pacheco encapsulates nicely, particularly in an effective night-time shot on page 20 of “Chapter 4: Flight Delay”, where there are hardly any lights on in the various buildings. Alongside this image, Hal’s narration sets up what will become an important recurring theme in the series:
I look around today. At the way we live… we’re arming security systems, putting metal detectors in schools and looking over our shoulders on airplanes. The news shouts – “Tonight at eleven, find out which major drugs company could make you sick.” Is this the life I’m coming back to? Is this the strongest emotion in the universe? Is fear what controls everyone and everything?
This concern is eased when he sees that his brother Jim has decided to move back to the city with his family. Johns has often said that his take on Green Lantern is ultimately that it’s a story about overcoming fear, and he often explores this theme through his portrayal of Coast City, as will be seen later. In a way, Coast City becomes a kind of metaphor for Hal Jordan himself. In No Fear, it's back, but it's still incomplete, it still has to fight to get things back to the way they were. For Coast City, this will require the repopulation of the city, while for Hal, resolving the "emptiness" will require the return of the Corps and (as the following chapters insinuate) the return of his old rogues.
And so we really get the sense of this “rebuilding” taking effect. The actual storyline itself seems to take second-fiddle to getting us comfortable with the new status quo of the Green Lantern title, with much being done to make this feel like a new beginning, the first chapter of a new story. Also, it is utterly dominated by build-up, to the point where its validity as a standalone story is almost questionable. Most prominently, the two Manhunters feel like a strangely ineffective threat. Much is done with the slow-boil and the narration to put them over as a highly dangerous force, but they just don't feel like truly compelling foes. Even when they endanger Coast City, it feels like it's far too early in the game for such a threat to mean anything. From the cryptic references to their Grandmaster to the closing reveal of the Lost Lanterns, the presence of the Manhunters in this story feels like a mere prelude to something else. Which it is. The Manhunter strand of this story is basically a trailer for “Revenge of the Green Lanterns”, the storyline which dominates the next graphic novel in the series – appropriately titled Revenge of the Green Lanterns.
But more intriguingly, right from the very first issue, there seems to be foreshadowing of a much bigger Green Lantern story: The Blackest Night. For example, the Manhunter under the possession of the US army is never seen, it remains hidden under tarpaulin. And so, what presence in this issue brings with it the promise of danger and death? Black. A solid black shadow seen through an opening of the tarpaulin. A deep black that, thanks to close-ups, repeatedly fills entire panels. Indeed, in the aforementioned opening flashback, on the subject of his imminent death Abin Sur states, "The brightest day becomes the blackest night." And then there's the moment where Cowgirl remarks that the green in Hal's uniform is burning hot, but the black is ice cold, something which has yet to be explained or addressed. Cold bodies brings up connotation of death and corpses, and once again this is tied into the color black. Is all this coincidence? Perhaps. But it is certainly possible that this is a sign of Johns' loooooooong-term planning in action.
But it is in the final chapter of No Fear, “Black Sheep”, that the foreshadowing of Blackest Night begins in earnest. It is here, a good four years ago, that Black Hand (who right now serves as the visible face of villainy for Blackest Night) establishes some ideas only just coming into play now:
You think you’re strong. But death is stronger. It is the pure power of the far end of the emotional spectrum. The emptiness of space. The Blackest Night.
Black Hand later states that black is the color of death, and that it is his color – already, his blood is black. Black Hand also brings up something which could make for an interesting plot dynamic in this year’s big story, saying to Hal Jordan, “You may have cheated it… but you still reek of death.” This raises a valid question. Hal Jordan may be alive now, but he has been dead. What kind of pull will the black have over him?
This brings us to something else Johns was faced with rebuilding throughout No Fear: the character of Hal Jordan. While this Green Lantern series has become increasingly event-driven, No Fear is a collection of somewhat standalone stories, allowing more breathing room to focus on Hal’s character. Indeed, the opening chapter of No Fear is “Flight” - a little piece drawn by Darwyn Cooke, originally included in the Green Lantern: Secret Files comic published shortly before Volume 4 began – which is all character study.
But even in this early stage, we see that much of Hal’s character development revolves around setting up as the ideal protagonist for The Blackest Night. Once again returning to “Black Sheep”, peppered throughout the chapter are flashbacks from various points of Hal’s history, demonstrating how throughout his years he has felt the power of death over life. We see how his life has been largely defined by a series of deaths, from his father, to his mother, to Abin Sur, to his brother. And finally, Black Hand drags him to Coast City’s huge graveyard, pointing out that millions of people were wiped out in the blink of an eye, but none of them got to come back. Of course, Green Lantern triumphs over adversity:
You’re telling me how powerful death is… but without life, death is nothing.
But on page 20 of “Black Sheep”, we get a wonderfully subtle moment of characterisation, which artist Simone Bianchi skillfully brings to life. After the battle is over, General Stone tells Hal about a summer he spent with Hal’s parents, saying “They were good times.” Hal gives the seemingly straightforward response of “I’m sure they were, General.” But the expression Bianchi gives him is one filled with regret and remorse. This prompts us to look at these flashbacks again, and we see not only the prominence of death in Hal’s life, but how his own stubborn, obtuse nature means he has let much of life pass him by. He was alienated from his mother when she died. He was alienated from his brother when he died. His own willpower worked against him, as it forced him to miss out on “the good times” of his own past. The role death has played in shaping Hal Jordan ties into something that, in the “Sinestro Corps War” afterword to The Sinestro Corps War, Geoff Johns identifies as being a crucial theme right from the very beginning of his run on the title:
And “death” vs. “life” is really what the core of this epic is to me. From Rebirth to Sinestro Corps to The Blackest Night.
In more ways than one, death has cast a pall over Hal’s whole life, meaning his struggle in The Blackest Night should be a compelling one.
The final aspect of rebuilding in No Fear I’d like to touch on is the rebuilding of Green Lantern’s rogues’ gallery. Sinestro aside, Hal Jordan had long been thought to have a collection of incredibly underwhelming foes. So, after the first 3-part story, chapters 5-7 in the graphic novel – “Alienated”, “Feeding Frenzy” and “Black Sheep” – see Johns taking a stab at reinventing Hector Hammond, The Shark and Black Hand respectively, with varying levels of success.
First up is “Chapter 5 - Alienated”. Much fuss has been made of the wonders Geoff Johns has done with villains such as Captain Cold, Black Adam and - of course - Sinestro. But I think his work on Hector Hammond deserves to be ranked right up there alongside those other, more acclaimed villain-revitalizations. In the past, Hector Hammond was considered to be - let's be honest here - pretty lame. With his giant egg-like head making him look like a rather cartoonish figure, he was the kind of odd creation that likely got an appearance in Wizard's "Mort of the Month" feature.
Enter Geoff Johns. While the Hammond of old was a standard moustache-twirling evildoer, Johns tweaked Hammond's motivations to make him more specifically linked to Hal. Hammond covets, he lusts for Hal Jordan and the life he leads. While Hal Jordan lives a life full of excitement, adventure and beautiful women, Hammond is trapped, not just in his cell but in his own body, unable to move. His forlorn, desperate statement on page 19 of this chapter sums up the crux of the character perfectly:
I want to see more... I want to... I just want to be a part of it. Oh Hal... I want to be you.
Hammond is given a crawling, pathetic quality that almost makes him sympathetic. Almost, if not for the constant reminders of how dangerous he is. From his cruel torments of the Belle Reve staff ("he wouldn't stop projecting images of my wife gut like a fish") to how quickly and effectively he is able to floor Hal once his defenses are weakened.
The set-up of the confrontation between Hal Jordan and Hector Hammond is a clever twist on the "quid pro quo" of The Silence of the Lambs, with Hector exchanging information on the super-evolved man discovered outside Edwards Air Force Base in exchange for access to memories of one of Hal's romantic encounters. The way Hammond becomes a kind of psychic voyeur here is unsettling, and in some ways the scene feels like a kind of "mental rape".
Of course, the success of Hector Hammond here is not just down to Johns. Ethan Van Sciver plays a crucial role in reinvigorating Hammond as a dark, creepy character. He debuted his nightmarish take on the character in Rebirth, but here he's refined the look, making Hammond even more disgusting! The one detail that really stands out for me is the lazy eye. The way that bulbous eye lolls over to the side, as if threatening to fall out, is wonderfully horrid. And the horror of the character is nicely complimented and enhanced by his imposing interpretation of Belle Reve's subbasement, populated by rats that scurry around Hammond's feet.
Johns builds on Hammond’s obsession with Hal in “Black Sheep”. While in “Alienated”, the idea that this obsession could be a kind of sexual lust was merely hinted at, masked behind Hammond idolizing Hal as a wish-fulfillment version of who he himself would like to be, here Johns really goes to town with the idea. Hammond presents himself as a damsel in distress for Hal to save, and is even given clichéd love interest dialogue – “My hero”, “Green Lantern saved me” – to enhance the impression. This added another truly creepy, disturbing dimension to the character, though with Secret Origin Johns seems to have balked on the idea and regressed to Hammond’s obsession with Hal being based on envy and greed.
Moving on to “Chapter 6 – Feeding Frenzy”, where Johns tries to similarly revamp The Shark. And yes, let's get that out of the way first. The Shark is, from the point of conception, an inherently lame character. A shark stumbles upon nuclear waste, and is evolved to the point where he can talk and walk on two legs? Wasn't there a Saturday morning kids' TV show that had that plot? So making an effective villain out of this concept was always going to be a struggle. But while Johns isn't entirely successful, I'd say he makes The Shark about as credible a threat here as the character's nature allows.
Johns probably does his best work in establishing The Shark as dangerous and menacing before the character even appears in the issue. There is an excellent slow-boil build of dread - graphic descriptions of the mutilation of his victims (what's left of them), the empty beaches, the mass of sharks (big ones like hammerheads and Great Whites) crowded around in the water to pick up scraps from "a bigger predator" - all building up to the big reveal.
And Ethan Van Sciver delivers big-time for said reveal with a beautiful full-page image of The Shark attacking Green Lantern, who forms a protective cage around himself just in time. Another goofy element of The Shark in the days of old was his look. Too humanoid, not quite sharkish enough. Van Sciver remedies this with his reinvention for Volume 4, making The Shark look animalistic, terrifying and, of course, freakin' huge. Hal Jordan is just dwarfed by this enormous beast, which makes for some interesting visuals. But funnily enough, my favorite image of The Shark of the whole issue isn't one of the big action showcases (which there are a few of). Rather, it is a little panel that comes on the same page as the Shark origin recap. There is no dialogue, no captions. Just a close-up of The Shark's soulless black eyes. Yes, BLACK eyes - the color of death, ba-zing! This panel always reminds me of Quint's famous USS Indianapolis speech from Jaws: "Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes."
Finally, in “Chapter 7 – Black Sheep”, we have Black Hand (previously featured in brief teaser appearances in “Feeding Frenzy”, and earlier in the Rebirth graphic novel) coming to the forefront. Once again, we have a villain who was long dismissed as a lame, cheesy third-stringer. Perhaps moreso even than any other Green Lantern villain, a point has been made over the years to show Black Hand as an ineffective failure in his chosen field of work. He once quit active villainy, not through a moral awakening like you’d expect, but simply because he sucked so bad at crime, choosing to run an adult theatre instead. But that didn’t stop him from getting constantly punked out and terrorised by heroes such as Guy Gardner and Kilowog, in what became something of a running joke. Enter Geoff Johns, who by this point had repeatedly established his ability to make even the tackiest of villains seem cool and relevant. Here, Black Hand proves to be no exception, transformed into a very powerful – and very scary - villain. Gone are the hokey old turns of phrase, and in their place is a mad, morbid obsession with death. As a result, Black Hand becomes the embodiment of the “death vs. life” theme that recurs throughout the series.
Black Hand’s fixation with death, his zealous, unwavering belief in its power over life, is inherently chilling, and all the more jarring coming from a character previously thought of as campy and pathetic. Johns plays around with this dichotomy, with Black Hand torn between this image of himself he’s trying to create as some omnipotent disciple of death who has transcended lowly human morals (“You’ll be the twenty-third person I’ve killed today. But that doesn’t make me a bad man. Death is good.”) and the reality that he’s still the same scared, stuttering loser who is bitter over the suffering inflicted on him by Hal Jordan (“You undeserving sadist. You took my h-h-hand!”).
Throughout his battle with Green Lantern in “Black Sheep”, there is a point that Black Hand continually obsesses over, something he greatly resents: Hal Jordan cheated death. “You had your chance at l-l-life, Green Lantern,” cries Black Hand, “No one else gets second chances!” Much has been made of the idea that Superboy-Prime is Geoff Johns’ commentary on angry fanboys who complain about comics getting too dark in the modern age. But on reading this issue, with Black Hand repeatedly talking about how unfair it is that Hal Jordan is alive again, I think that Black Hand could have been a kind of prototype for Superboy-Prime. I may be reaching here, but I’d like to propose that Black Hand is the angry Kyle Rayner fan, lashing out against Jordan getting his life (i.e., his Green Lantern monthly comic) back, no questions asked, despite being “undeserving”. And so Hal’s fight with Black Hand almost becomes a fight for Hal to justify himself to Kyle’s fans, both as a character and as a successor to Kyle Rayner.
Of course, “Black Sheep” isn’t just about Green Lantern’s fight with Black Hand, with Hector Hammond and The Shark also becoming involved. This chapter really serves as a showcase for Green Lantern’s Earth-based rogues’ gallery, reminding us that Green Lantern does indeed have worthy, memorable foes outside of Sinestro. Following this line of thought, I must praise the decision to establish Hangar 44 on Edwards’ Air Base as a prison for these villains. Where a hero’s enemies are imprisoned once they are caught says a lot about the villains, and in turn about the heroes themselves. The most famous example is Arkham Asylum, a nightmarish hellhole which fits the twisted, psychotic nature of Batman’s villains. Then you have the oppressive Iron Heights, a high-tech twist on the old-fashioned jailhouse seen in many a prison break film, complete with despicable warden, underlining the blue-collar, almost sympathetic characterisation of the Flash Rogues. And with Hangar 44 becoming “a containment unit for extra-terrestrial threats”, it helps to unify the nature of these Green Lantern villains, making them less of a random hodge-podge of quaint and goofy gimmicks, and allowing them to say more about Green Lantern himself, and what role he plays as a superhero. One of the core ideas in the Green Lantern mythos is the union between the human (our hero) and the alien (his ring, or indeed his interactions with the universe-spanning Corps). And so when you place Earth-born villains like Hector Hammond and Black Hand in an “extra-terrestrial” prison like Hangar 44, it reflects how Hal’s rogues are, in a way, twisted versions of him, their symbiosis between alien and human gone horribly wrong.
Woah, I’ve really talked at length on No Fear, haven’t I? I’ve got other graphic novels to get to! I’ve shown that, with No Fear, Geoff Johns succeeded in his aim to focus his Green Lantern relaunch on the theme of rebuilding. By the end of this book, Hal Jordan’s key character traits have been (re) established, the status quo has been set up with the introduction of his hometown and supporting cast, and he’s been given a group of compelling villains to work with. Also, here we see the foundations being laid for some of the major themes that would continue to play out, and further evolve, as the series progressed.
Before proceeding, it would be unfair to ignore the impact The Sinestro Corps War had on the Green Lantern title. The story began with comparatively little fanfare, but once the spectacular opening issue hit stands, The Sinestro Corps War quickly cast Marvel’s World War Hulk (at that point the comic storyline that had been receiving the lion’s share of hype) into the shade, becoming the blockbuster comic book event of 2007. For a lot of readers, this was the storyline that put Green Lantern on the map, and made his book an A-list, must-read title. It was certainly how I first got into Green Lantern. So, as such a crucial turning point in the Green Lantern mythos, it should be interesting to look not only at how it changed the dynamics of Volume 4, but how it built on the recurring themes that were previously established.
I understand that I talked at length about the focus Geoff Johns has placed on giving Green Lantern some credible villains, and finding a niche for them that makes them perfectly suited as enemies of Green Lantern. This is an idea that will again pop up in discussion of Secret Origin, but it really comes to the forefront in The Sinestro Corps War. The story features what was at this point the long-awaited return of Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s arch-nemesis, and from the very first caption of the very first page of the graphic novel, Sinestro’s narration makes clear what his return is set to instigate:
I have been to every corner of every sector of the universe. And I have learned one thing. The universe needs to change.
This idea of Sinestro bringing change with him is repeatedly brought up in the opening chapter, “Prologue: The Second Rebirth”. From our perspective as readers, Sinestro’s arrival marks an important change in the Green Lantern mythos: namely, the debut of the eponymous Sinestro Corps. It’s one of those concepts that is ingenious in its simplicity, to the point where you can’t help but be amazed that nobody thought of it before. What better foil for the Green Lantern Corps – a group whose membership is chosen based on their ability to overcome fear – than a group whose membership is based on the ability to instill fear?
Even on a purely visual level (and let’s not forget that comics are a visual medium) it’s just a natural fit. Skip forward to “Chapter Ten: The Birth of the Black Lantern”, and look at the first page. Not a single character appears on this page, yet the rings alone – the clashing streaks of green and yellow light – make for a striking visual. The clashing and interspersing of green and yellow becomes a significant visual motif throughout the whole story. For example, without even reading any of the dialogue, just skim through “Chapter One: Fear & Loathing”, and you’ll see the green Hal Jordan surrounded by yellow flames, yellow-wearing foes or – most strikingly, across pages 18 and 19 of the chapter – yellow-tinted flashbacks, with the kneeling, exhausted Green Lantern marooned within a sea of yellow. On a thematic level, you could talk about this being symbolic of the struggle between fear and willpower going on throughout the storyline. Or you could say it all just looks really cool. Not that this is anything to sniff at. I think a big part of the breakout popularity of The Sinestro Corps War was that it was a visual delight, with the art (particularly that of Ivan Reis) having as much impact on the story’s execution and tone as Tim Sale’s art had on The Long Halloween.
But back on point, the Sinestro Corps changed the world of Green Lantern through the virtue that, as soon as they appeared, it felt like they had always been there, or should have always been there. And ever since this storyline wrapped up at the end of 2007, the Sinestro Corps have maintained a near-constant presence, be it in Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps. It’s as if they’ve been woven into the very fabric of the Green Lantern Corps, where the ongoing story just doesn’t feel complete without some kind of recap about what’s going on with the various factions of the Sinestro Corps across the universe. They present a different kind of threat, and as a result the Green Lantern Corps has become a different kind of force. One comment I read elsewhere has really stuck with me. Before The Sinestro Corps War, the Green Lantern Corps were cops, but since The Sinestro Corps War, they have become soldiers.
Of course, one crucial figure amidst the emergence of this new threat is Sinestro himself. Sinestro had long been something of a B-list villain, a largely one-note evildoer. But thanks to The Sinestro Corps War, Sinestro has been elevated to one of the greatest villains in comics. As well as giving him a niche, through the leadership of his own Corps, a major factor in this elevation is the moral complexity Johns imbues him with. Sinestro remains a monstrous character, in a lot of ways more ruthless, frightening and despicable than ever before, but you get a strong sense throughout of his unwavering belief that he is justified in his actions, and acting in the interests of the greater good. This is demonstrated on page 25 of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, where Sinestro explains his motivations to Green Lantern:
Despite what you believe, Jordan, I remain loyal to the idea of the Green Lantern Corps policing the universe. For years, I labored to change it for the better through debate. And you agreed with me… That has now changed. The Green Lantern Corps is authorized to wield lethal force. The universe will fear Green Lanterns. And the universe will be better for it.
With this revelation that the assault of the Sinestro Corps was in fact a roundabout plan to enable the Green Lantern Corps to employ lethal force, Geoff Johns draws parallels between Sinestro and his earlier work on Flash villain Zoom, who appropriately shows up in the prologue of the story. Like Zoom, Sinestro wishes to put his foes through turmoil in order for them to rise above it, and become what he sees as better heroes as a result of the experience. And with the aloof, counterproductive behavior displayed by The Guardians throughout much of the storyline, Sinestro could very well have a point when he says the Green Lantern Corps needs to change.
Sinestro’s twisted sense of morality is further illustrated in “Chapter Two: The Gathering Storm”. It should be noted here that Geoff Johns didn’t write The Sinestro Corps War alone, with Dave Gibbons and later Peter J. Tomasi handling the writing duties on the Green Lantern Corps tie-ins. In “The Gathering Storm”, it is Gibbons who tells a story of Sinestro’s return to his homeworld of Korugar, and his confrontation with the current Green Lantern of this sector, Soranik Natu. In another example of roundabout plotting, Sinestro attacks Korugar so that Soranik Natu will defend it, so he in turn can pretend Natu defeated him in battle, and the inhabitants of Korugar will as a result willingly place her on a pedestal as their leader, restoring a system of dictatorial rule to the planet. He genuinely feels this is in the best interests of Korugar, and this is the only way to “unify” the fractured planet.
This is another example of how Sinestro is the figure shaping the narrative throughout the story. He becomes a kind of unconventional protagonist, in that he is the character who is driving each key beat forward, while all the heroes can do is react. He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else, even in his apparent defeat. In his final appearance in the graphic novel, on page 48 of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, he sits in a darkened sciencell on Oa, in the custody of the Guardians he sought to overthrow. Yet he is smiling, because he has achieved the change he sought out to initiate.
But while some things change in The Sinestro Corps War, others remain constant, as we see some of the key themes found in No Fear continuing to be developed. Obviously, overcoming fear is once again a major theme. And once again, Coast City plays a key role in illustrating this theme. In “Birth of the Black Lanterns”, as Coast City faces destruction at the hands of the Sinestro Corps, Green Lantern warns the city’s residents to evacuate. But none do, and instead they all put a green light at their windows as a sign of solidarity and support. In the “Sinestro Corps War Journal” afterword, Johns emphasizes the significance of this turning point:
It is the single most important moment in the entire storyline to me and to Hal Jordan. In that moment, Coast City became the City Without Fear. And that city and its citizens did what Hal had done for them – they inspired the Green Lantern to believe in victory and to fight on.
Returning to the idea that Coast City serves as a metaphor for Hal Jordan himself, this shows us a Hal Jordan who has conquered his doubts and fears, someone who is not just back from the dead, but ready to shoulder the responsibility of being a leader once more, ready to re-embrace the heroic legacy that was stripped away from him with his earlier downfall.
The other prominent theme revisited throughout The Sinestro Corps War is that of life vs. death. Take a look at page 37 of “The Second Rebirth” – Hal looks up in shock at a gallery of power rings dispatched to find replacements, as their previous hosts have been killed. “RING STATUS REPORT. --- DECEASED. SPACE SECTOR --- SCAN FOR REPLACEMENT SENTIENT INITIATED.” That becomes a kind of twisted Greek chorus accompanying us through each major conflict structuring the story, boxes filled with that message repeated over and over peppered throughout the periphery of each battle like a backing track. Death (and the search for new life) is a constant presence in the story. Furthermore, with The Guardians enabling the Green Lantern Corps to use lethal force, and how it alters the dynamics of the whole conflict, much of the story’s direction revolves around the power to kill, and the benefits and consequences for those who have it.
Then, of course, there is the final page of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, featuring… well… the birth of the Black Lantern. In this moment, the veiled, foreshadowed threat of death incarnate, the prophecy of the Blackest Night, finally becomes something tangible.
Since The Sinestro Corps War, the Green Lantern franchise has been all about the build towards The Blackest Night. This is exactly what readers expected, which made the decision to go from the epilogue of The Sinestro Corps War (the three-part "Alpha Lanterns" arc) to a 7-part retelling of how Hal Jordan became Green Lantern in Secret Origin seem rather strange and random, to say the least. But in the “Infinite Geoff Johns: Green Lantern” article posted on Comic Book Resources back on April 2nd 2008, Johns explains that this was the perfect time to tell this story:
Personally, I like change of pace and the change in pace in writing. You can’t drive 95 miles per hour all the time. And I wanted to slow down. I wanted to see this guy. I wanted to re-introduce Hal to people who just got on the book now. The last time DC did his origin was 1986 or ’87, like over twenty years ago. And that was a vastly different Hal Jordan then the one I think we are portraying.
Johns reasoned that after The Sinestro Corps War, there would be many new readers attracted to the book interested to learn more about its hero, while those who were already fans would appreciate the breather. But with his assertion that after 20-odd years Green Lantern is overdue a retelling of his origin, and that the differences in his character should be reflected in alterations to this origin, we come to the elephant in the room, something which nevertheless cannot be avoided when talking about the key recurring traits in Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern: the retcons.
Amongst longtime Green Lantern readers, many of the changes to continuity featured in Secret Origin sparked much outrage. Most notable of these changes was the appearance of female Guardians in the 7th and final chapter, as up until this point in Green Lantern continuity, the Guardians had always been all-male right up to their extinction, and it was only when Kyle Rayner resurrected them that he made some female. It’s a retcon that can be explained away by saying the reality-bending events of Infinite Crisis caused some alterations in the timeline. But still, fans were angered over what seemed like an unnecessary, arbitrary change to continuity, which added little, and therefore was done for apparently no reason.
A retcon whose benefits are more apparent was the decision to alter the origins of Hector Hammond and Black Hand, weaving them into Hal Jordan’s induction into the Green Lantern Corps. As it now works out, a young William Hand was a bystander in one of Hal Jordan’s first battles as Green Lantern (where he also got his hands on what would become his trademark weapon as a costumed criminal), and Hector Hammond’s transformation was triggered by a fuel source he uncovered on Abin Sur’s ship. By doing this, Geoff Johns continues what he did to great effect in No Fear, further developing Green Lantern’s Earth-based villains, and shaping them in a way that they are specially tailored to the Green Lantern mythos.
More specifically, Geoff Johns rewrites Black Hand’s origins in a way that sets him up as the perfect villain for The Blackest Night from his very beginnings, rather than his obsession with death being a sudden, recent development. We see a young William Hand as an employee in his family’s funeral home, already driven by an unhealthy, sexual (implied, rather than outright said) fixation on dead bodies. And Atrocitus informs hand that the key to Blackest Night can already be found in his “insides”, telling us he was always tied to the black, rather than his transformation simply being the product of alien experimentation. Johns rewrites the past in a way that makes it more poetically foreshadow the present.
With this continuity adjustment, among others, we see a big reason behind the timing of Secret Origin: it too plays a part in the build towards The Blackest Night. This timely visit to Green Lantern’s earliest days allows Geoff Johns to imply that the seeds for his upcoming epic have been sown since the very beginning of the Green Lantern saga.
I could say more, but I have a feeling I’ve gone on long enough. And so I’ll bring this to a close by saying that, from the very beginning of his run on Green Lantern, Geoff Johns has been crafting one big, epic story, a saga which seems set to finally culminate with The Blackest Night. And so, in No Fear, The Sinestro Corps War and Secret Origin, we see themes recurring and being built upon, we see character beats in one stories compliment those in another. And most importantly, each of these graphic novels has a part to play in moving us forward on the road to The Blackest Night.
Meeting #10
Enough about superheroes, what about the real world? Arguments have been made that the very nature of the comic book medium means it is best suited to larger-than-life genre fare, and appeals mostly to one limited demographic. So, with this reading list, I’ve chosen a selection of titles that offer depictions of the everyday, and engage with different demographics. Should comics be confined to cape-and-tights tales? Or is it possible that not only are graphic novels capable of producing the types of stories associated with “proper” mediums of drama, but in fact the nature of the medium allows them to tell these stories in the way that other formats can’t?
RECOMMENDED READING:
American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar and Kevin Brown, Gregory Budgett, Sean Carroll, Sue Cavey, Robert Crumb, Gary Dumm, Val Mayerik, Gerry Shamray
Ghost World
Daniel Clowes
Strangers in Paradise: I Dream of You
Terry Moore
Meeting #11
All-Star Superman (Volumes 1 & 2)
The Filth
Kill Your Boyfriend
WE3
In order to get the full scope of the road to Blackest Night, ideally I’d have asked you all to read the entirety of Green Lantern Volume 4, along with the entirety of its sister title, Green Lantern Corps, and various tie-ins. Furthermore, beyond that, The Blackest Night seems set to not just be the climax of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern saga, but rather the culmination of a whole era of DC Comics events, stretching back to Identity Crisis, then taking us through Infinite Crisis, 52 and Final Crisis. In various ways, these stories all dealt with the DC Universe becoming darker, of death’s shadow looming ever larger over our heroes, yet peppered throughout these events and the pages of Green Lantern, we’ve also had our share of miraculous resurrections. The Blackest Night feels like a reckoning for all of this, and so it all comes into play when looking at how we’ve got here. But according to Johns, at its core The Blackest Night remains a Green Lantern story – a Hal Jordan story – and so in picking out the reading list for this meeting, I’ve settled on four graphic novels which offer a comprehensive insight into the current Green Lantern series: No Fear, The Sinestro Corps War (in two volumes) and Secret Origin. The focus of today’s meeting will be using these texts to examine the key themes and ideas driving Geoff Johns’ relaunch of Green Lantern, and talk about how the series has been setting the stage for The Blackest Night.
I think a good place to start would be where we finished when discussing Green Lantern: Rebirth in Meeting #4. I mentioned this quote from Geoff Johns, used in his original pitch for Rebirth:
We want to keep all this as simple and connected as possible, we want to reach a strong status quo of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern after this series. His journey will not be one of redemption or guilt, but one of rebuilding.
Rebuilding Hal’s life, rebuilding Coast City, rebuilding the Corps, rebuilding a hero. Our theme for the monthly book.
So, in wrapping up Rebirth, the stated aim for the ongoing series that was to follow was a focus on the central theme of “rebuilding”. Just how did Johns put this into action? To answer this, we’d best look at the first graphic novel on our reading list, No Fear. If Rebirth was a closing of the books and a tidying of continuity, then the first issue of the new Green Lantern series, “Airborne” (though in this collected edition, “Airborne” is actually the second chapter, with nothing done to separate one chapter from another),is the true "new beginning" for the Green Lantern mythos. The whole issue feels like a big sigh of relief from Geoff Johns in the wake of Rebirth: he's untangled all that continuity, labored through all that exposition, and gotten Hal Jordan to where he wants him. And now he can just focus on starting fresh, rebuilding this world and telling a damn good story.
I like how the issue starts with a four-page flashback to how Hal Jordan became Green Lantern, with a brief summary of what the ring is and who the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians are, all drawn by the ever-excellent Ethan Van Sciver. If I was a comic fan back in 2005, and I'd never read a Green Lantern comic before, but decided to start with this new #1, I'd find this opening very helpful indeed. It all ties back into the ideas of accessibility discussed in our “Power of #1” meeting.
As for the story, one of the key functions of this opening three-part arc is in establishing Hal's Earth-based supporting cast, with us being introduced to Jillian “Cowgirl” Pearlman and General Stone in short order, and Hal’s brother Jim is brought back into the fold. Some of my favourite moments in this opening storyline are the meetings between Hal and Jim Jordan. In a genre where the key family dynamic tends to be the parent/child relationship (which of course also factors into Green Lantern), the sibling relationship is one that is explored less often in a superhero's supporting cast, with Hal Jordan being one of comparatively few top-tier superheroes who had brothers. Here, their discussions often revolve around Coast City, which emerges almost as a character itself. There is a real sense of sadness in this strangely empty city, which artist Carlos Pacheco encapsulates nicely, particularly in an effective night-time shot on page 20 of “Chapter 4: Flight Delay”, where there are hardly any lights on in the various buildings. Alongside this image, Hal’s narration sets up what will become an important recurring theme in the series:
I look around today. At the way we live… we’re arming security systems, putting metal detectors in schools and looking over our shoulders on airplanes. The news shouts – “Tonight at eleven, find out which major drugs company could make you sick.” Is this the life I’m coming back to? Is this the strongest emotion in the universe? Is fear what controls everyone and everything?
This concern is eased when he sees that his brother Jim has decided to move back to the city with his family. Johns has often said that his take on Green Lantern is ultimately that it’s a story about overcoming fear, and he often explores this theme through his portrayal of Coast City, as will be seen later. In a way, Coast City becomes a kind of metaphor for Hal Jordan himself. In No Fear, it's back, but it's still incomplete, it still has to fight to get things back to the way they were. For Coast City, this will require the repopulation of the city, while for Hal, resolving the "emptiness" will require the return of the Corps and (as the following chapters insinuate) the return of his old rogues.
And so we really get the sense of this “rebuilding” taking effect. The actual storyline itself seems to take second-fiddle to getting us comfortable with the new status quo of the Green Lantern title, with much being done to make this feel like a new beginning, the first chapter of a new story. Also, it is utterly dominated by build-up, to the point where its validity as a standalone story is almost questionable. Most prominently, the two Manhunters feel like a strangely ineffective threat. Much is done with the slow-boil and the narration to put them over as a highly dangerous force, but they just don't feel like truly compelling foes. Even when they endanger Coast City, it feels like it's far too early in the game for such a threat to mean anything. From the cryptic references to their Grandmaster to the closing reveal of the Lost Lanterns, the presence of the Manhunters in this story feels like a mere prelude to something else. Which it is. The Manhunter strand of this story is basically a trailer for “Revenge of the Green Lanterns”, the storyline which dominates the next graphic novel in the series – appropriately titled Revenge of the Green Lanterns.
But more intriguingly, right from the very first issue, there seems to be foreshadowing of a much bigger Green Lantern story: The Blackest Night. For example, the Manhunter under the possession of the US army is never seen, it remains hidden under tarpaulin. And so, what presence in this issue brings with it the promise of danger and death? Black. A solid black shadow seen through an opening of the tarpaulin. A deep black that, thanks to close-ups, repeatedly fills entire panels. Indeed, in the aforementioned opening flashback, on the subject of his imminent death Abin Sur states, "The brightest day becomes the blackest night." And then there's the moment where Cowgirl remarks that the green in Hal's uniform is burning hot, but the black is ice cold, something which has yet to be explained or addressed. Cold bodies brings up connotation of death and corpses, and once again this is tied into the color black. Is all this coincidence? Perhaps. But it is certainly possible that this is a sign of Johns' loooooooong-term planning in action.
But it is in the final chapter of No Fear, “Black Sheep”, that the foreshadowing of Blackest Night begins in earnest. It is here, a good four years ago, that Black Hand (who right now serves as the visible face of villainy for Blackest Night) establishes some ideas only just coming into play now:
You think you’re strong. But death is stronger. It is the pure power of the far end of the emotional spectrum. The emptiness of space. The Blackest Night.
Black Hand later states that black is the color of death, and that it is his color – already, his blood is black. Black Hand also brings up something which could make for an interesting plot dynamic in this year’s big story, saying to Hal Jordan, “You may have cheated it… but you still reek of death.” This raises a valid question. Hal Jordan may be alive now, but he has been dead. What kind of pull will the black have over him?
This brings us to something else Johns was faced with rebuilding throughout No Fear: the character of Hal Jordan. While this Green Lantern series has become increasingly event-driven, No Fear is a collection of somewhat standalone stories, allowing more breathing room to focus on Hal’s character. Indeed, the opening chapter of No Fear is “Flight” - a little piece drawn by Darwyn Cooke, originally included in the Green Lantern: Secret Files comic published shortly before Volume 4 began – which is all character study.
But even in this early stage, we see that much of Hal’s character development revolves around setting up as the ideal protagonist for The Blackest Night. Once again returning to “Black Sheep”, peppered throughout the chapter are flashbacks from various points of Hal’s history, demonstrating how throughout his years he has felt the power of death over life. We see how his life has been largely defined by a series of deaths, from his father, to his mother, to Abin Sur, to his brother. And finally, Black Hand drags him to Coast City’s huge graveyard, pointing out that millions of people were wiped out in the blink of an eye, but none of them got to come back. Of course, Green Lantern triumphs over adversity:
You’re telling me how powerful death is… but without life, death is nothing.
But on page 20 of “Black Sheep”, we get a wonderfully subtle moment of characterisation, which artist Simone Bianchi skillfully brings to life. After the battle is over, General Stone tells Hal about a summer he spent with Hal’s parents, saying “They were good times.” Hal gives the seemingly straightforward response of “I’m sure they were, General.” But the expression Bianchi gives him is one filled with regret and remorse. This prompts us to look at these flashbacks again, and we see not only the prominence of death in Hal’s life, but how his own stubborn, obtuse nature means he has let much of life pass him by. He was alienated from his mother when she died. He was alienated from his brother when he died. His own willpower worked against him, as it forced him to miss out on “the good times” of his own past. The role death has played in shaping Hal Jordan ties into something that, in the “Sinestro Corps War” afterword to The Sinestro Corps War, Geoff Johns identifies as being a crucial theme right from the very beginning of his run on the title:
And “death” vs. “life” is really what the core of this epic is to me. From Rebirth to Sinestro Corps to The Blackest Night.
In more ways than one, death has cast a pall over Hal’s whole life, meaning his struggle in The Blackest Night should be a compelling one.
The final aspect of rebuilding in No Fear I’d like to touch on is the rebuilding of Green Lantern’s rogues’ gallery. Sinestro aside, Hal Jordan had long been thought to have a collection of incredibly underwhelming foes. So, after the first 3-part story, chapters 5-7 in the graphic novel – “Alienated”, “Feeding Frenzy” and “Black Sheep” – see Johns taking a stab at reinventing Hector Hammond, The Shark and Black Hand respectively, with varying levels of success.
First up is “Chapter 5 - Alienated”. Much fuss has been made of the wonders Geoff Johns has done with villains such as Captain Cold, Black Adam and - of course - Sinestro. But I think his work on Hector Hammond deserves to be ranked right up there alongside those other, more acclaimed villain-revitalizations. In the past, Hector Hammond was considered to be - let's be honest here - pretty lame. With his giant egg-like head making him look like a rather cartoonish figure, he was the kind of odd creation that likely got an appearance in Wizard's "Mort of the Month" feature.
Enter Geoff Johns. While the Hammond of old was a standard moustache-twirling evildoer, Johns tweaked Hammond's motivations to make him more specifically linked to Hal. Hammond covets, he lusts for Hal Jordan and the life he leads. While Hal Jordan lives a life full of excitement, adventure and beautiful women, Hammond is trapped, not just in his cell but in his own body, unable to move. His forlorn, desperate statement on page 19 of this chapter sums up the crux of the character perfectly:
I want to see more... I want to... I just want to be a part of it. Oh Hal... I want to be you.
Hammond is given a crawling, pathetic quality that almost makes him sympathetic. Almost, if not for the constant reminders of how dangerous he is. From his cruel torments of the Belle Reve staff ("he wouldn't stop projecting images of my wife gut like a fish") to how quickly and effectively he is able to floor Hal once his defenses are weakened.
The set-up of the confrontation between Hal Jordan and Hector Hammond is a clever twist on the "quid pro quo" of The Silence of the Lambs, with Hector exchanging information on the super-evolved man discovered outside Edwards Air Force Base in exchange for access to memories of one of Hal's romantic encounters. The way Hammond becomes a kind of psychic voyeur here is unsettling, and in some ways the scene feels like a kind of "mental rape".
Of course, the success of Hector Hammond here is not just down to Johns. Ethan Van Sciver plays a crucial role in reinvigorating Hammond as a dark, creepy character. He debuted his nightmarish take on the character in Rebirth, but here he's refined the look, making Hammond even more disgusting! The one detail that really stands out for me is the lazy eye. The way that bulbous eye lolls over to the side, as if threatening to fall out, is wonderfully horrid. And the horror of the character is nicely complimented and enhanced by his imposing interpretation of Belle Reve's subbasement, populated by rats that scurry around Hammond's feet.
Johns builds on Hammond’s obsession with Hal in “Black Sheep”. While in “Alienated”, the idea that this obsession could be a kind of sexual lust was merely hinted at, masked behind Hammond idolizing Hal as a wish-fulfillment version of who he himself would like to be, here Johns really goes to town with the idea. Hammond presents himself as a damsel in distress for Hal to save, and is even given clichéd love interest dialogue – “My hero”, “Green Lantern saved me” – to enhance the impression. This added another truly creepy, disturbing dimension to the character, though with Secret Origin Johns seems to have balked on the idea and regressed to Hammond’s obsession with Hal being based on envy and greed.
Moving on to “Chapter 6 – Feeding Frenzy”, where Johns tries to similarly revamp The Shark. And yes, let's get that out of the way first. The Shark is, from the point of conception, an inherently lame character. A shark stumbles upon nuclear waste, and is evolved to the point where he can talk and walk on two legs? Wasn't there a Saturday morning kids' TV show that had that plot? So making an effective villain out of this concept was always going to be a struggle. But while Johns isn't entirely successful, I'd say he makes The Shark about as credible a threat here as the character's nature allows.
Johns probably does his best work in establishing The Shark as dangerous and menacing before the character even appears in the issue. There is an excellent slow-boil build of dread - graphic descriptions of the mutilation of his victims (what's left of them), the empty beaches, the mass of sharks (big ones like hammerheads and Great Whites) crowded around in the water to pick up scraps from "a bigger predator" - all building up to the big reveal.
And Ethan Van Sciver delivers big-time for said reveal with a beautiful full-page image of The Shark attacking Green Lantern, who forms a protective cage around himself just in time. Another goofy element of The Shark in the days of old was his look. Too humanoid, not quite sharkish enough. Van Sciver remedies this with his reinvention for Volume 4, making The Shark look animalistic, terrifying and, of course, freakin' huge. Hal Jordan is just dwarfed by this enormous beast, which makes for some interesting visuals. But funnily enough, my favorite image of The Shark of the whole issue isn't one of the big action showcases (which there are a few of). Rather, it is a little panel that comes on the same page as the Shark origin recap. There is no dialogue, no captions. Just a close-up of The Shark's soulless black eyes. Yes, BLACK eyes - the color of death, ba-zing! This panel always reminds me of Quint's famous USS Indianapolis speech from Jaws: "Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes."
Finally, in “Chapter 7 – Black Sheep”, we have Black Hand (previously featured in brief teaser appearances in “Feeding Frenzy”, and earlier in the Rebirth graphic novel) coming to the forefront. Once again, we have a villain who was long dismissed as a lame, cheesy third-stringer. Perhaps moreso even than any other Green Lantern villain, a point has been made over the years to show Black Hand as an ineffective failure in his chosen field of work. He once quit active villainy, not through a moral awakening like you’d expect, but simply because he sucked so bad at crime, choosing to run an adult theatre instead. But that didn’t stop him from getting constantly punked out and terrorised by heroes such as Guy Gardner and Kilowog, in what became something of a running joke. Enter Geoff Johns, who by this point had repeatedly established his ability to make even the tackiest of villains seem cool and relevant. Here, Black Hand proves to be no exception, transformed into a very powerful – and very scary - villain. Gone are the hokey old turns of phrase, and in their place is a mad, morbid obsession with death. As a result, Black Hand becomes the embodiment of the “death vs. life” theme that recurs throughout the series.
Black Hand’s fixation with death, his zealous, unwavering belief in its power over life, is inherently chilling, and all the more jarring coming from a character previously thought of as campy and pathetic. Johns plays around with this dichotomy, with Black Hand torn between this image of himself he’s trying to create as some omnipotent disciple of death who has transcended lowly human morals (“You’ll be the twenty-third person I’ve killed today. But that doesn’t make me a bad man. Death is good.”) and the reality that he’s still the same scared, stuttering loser who is bitter over the suffering inflicted on him by Hal Jordan (“You undeserving sadist. You took my h-h-hand!”).
Throughout his battle with Green Lantern in “Black Sheep”, there is a point that Black Hand continually obsesses over, something he greatly resents: Hal Jordan cheated death. “You had your chance at l-l-life, Green Lantern,” cries Black Hand, “No one else gets second chances!” Much has been made of the idea that Superboy-Prime is Geoff Johns’ commentary on angry fanboys who complain about comics getting too dark in the modern age. But on reading this issue, with Black Hand repeatedly talking about how unfair it is that Hal Jordan is alive again, I think that Black Hand could have been a kind of prototype for Superboy-Prime. I may be reaching here, but I’d like to propose that Black Hand is the angry Kyle Rayner fan, lashing out against Jordan getting his life (i.e., his Green Lantern monthly comic) back, no questions asked, despite being “undeserving”. And so Hal’s fight with Black Hand almost becomes a fight for Hal to justify himself to Kyle’s fans, both as a character and as a successor to Kyle Rayner.
Of course, “Black Sheep” isn’t just about Green Lantern’s fight with Black Hand, with Hector Hammond and The Shark also becoming involved. This chapter really serves as a showcase for Green Lantern’s Earth-based rogues’ gallery, reminding us that Green Lantern does indeed have worthy, memorable foes outside of Sinestro. Following this line of thought, I must praise the decision to establish Hangar 44 on Edwards’ Air Base as a prison for these villains. Where a hero’s enemies are imprisoned once they are caught says a lot about the villains, and in turn about the heroes themselves. The most famous example is Arkham Asylum, a nightmarish hellhole which fits the twisted, psychotic nature of Batman’s villains. Then you have the oppressive Iron Heights, a high-tech twist on the old-fashioned jailhouse seen in many a prison break film, complete with despicable warden, underlining the blue-collar, almost sympathetic characterisation of the Flash Rogues. And with Hangar 44 becoming “a containment unit for extra-terrestrial threats”, it helps to unify the nature of these Green Lantern villains, making them less of a random hodge-podge of quaint and goofy gimmicks, and allowing them to say more about Green Lantern himself, and what role he plays as a superhero. One of the core ideas in the Green Lantern mythos is the union between the human (our hero) and the alien (his ring, or indeed his interactions with the universe-spanning Corps). And so when you place Earth-born villains like Hector Hammond and Black Hand in an “extra-terrestrial” prison like Hangar 44, it reflects how Hal’s rogues are, in a way, twisted versions of him, their symbiosis between alien and human gone horribly wrong.
Woah, I’ve really talked at length on No Fear, haven’t I? I’ve got other graphic novels to get to! I’ve shown that, with No Fear, Geoff Johns succeeded in his aim to focus his Green Lantern relaunch on the theme of rebuilding. By the end of this book, Hal Jordan’s key character traits have been (re) established, the status quo has been set up with the introduction of his hometown and supporting cast, and he’s been given a group of compelling villains to work with. Also, here we see the foundations being laid for some of the major themes that would continue to play out, and further evolve, as the series progressed.
Before proceeding, it would be unfair to ignore the impact The Sinestro Corps War had on the Green Lantern title. The story began with comparatively little fanfare, but once the spectacular opening issue hit stands, The Sinestro Corps War quickly cast Marvel’s World War Hulk (at that point the comic storyline that had been receiving the lion’s share of hype) into the shade, becoming the blockbuster comic book event of 2007. For a lot of readers, this was the storyline that put Green Lantern on the map, and made his book an A-list, must-read title. It was certainly how I first got into Green Lantern. So, as such a crucial turning point in the Green Lantern mythos, it should be interesting to look not only at how it changed the dynamics of Volume 4, but how it built on the recurring themes that were previously established.
I understand that I talked at length about the focus Geoff Johns has placed on giving Green Lantern some credible villains, and finding a niche for them that makes them perfectly suited as enemies of Green Lantern. This is an idea that will again pop up in discussion of Secret Origin, but it really comes to the forefront in The Sinestro Corps War. The story features what was at this point the long-awaited return of Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s arch-nemesis, and from the very first caption of the very first page of the graphic novel, Sinestro’s narration makes clear what his return is set to instigate:
I have been to every corner of every sector of the universe. And I have learned one thing. The universe needs to change.
This idea of Sinestro bringing change with him is repeatedly brought up in the opening chapter, “Prologue: The Second Rebirth”. From our perspective as readers, Sinestro’s arrival marks an important change in the Green Lantern mythos: namely, the debut of the eponymous Sinestro Corps. It’s one of those concepts that is ingenious in its simplicity, to the point where you can’t help but be amazed that nobody thought of it before. What better foil for the Green Lantern Corps – a group whose membership is chosen based on their ability to overcome fear – than a group whose membership is based on the ability to instill fear?
Even on a purely visual level (and let’s not forget that comics are a visual medium) it’s just a natural fit. Skip forward to “Chapter Ten: The Birth of the Black Lantern”, and look at the first page. Not a single character appears on this page, yet the rings alone – the clashing streaks of green and yellow light – make for a striking visual. The clashing and interspersing of green and yellow becomes a significant visual motif throughout the whole story. For example, without even reading any of the dialogue, just skim through “Chapter One: Fear & Loathing”, and you’ll see the green Hal Jordan surrounded by yellow flames, yellow-wearing foes or – most strikingly, across pages 18 and 19 of the chapter – yellow-tinted flashbacks, with the kneeling, exhausted Green Lantern marooned within a sea of yellow. On a thematic level, you could talk about this being symbolic of the struggle between fear and willpower going on throughout the storyline. Or you could say it all just looks really cool. Not that this is anything to sniff at. I think a big part of the breakout popularity of The Sinestro Corps War was that it was a visual delight, with the art (particularly that of Ivan Reis) having as much impact on the story’s execution and tone as Tim Sale’s art had on The Long Halloween.
But back on point, the Sinestro Corps changed the world of Green Lantern through the virtue that, as soon as they appeared, it felt like they had always been there, or should have always been there. And ever since this storyline wrapped up at the end of 2007, the Sinestro Corps have maintained a near-constant presence, be it in Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps. It’s as if they’ve been woven into the very fabric of the Green Lantern Corps, where the ongoing story just doesn’t feel complete without some kind of recap about what’s going on with the various factions of the Sinestro Corps across the universe. They present a different kind of threat, and as a result the Green Lantern Corps has become a different kind of force. One comment I read elsewhere has really stuck with me. Before The Sinestro Corps War, the Green Lantern Corps were cops, but since The Sinestro Corps War, they have become soldiers.
Of course, one crucial figure amidst the emergence of this new threat is Sinestro himself. Sinestro had long been something of a B-list villain, a largely one-note evildoer. But thanks to The Sinestro Corps War, Sinestro has been elevated to one of the greatest villains in comics. As well as giving him a niche, through the leadership of his own Corps, a major factor in this elevation is the moral complexity Johns imbues him with. Sinestro remains a monstrous character, in a lot of ways more ruthless, frightening and despicable than ever before, but you get a strong sense throughout of his unwavering belief that he is justified in his actions, and acting in the interests of the greater good. This is demonstrated on page 25 of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, where Sinestro explains his motivations to Green Lantern:
Despite what you believe, Jordan, I remain loyal to the idea of the Green Lantern Corps policing the universe. For years, I labored to change it for the better through debate. And you agreed with me… That has now changed. The Green Lantern Corps is authorized to wield lethal force. The universe will fear Green Lanterns. And the universe will be better for it.
With this revelation that the assault of the Sinestro Corps was in fact a roundabout plan to enable the Green Lantern Corps to employ lethal force, Geoff Johns draws parallels between Sinestro and his earlier work on Flash villain Zoom, who appropriately shows up in the prologue of the story. Like Zoom, Sinestro wishes to put his foes through turmoil in order for them to rise above it, and become what he sees as better heroes as a result of the experience. And with the aloof, counterproductive behavior displayed by The Guardians throughout much of the storyline, Sinestro could very well have a point when he says the Green Lantern Corps needs to change.
Sinestro’s twisted sense of morality is further illustrated in “Chapter Two: The Gathering Storm”. It should be noted here that Geoff Johns didn’t write The Sinestro Corps War alone, with Dave Gibbons and later Peter J. Tomasi handling the writing duties on the Green Lantern Corps tie-ins. In “The Gathering Storm”, it is Gibbons who tells a story of Sinestro’s return to his homeworld of Korugar, and his confrontation with the current Green Lantern of this sector, Soranik Natu. In another example of roundabout plotting, Sinestro attacks Korugar so that Soranik Natu will defend it, so he in turn can pretend Natu defeated him in battle, and the inhabitants of Korugar will as a result willingly place her on a pedestal as their leader, restoring a system of dictatorial rule to the planet. He genuinely feels this is in the best interests of Korugar, and this is the only way to “unify” the fractured planet.
This is another example of how Sinestro is the figure shaping the narrative throughout the story. He becomes a kind of unconventional protagonist, in that he is the character who is driving each key beat forward, while all the heroes can do is react. He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else, even in his apparent defeat. In his final appearance in the graphic novel, on page 48 of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, he sits in a darkened sciencell on Oa, in the custody of the Guardians he sought to overthrow. Yet he is smiling, because he has achieved the change he sought out to initiate.
But while some things change in The Sinestro Corps War, others remain constant, as we see some of the key themes found in No Fear continuing to be developed. Obviously, overcoming fear is once again a major theme. And once again, Coast City plays a key role in illustrating this theme. In “Birth of the Black Lanterns”, as Coast City faces destruction at the hands of the Sinestro Corps, Green Lantern warns the city’s residents to evacuate. But none do, and instead they all put a green light at their windows as a sign of solidarity and support. In the “Sinestro Corps War Journal” afterword, Johns emphasizes the significance of this turning point:
It is the single most important moment in the entire storyline to me and to Hal Jordan. In that moment, Coast City became the City Without Fear. And that city and its citizens did what Hal had done for them – they inspired the Green Lantern to believe in victory and to fight on.
Returning to the idea that Coast City serves as a metaphor for Hal Jordan himself, this shows us a Hal Jordan who has conquered his doubts and fears, someone who is not just back from the dead, but ready to shoulder the responsibility of being a leader once more, ready to re-embrace the heroic legacy that was stripped away from him with his earlier downfall.
The other prominent theme revisited throughout The Sinestro Corps War is that of life vs. death. Take a look at page 37 of “The Second Rebirth” – Hal looks up in shock at a gallery of power rings dispatched to find replacements, as their previous hosts have been killed. “RING STATUS REPORT. --- DECEASED. SPACE SECTOR --- SCAN FOR REPLACEMENT SENTIENT INITIATED.” That becomes a kind of twisted Greek chorus accompanying us through each major conflict structuring the story, boxes filled with that message repeated over and over peppered throughout the periphery of each battle like a backing track. Death (and the search for new life) is a constant presence in the story. Furthermore, with The Guardians enabling the Green Lantern Corps to use lethal force, and how it alters the dynamics of the whole conflict, much of the story’s direction revolves around the power to kill, and the benefits and consequences for those who have it.
Then, of course, there is the final page of “Birth of the Black Lantern”, featuring… well… the birth of the Black Lantern. In this moment, the veiled, foreshadowed threat of death incarnate, the prophecy of the Blackest Night, finally becomes something tangible.
Since The Sinestro Corps War, the Green Lantern franchise has been all about the build towards The Blackest Night. This is exactly what readers expected, which made the decision to go from the epilogue of The Sinestro Corps War (the three-part "Alpha Lanterns" arc) to a 7-part retelling of how Hal Jordan became Green Lantern in Secret Origin seem rather strange and random, to say the least. But in the “Infinite Geoff Johns: Green Lantern” article posted on Comic Book Resources back on April 2nd 2008, Johns explains that this was the perfect time to tell this story:
Personally, I like change of pace and the change in pace in writing. You can’t drive 95 miles per hour all the time. And I wanted to slow down. I wanted to see this guy. I wanted to re-introduce Hal to people who just got on the book now. The last time DC did his origin was 1986 or ’87, like over twenty years ago. And that was a vastly different Hal Jordan then the one I think we are portraying.
Johns reasoned that after The Sinestro Corps War, there would be many new readers attracted to the book interested to learn more about its hero, while those who were already fans would appreciate the breather. But with his assertion that after 20-odd years Green Lantern is overdue a retelling of his origin, and that the differences in his character should be reflected in alterations to this origin, we come to the elephant in the room, something which nevertheless cannot be avoided when talking about the key recurring traits in Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern: the retcons.
Amongst longtime Green Lantern readers, many of the changes to continuity featured in Secret Origin sparked much outrage. Most notable of these changes was the appearance of female Guardians in the 7th and final chapter, as up until this point in Green Lantern continuity, the Guardians had always been all-male right up to their extinction, and it was only when Kyle Rayner resurrected them that he made some female. It’s a retcon that can be explained away by saying the reality-bending events of Infinite Crisis caused some alterations in the timeline. But still, fans were angered over what seemed like an unnecessary, arbitrary change to continuity, which added little, and therefore was done for apparently no reason.
A retcon whose benefits are more apparent was the decision to alter the origins of Hector Hammond and Black Hand, weaving them into Hal Jordan’s induction into the Green Lantern Corps. As it now works out, a young William Hand was a bystander in one of Hal Jordan’s first battles as Green Lantern (where he also got his hands on what would become his trademark weapon as a costumed criminal), and Hector Hammond’s transformation was triggered by a fuel source he uncovered on Abin Sur’s ship. By doing this, Geoff Johns continues what he did to great effect in No Fear, further developing Green Lantern’s Earth-based villains, and shaping them in a way that they are specially tailored to the Green Lantern mythos.
More specifically, Geoff Johns rewrites Black Hand’s origins in a way that sets him up as the perfect villain for The Blackest Night from his very beginnings, rather than his obsession with death being a sudden, recent development. We see a young William Hand as an employee in his family’s funeral home, already driven by an unhealthy, sexual (implied, rather than outright said) fixation on dead bodies. And Atrocitus informs hand that the key to Blackest Night can already be found in his “insides”, telling us he was always tied to the black, rather than his transformation simply being the product of alien experimentation. Johns rewrites the past in a way that makes it more poetically foreshadow the present.
With this continuity adjustment, among others, we see a big reason behind the timing of Secret Origin: it too plays a part in the build towards The Blackest Night. This timely visit to Green Lantern’s earliest days allows Geoff Johns to imply that the seeds for his upcoming epic have been sown since the very beginning of the Green Lantern saga.
I could say more, but I have a feeling I’ve gone on long enough. And so I’ll bring this to a close by saying that, from the very beginning of his run on Green Lantern, Geoff Johns has been crafting one big, epic story, a saga which seems set to finally culminate with The Blackest Night. And so, in No Fear, The Sinestro Corps War and Secret Origin, we see themes recurring and being built upon, we see character beats in one stories compliment those in another. And most importantly, each of these graphic novels has a part to play in moving us forward on the road to The Blackest Night.
Meeting #10
Enough about superheroes, what about the real world? Arguments have been made that the very nature of the comic book medium means it is best suited to larger-than-life genre fare, and appeals mostly to one limited demographic. So, with this reading list, I’ve chosen a selection of titles that offer depictions of the everyday, and engage with different demographics. Should comics be confined to cape-and-tights tales? Or is it possible that not only are graphic novels capable of producing the types of stories associated with “proper” mediums of drama, but in fact the nature of the medium allows them to tell these stories in the way that other formats can’t?
RECOMMENDED READING:
American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar and Kevin Brown, Gregory Budgett, Sean Carroll, Sue Cavey, Robert Crumb, Gary Dumm, Val Mayerik, Gerry Shamray
Ghost World
Daniel Clowes
Strangers in Paradise: I Dream of You
Terry Moore
Meeting #11
All-Star Superman (Volumes 1 & 2)
The Filth
Kill Your Boyfriend
WE3