The Brave and the Bold #2 (May 2007)

Back in August of 2025, I wrote about the first issue of The Brave and the Bold, a team-up comic whose name had a long history. You can learn more about that here. That comic was from the third revival of the title, which lasted until 2010. The title was started by the powerhouse creative team of writer Mark Waid and artist George Perez, and they showed their greatness in that issue. 

We were left in that issue with a bit of a cliffhanger. Batman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern had been investigating an odd murder which led them to Las Vegas. When there, they discovered that the murder was over the powerful artifact known as the Book of Destiny, a tome that contains all knowledge of the past, the present, and the future. Such a book could not just make for interesting reading, but it would also be devastating in the wrong hands. And last we saw, an alien known as a Venturan had gotten their paws on the book, so that means our heroes are going to need some further help. So, where do we go from here? Let's find out in The Brave and the Bold #2!

The cover is a George Perez and Tom Smith piece. Naturally, it's incredible. It depicts the Hal Jordan Green Lantern and the Kara Zor-El Supergirl in the skies over the planet of Ventura. It's incredibly colorful and detailed. The planet is a casino and gambling world. Think of it as Las Vegas as a planet, and the art shows that well.

"The Lords of Luck (Part II) - Ventura"
Writer: Mrk Waid
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with the Girl of Steel, the Maiden of Might, Supergirl. This isn't the same Kara Zor-El that we last met on this blog battling Kraken. That version was erased from history. This is the post-Crisis version of Kara, a chatty teenager. She's flying in space with Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.

"No, Kara. Superman said Khund coffee makes you crazy."

The two have some banter, and Hal catches her up (as well as us) on the last issue. Basically, an alien has made off with the Book of Souls, a powerful artifact that has all knowledge of past, present, and the future in its pages. Batman and Hal started the investigation, and the Dark Knight is continuing the investigation on Earth. Hal called in Supergirl to help track the alien...and the trail leads to the planet known as Ventura.

Ventura is, in the tradition of the "Planet of Hats" trope, is basically a massive casino. Their economy is based on gambling. Kara spots a man being tossed out a window...

...from a very high floor of a building. The Kryptonian powerhouse swoops down and saves the man's life. He begs her to help him, claiming that the casino swindled him out of his life savings. A cop tells Kara to not get involved and takes her away. It's revealed to be Hal Jordan in disguise, who explains to her that the man wasn't cheated, he was just unlucky.

You see, a planet of gambling has very strict regulations. Which is how it can be sustained. Hal shows her an example in the form of a time-traveler arriving at a casino. Now, he thinks he has an easy advantage, knowing future lottery numbers. Problem for him is...Ventura has regulations for that, too.

"Smithers...release the hounds."

They also are not fond of Green Lanterns, hence why Hal not only needed backup, he also had to go incognito. My guess is Ventura doesn't like Green Lanterns because their rings allow wielders to find ways to get around the various security devices they use to avoid cheating. 

Supergirl and Hal fly off, Hal pointing out that the perp is using the book to stay ahead of them. Hal cannot assume that they're going to fail, and that it's supposed to be that way. Let's look in on Earth, shall we?

On a nice night in the skies over Texas, a charter plane is flying. The pilot is talking with his wife about their anniversary plans. Batman has stowed away on the plane, and one of the beings that attacked Las Vegas in the last issue has a very nasty alien weapon locked on him. However, the Dark Knight has a savior: Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle.

"Batman always has to be in everything, doesn't he?!"

He shows Batman where he took down the alien sniper...only to find that he's vanished.

And to make things worse, they're now both in the crosshairs. Back on Ventura, Hal and Kara continue their search. The book is in the hands of a powerful alien bookmaker. 

"Ladies, my new novel is a New York Times Bestseller! My thanks to you all!"

He's feeling good. With this book, he could make the biggest killing in Venturan history. He sees an image in the book change, and it leads him to wonder if the book...just rewrote itself?

Elsewhere, Kara and Hal are witnessing a fight between some aliens and a pair of gladiators called the Cragg Brothers. Well, it was a less a fight and more a brutal beatdown from said Craggs. When the Craggs fight, you do not pray to win, you pray to live. 

You see, Hal figures that the book thief were here. Most people would not gamble with small stakes if they had a book that knew the future. They'd want the big score. They want big money, and this arena deals with amounts of currency greater than some planets have.

Kara tries to flirt with Hal, but he's had enough of it. He awkwardly tries to get her to knock it off, but she just flies off in a huff, angry that Hal thinks she's a child. And things just got harder.

The announcer...announces that there is a new combatant in the arena tonight, fresh meat for the Craggs to slaughter. 

Kara planned to murder the costume designer.

Hal then realizes the Maid of Might has got a little plan going.

The Cragg Brothers charge at her, but being a Kryptonian, she easily makes the rocky warriors into piles of rubble. Hal grabs a betting robot and looks up who bet on Supergirl to win. After all, thanks to the Book of Destiny, a better would not only know that the Cragg Brothers would fight Supergirl, but that also she would fight them and win. The Lantern ditches his disguise to get the Venturan, but he's gone, his box a wreck. The Gambling Police arrive and start shooting at our man. Thankfully, Supergirl has his back. She spots him with the book thanks to her telescopic vision. Said Venturan looks through the book to see how he escapes, but it only shows him getting shot and killed. Which happens right then and there. And then someone else makes off with the book.

"Oh Zarquon, my horoscope said this would happen!"

Hey, it's that gambler Supergirl saved earlier! He flees, but Hal manages to catch him. It turns out that he's from the planet Rann, which is associated with the space-faring Adam Strange. He has adventures there. He's actually on Ventura because of a mission. He's a member of an underground rebellion. He came to Ventura to get funds for Rann's war against Thanagar. With this book, Rann could not only win the war against Thanagar, the Thanagarians could be destroyed. He tries to escape with a Zeta Beam, which ends up taking Hal as well.

Supergirl tries to rescue Hal but ends up eating arena floor. Her outfit got torn up, revealing that she was wearing her Supergirl outfit...complete with the Superman logo on it. One of the most famous emblems in the DC Universe. Yeah, she's in trouble.

I have to admit, like the first issue, I really enjoyed this one as well. I liked the exploration of Ventura. The idea that they have all these security features against telepaths and time-travelers and the like makes a lot of sense considering its hat is gambling. There are a lot of ways to cheat in the DCU, and for Ventura, a planet whose economy is clearly heavily dependent on gambling, preventing that is paramount. After all, who'd want to gamble at a casino where there's no fair chance to win? It also is a great subtle way to show just how powerful the Book of Destiny is. If it can foil all of these security measures, then it's something truly dangerous. 

I also got some laughs out of Hal's interactions with Kara Zor-El and Batman's with Jaime Reyes. Intergenerational banter is quite amusing. I couldn't help but feel a bit for Hal. After all, a teenage girl making doe-eyes at Hal and his awkwardness when trying to deal with this? Yeah, poor Hal just wanted to be professional about it.

The Venturan using the book to gamble on a disguised Supergirl winning makes a lot of sense. After all, if you had a powerful artifact that could tell you the future, the temptation to change things to make your own life better will come with it. Supergirl using this trope to her advantage is great as it helps show that she's hardly your stereotypical bubble-headed blonde. And of course, we got one exciting pair of cliffhangers, Hal on his way to Rann and Supergirl getting exposed. 

As for George Perez's art here, well...come on. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you all know how much I love his art, and how sad it is that he's no longer with us. The man left behind an incredible body of work, something to admire for any comic book artist. I hope that more budding comic artists discover his work and get inspired by it.  

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2024 trade paperback The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time! 

The Brave and the Bold #1 (April 2007)

In a universe filled with superheroes, it makes sense that they would team up on occasion. I'm not talking about the massive event comics; I'm talking about the kind of adventures in which a couple heroes meet up and help save the day together.

DC Comics had its fair share of books like that. Most notably, DC Comics Presents, which told tales of Superman teaming up with various characters around the DCU. But there was another team-up title that became iconic in its own right: The Brave and the Bold. For more on the history involved with that name, please give this a read. 

The comic we're looking at here is the third volume of the title, spearheaded by Mark Waid's writing and the pencils of the man, the myth, the legend, the late great George Perez. I miss George Perez. This version would not be a team-up between Batman and various heroes, this title would showcase heroes all over the DCU. So, how did it start? Let's find out in The Brave and the Bold #1!

The cover is a George Perez and Tom Smith piece. Naturally, it's awesome. As is natural for Perez, it's incredibly detailed. You have the two heroes teaming up here front and center: Green Lantern and Batman. One thing I do like about this cover is the way that the two are placed. Hal Jordan, who uses light, and is a cocky test pilot, is front and center. His ring is glowing hot, ready to deliver some justice. Batman is behind him, cloaked in shadows. He looks like a monster ready to leap down on prey, which is how he messes with the heads of Gotham's criminals. It really helps show their characters. This would be a cool poster.

"The Lords of Luck (Part 1) - Roulette"
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with two members of the Green Lantern Corps, John Stewart and Hal Jordan, flying in space, telling some team-up tales. Hal then heads towards his hometown of Coast City on Earth. The ring engages autopilot to the city, but Hal tells it not to. He's flown home with his ring so many times he can do it blindfolded. There is nothing that can surprise him on the way...

Page 2, Panel 1

Should have engaged the autopilot there, buddy. Hal contacts Batman in Gotham City, and he describes the body to the Dark Knight. The corpse is a Caucasian male, likely been dead for about twenty minutes. Cause of death was not exposure to space, but a gunshot wound to the chest. Body has no ID, and the fingertips are calloused. Batman seemingly channels his inner Sherlock Holmes and says the body has blond hair, is around 26 years old, and has a watch on his right wrist. But it's not because of some magic detecting powers Batman has (although considering that Batman is DC's resident Mary Sue, wouldn't surprise me if it did)...

Page 4, Full Page

"Found your twin brother, buddy. Sorry but, he's dead too."

...it's because Batman has the exact same corpse in his Batcave. 

No, he has not started collecting corpses. Batman is creepy, but he's not that creepy. The situation gets crazier from there. Hal brings his corpse to the Batcave. Bruce points out a map. Identical corpses have been appearing all over the world. But not just in any random places. They've appeared in places linked to various superheroes in the DC Universe...the comic book universe, not James Gunn's cinematic universe. Places like the Daily Planet, Atlantis, the Flash Museum. This guy was clearly either spying on superheroes...or trying to get one's attention before he was shot. 

Hal points out something: Even in a universe like this, how can sixty identical men be shot by sixty identical bullets? Batman found the answer: whatever hurts one body...also harms the others the exact same way.

Page 5, Panels 7-9

Also, to make things weirder? If a person can survive in space unaided, it's unlikely an earth pistol's bullet is going to do any damage to them. Hal agrees, noting there's strange radiation traces in the wounds. This wasn't a bullet; this was an energy blast. Batman finds the logo of a casino on his shirt, giving a possible clue as to where he was. However, the two get distracted by an attack by a yellow monster.

Page 7, Panel 1

The creature's energy signature matches the traces on the corpses. The attacker can't be Sinestro, as he is aware that Hal's ring now works on yellow objects. Yeah, that was a whole thing. It can't be Clayface as he has no idea where the Batcave is, and this thing is a lot tougher than him. Hal throws the big mechanical dinosaur from the Batcave at the monster. Batman is able to use the Batmobile's jet engine to incapacitate the monster, and it falls into the water, getting crushed by the giant penny that is often seen in the Batcave.

Unseen by the two heroes, some beings have bet on the battle. One grumbles the loss was unfair, as the "Haruspex" wasn't aware the Green Lantern's ring could affect yellow objects now. The two head to Vegas, in particular the Kismet Casino. As Bruce Wayne, Batman and Hal get into the casino, Bruce learning the owner had retired, and Kismet is under new management.

The two play a bit of blackjack, with Hal winning big. 

Bruce learns that the new owner isn't taking any visitors. She hasn't left her suite for days. Even the discovery of a dead man outside the casino's front door didn't get her out. Bruce and Hal go to investigate. The two sneak into an office and find an interesting photo. 

Page 15, Panel 8

The new owner is Roulette, a supervillainess who fought the Justice Society in the past. And the man in the photo...is the dead guy. 

A door blasts open, revealing that Roulette is trying to burn a book. 

Page 16, Panels 2-4

Batman stops her, wanting to know what's going on. Roulette screams that she promised "Drake" she'd destroy this book, but nothing she tries even made a dent. She swore she would not look in the book, but she could not resist looking in. 

She was clearly overwhelmed by the book's contents, ranting that Drake was trying to find heroes to warn about it. He was hired by aliens to steal the book, but he realized what it was. He gave the book to her instead of them, and the aliens killed him as a result. And now they're here.

Page 17, Panel 5

The aliens fight Hal and Bruce, revealing they are from a planet called Ventura. One of the aliens, Atum by name, blasts at Roulette, counting on Batman moving to save her over the book, and he figured right. Atum's partner, Neferto, is taken down by Hal. Atum gets away with the book. Roulette tells Batman that the book showed they'd lose it to the Venturans. You see, the book is no ordinary tome. It is the Book of Destiny. The Book is a powerful magical artifact that has all of time recorded in it: past, present, future. And whoever has the book has the power to change reality to its will. And now the Venturans have it.

Green Lantern #162 (March 1983) (Deeter's Story)

The Green Lantern Corps is an organization with lots of members. And every member of them has a story. An origin. How they came to be a Green Lantern.

The cover is a Keith Pollard piece.

"Apprentice"
Writer: Todd Klein
Penciler: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons
Colorists: Nansi Hoolahan
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Ernie Colon
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story beings late at night. Multiple moons are shining down on an old house with a castle-like tower, showing this story is not set on Earth. A boy with orange skin, hair, and solid black eyes sneaks into a room, where he spies a man enjoying a good night's sleep.

(sleep)

This boy's name is Deeter. He's the young apprentice of the sleeping man. The man's name is Okonoko, and he is a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He's enjoying some rest after a day of ringslinging and protecting his sector: 1110. And his Corps-issued power ring lies on a table next to him as he slumbers. 

Deeter had worked a long time as Okonoko's apprentice. He cooked, he cleaned, and he learned from his master. But what he wanted was the ring. He had seen Okonoko use the ring of the Green Lanterns, and he wanted to use it. To be a Green Lantern in his own right. And on this night, he finally has an opportunity to be the Green Lantern of Sector 1110, even if only for a couple hours.

(smirk)

Deeter does intend to return the ring before his master wakes. He puts it on and tries to make it work. 

Page 89, Panels 2-4

Deeter practices with his master's ring, showing that he has the will to make the ring work. However, he's still new to it. He continues practicing with the ring, his skill growing to the point that he can at the very least create the GL uniform for himself. Unfortunately for little Deeter, Okonoko's home gets a surprise, and a very unwelcome visitor.

Page 90, Panel 3

"CANDYGRAM!"

This big fellow is in the mood for some murdering, and there's a terrified little boy here who will be an excellent victim. Deeter is scared, but the boy is no coward. He tries to use his ring to blast the intruder, but it's not working, presumably due to his fear affecting his will.

(d'oh)

The intruder grabs Deeter and tries to bear hug him to death. the apprentice can't scream, but he finds the strength to remove the ring and toss it away. An explosion erupts.

(explosion)

And another hand picks up the ring. 

Page 92, Panels 3-4

Okonoko is awake, and he is not happy. Deeter ruined his beauty sleep. The apprentice tries to make an excuse, but the Lantern is in no mood to hear it.

(shut up)

His apprentice was a moron, and his place is wrecked. He tells Deeter to grab a mop and clean the mess up. As Deeter gets to work, Okonoko allows himself a small smile, satisfied that the boy learned a lesson. He holds the head of the intruder behind his back, showing the explosion killed him. The narrator implies that he is an older Deeter.

I enjoyed this little story, despite it having a couple of flaws. Mainly, Green Lantern rings really should have security features to prevent people stealing and using them, like a biorhythm reader or something like that. And I thought at that time, Green Lanterns weren't allowed to use lethal force. This was a pre-Sinestro Corps War story, after all. But then again, maybe the intruder was killed from the shrapnel of the explosion, not directly by the ring itself. 

Dave Gibbons' art is spectacular. It's clean and detailed. I think he also has a strong sense of storytelling. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Green Lantern: In Brightest Day. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other!  

Green Lantern #59 (March 1968)

As regular readers of this here blog know, I'm a big fan of the Avengers, in particular the Kurt Busiek era. As regular readers of this blog also know, I am a big fan of the Justice League as well, the Justice League International era in particular. Much like the Justice League has their "Big Seven", I think the JLI has a "Big Five": Booster Gold, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Fire, Ice, and Green Lantern (Guy Gardner). While the JLI is arguably the era that made these particular characters famous, many of them were around well before the JLI was a thing. The comic we're looking at here today is the first appearance of Guy Gardner. Let's take a look at Green Lantern #59!

The cover is a Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson piece.

"Earth's Other Green Lantern!"
Writer: John Broome
Penciler: Gil Kane
Inker: Sid Greene
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins with the Guardians of the Universe, our man Hal Jordan's bosses, showing him some important machines that they use to help protect the universe from evil and general skullduggery. 

One of the machines is a device designed to record the minds of Green Lanterns after they pass away. The Guardians ask him if they can show Abin Sur's last memories. Basically, this allows Hal to see Abin Sur's last moments from his own perspective. Kind of macabre, if you ask me.

However, Hal learns some new information from this. Evidently, the ring didn't just find one Earthman worthy of being Sur's successor, it found two. 

Besides Hal, the ring also found a man named Guy Gardner, who is a physical education schoolteacher. Abin is on his way to the great beyond, and he is unaware of how much time he has left. So, he picks the guy who was closest: Hal Jordan. Which does make me wonder, where did Abin Sur actually crash? I mean, Ferris Air is based in California, and at this time, Guy Gardner was working in an "Eastern school", presumably the East Coast of the United States. I mean, according to Green Lantern #182 (November 1984), Hal buried him in the Sierra Madre mountains. That makes sense, with Hal being closer and all...

Right right, sorry. So, after the recap, Hal gets a bit curious. He wonders what could have happened if Guy got the ring instead of him. Yup, he wants to play "What If", or "Elseworlds" in DC's case. The Guardians input the possibility into the computer, and we get to see what could happen. 

Gardner gets the ring, but he is shown struggling to master it.

“Ow! My funny bone!”

He continues his regular life, until he reads an article in a newspaper about a group of saboteurs at work. His first job as the Green Lantern! 

He's able to deal with the saboteurs, his ring protecting him from bullets, while his fists handle their jaws. His career as Green Lantern goes on, facing Hal's rogues gallery like Black Hand, the Shark, and even Sinestro. He would eventually get to Oa where he'd learn about his being a Corpsman. You'd think that they would have contacted him right away after getting the ring.

Anyway, Guy heads home, but he goes on a different route to Earth than Hal used. Some explosions go off around him and he decides to check it out. It might just be a natural phenomenon, but who knows?

“This planet’s version of Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots is WEEEEEIRD.”

The two beings blast at the Lantern, but Guy takes them down. He discovers these fighters are robotic, so he goes to look into it. The robots explains that guy is on a planet called Ghera...and the planet is inhabited by children. You may be asking where their parents are.

Well, there is an explanation. You see, the children's parents somehow all dies from a disease called the "Yellow Plague". The children were somehow immune to it. Without any parental guidance, the kids grew very bored. The plague also caused them to make like Peter Pan and never grew up. The kids now play endless war games, the two sides inspired by these robots that the parents made: An orange robot and a blue robot. 

Guy decides to talk to these kid armies and see if they can make peace. But as he flies off, something takes hold of his mind and makes him fly into a chair.

Captured by the Blue army, they make Guy into their weapon. He wrecks his way through the Orange Army's robotic war machines. One Orange Army kid tries to use his mental powers to force Guy to attack the Blue army. The mental tug-of-war allows Guy to fight them off and create a green suit of armor to somehow protect himself. Using his skills as a PE teacher...somehow...Guy convinces the kids to use sports instead of war to settle their issues. Guy heads back home to Earth. He recharges his ring, and finds that he's not feeling too well.

“But I’m a Winter!”

Yeah, he's somehow contracted the yellow plague. Nice work, Guy! You brought an alien sickness to Earth!

Well, using the last of his strength, he summons someone to take up his ring. And that someone? 

Hal Jordan. Yeah, so in this simulation, Hal still becomes Green Lantern. Hal is astonished. More on this later. Hal wants to meet the "real" Guy Gardner, and the Guardians are cool with that. The story ends with them presumably becoming fast friends, and Hal leaving for the next adventure.

This comic is...weird. I want to lean more on it not being that great. For one thing, for a comic that supposedly was about debuting Earth's other Green Lantern, we only really meet him at the very end. Most of the story is just a possible simulation of what would have happened if Guy Gardner was chosen to be Green Lantern instead of Jordan. And because of it being a simulation, we don't get any idea of what the "real" Guy is like as a character. This story has a lot of plotholes. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Green Lantern: In Brightest Day. It's a nice trade, collecting a series of Green Lantern stories selected by Geoff Johns. 

Green Lantern #182 (November 1984)

This is Green Lantern #182!

The cover is a Dave Gibbons piece. 

"It's a Dirty Job, But..."
Writer: Len Wein
Penciler: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Mark Farmer
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Anthony Tollin

Editor: Len Wein

Executive Editor: Dick Giordano 

The story begins with Hal Jordan driving in a jeep through the forest. the man isn't here to enjoy the sights of the beautiful Sierra Madre mountains of California. He's actually here to see a friend of his.

“Oh, good. No graffiti.”

We get a recap here of how Hal Jordan became Earth-One's Green Lantern (remember, this is pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, so his predecessor Alan Scott is on Earth-Two). Summoned by the dying Abin Sur, being given his ring, you know the rest. After Sur died, Hal buried the spaceship and Sur's remains in the mountains. He wants to talk to Sur, in a way. 

He talks about how Sur entrusted him and put so much faith in him as a Green Lantern. Hal feels he failed Abin. He did his best with the ring he was entrusted with. Before he became a GL, Hal had dreams of his own. A woman he loved. A life of his own. And now that he's resigned from the Corps (He resigned in the previous issue, fed up with the Guardians demanding he prioritize his Lantern duties over his personal life), he can get on with his own life. Be with Carol Ferris. Achieve his dreams. Get on with his own life. He hopes that wherever he is, Abin Sur understands. And can forgive him. 

Back on Oa, the Guardians of the Universe witness Hal's talk with Abin's grave, and realize that he is not coming back to the Corps. But Sector 2814 still needs protecting, it still needs a Green Lantern. 

In Los Angeles, Carol Ferris and April O'Rourke are heading out from lunch during a hard rain. 

Nothing better than the sounds of these at night. 😊

Carol took April out to help get her mind off of her troubles regarding her fiancé Clay Kendall and his injuries. Kendall ended up crippled in issues #179-180. April accidentally bumps into a man in a hat and trenchcoat, and he ignores her attempts to apologize. Carol waves it off, and the two drive away. The man walks into an alley, thinking about how he refined his powers in prison. A lightning bolt strikes him, revealing his true self.

“Quick change with lightning! I should patent this!.”

Yup, Major Disaster is back. Over at Ferris Aircraft, John Stewart is hard at work, overseeing the building of a new runway to launch a solar jet for a client. Carl Ferris enters the scene, and much to his chagrin, he is accompanied by a man named Smith.

John naturally thinks this "Smith" fellow is not good news. 

We next go to the Baldwin Hills Dam. Major Disaster appears and blows away the guards. Carol arrives at Ferris Aircraft after dropping off April at the hospital. She gets visited by another friend of hers: Dr. Bruce Gordon. And he has something for her.

Carol wonders if it's another threat from Congressman Jason Bloch. Bloch's father Conrad had co-founded Ferris Aircraft with Carl Ferris, Carol's father. Thing was, Conrad was a lazy drunkard, and he got fired. The elder Bloch started a new company and tried to get some government contracts for a solar jet. However, Ferris Air got the contracts instead, bankrupting the elder Bloch. His hatred for Ferris was shared by Jason, who used his power in Congress to prevent Ferris from getting contracts. However, it can't be either of the Blochs. Conrad died in Green Lantern #140 (May 1981), and Jason was murdered by the Predator (no, not the alien hunter) in Green Lantern #181 (October 1984) that's impossible. You see, Bloch was murdered earlier in the week. He's hoping that it's some morbid joke, because he dares not consider the alternative...

On the news, reporter Tawny Young is announcing that Major Disaster is attacking the dam. Hal arrives at Ferris Air, looking for Carol. He only finds Tom Kalmaku fixing a plane. Hal asks where Carol is, but Tom's like "I'm not your friggin' secretary, go look for her yourself!" 

Yeah, Hal is confused, too. John tells him not to worry about it, and the two go for some drinks. At the bar, the two see Tawny's news report. Picked a heck of a time to retire, Hal. Hal goes to a payphone (Yeah remember, this was the 1980s), but it's occupied at the moment. 

Hal goes to find another phone when he sees something shocking.

Yeah, Stewart is the new Green Lantern. John flies up to the dam. Major Disaster is enraged, as John may be Green Lantern, but he's not Hal. Major Disaster is unaware Hal retired, and I doubt he'd care if he did know. Major Disaster demands that Hal appear...or he'll bring down the dam.

I actually enjoyed this comic. It's mainly a character story, where we look into Hal's mind a bit. It's easy to dismiss him as a rather bland character, mainly because he came about in the 1950s, and an entire generation of comic readers came up with him being Kyle Rayner's insane/dead predecessor. But here, it shows that Hal is more than just the cocky test pilot. He's shown to have struggled with his time as a Green Lantern, how he feels he failed to live up to Abin Sur's legacy. It's understandable why he'd put the man so high on a perch. He didn't know Sur too well, only meeting the alien in the last moments of his life. And considering how much Sur changed Hal's life, his mentality does make sense. 

I do admit, I did feel a bit lost when it came to the comic, some text boxes would have been nice. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry!

Green Lantern #21 (September 2007)

In the 1990s, DC was on a bit of a kick of radically shaking up some of their superheroes. Superman was killed off, Batman had his back broken. Another hero to get such a shakeup was the Green Lantern. The primary Green Lantern at the time, Hal Jordan was transformed into the supervillain Parallax and a new Lantern emerged in Kyle Rayner. This storyline, "Emerald Twilight", was used to remove much of the Silver/Bronze Age Green Lantern mythos, like the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe.

Hal's transformation was met with much anger and outrage from Lantern fans. Despite that, for a decade, Kyle Rayner was the DCU's only Green Lantern. Hal would stick around as Parallax, eventually finding redemption by becoming the Spectre. In 2004, the miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth would restore Hal to life, as well as usher in the rebuilding of the Green Lantern Corps. It would also set up for another epic storyline: The Sinestro Corps War.

You see, Rebirth had established the idea that the green energy the Green Lanterns used was actually the center of an emotional spectrum. Green was the central color, the color of willpower, which allows one to keep emotions in check. And since there were other emotions out there, that meant there were other colors...and potentially other Corps. One was the Sinestro Corps. Led by their namesake leader, longtime Green Lantern villain Sinestro, this Corps used the yellow light of fear...and they wanted one thing: the universe to live in terror. As such, they waged a war on the Green Lanterns. Let's see the beginnings of the war in Green Lantern #21!

The cover is a Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, and Moose Baumann piece depicting members of the Sinestro Corps and Parallax in his yellow bug form. It's a good cover, but it's a bit basic. I do like the little detail of the Green Lantern masthead logo's green being switched with yellow. It helps give the impression that the Sinestro Corps are taking over.

"The Sinestro Corps War Chapter One: Fear and Loathing"

Writer: Geoff Johns

Penciler: Ivan Reis

Inker: Oclair Albert

Colorist: Moose Baumann

Letterer: Rob Leigh

The story begins with Hal Jordan doing a bit of reminiscing. One time, the Air Force man was one of the Green Lantern Corps. He was considered one of the best. He thinks it was because he was one of the few Lanterns willing to argue with the Guardians of the Universe. They reminded him of his superiors in the Air Force. They liked to tell him how to fly, but they never sat in the cockpit.

Years after Hal became a Green Lantern, his hometown of Coast City was destroyed by the Cyborg Superman. It was only the second time in his life that fear overcame him. It allowed him to be possessed by Parallax, the embodiment of fear. Under the monster's control, Hal would end up destroying the Green Lantern Corps and even tried to recreate the universe. Despite this, Hal would later be able to ressaert himself enough to save the world when it seemingly entered its Final Night. But he would be freed by his Green Lantern comrades: Kilowog, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and Guy Gardner.

But that was in the past. Since then, the Green Lantern Corps has been rebuilt...but someone is bent on tearing it back down. Who, exactly? Well, Sinestro. Once a Green Lantern himself, he was stripped of his uniform and ring when he abused its power to create a dictatorship. He and Hal had fought many times over the years, but now Sinestro has his own Lantern Corps, using the yellow light of fear, and they just made their first big strike, a strike that killed over fifty Lantern officers.

The recovery is complicated by a group known as the Lost Lanterns. They were a group of GLs that tried to stop Hal Jordan when he was possessed by Parallax after the destruction of Coast City, but he took their rings and left them for dead. They would be found again, but they still have issues with Hal. Kilowog is able to calm the tensions, though.

Elsewhere on Oa, the Guardians are debating what to do next at the Book of Oa. The Book of Oa is literally that, a giant book containing everything that is known about the Green Lantern Corps and its history. The book is open to a chapter about something called "The Blackest Night". It's a hidden chapter, and the Guardians decide it must be kept that way.

Two of the Guardians, Ganthet and Sayd, object to this.

They point out that they tried this with the truth behind why Green Lanterns' power rings did not work on the color yellow (It was because they had Parallax trapped in the Lantern's Central Power Battery, which somehow weakened the ring's ability to affect anything yellow), and it led to the events of Emerald Twilight. The Guardians cannot ignore this. The prophecy of the "Blackest Night" is coming to pass. The Sinestro Corps are here. This is merely the beginning.

The other Guardians believe it's a lie. The prophecy is a fake, used to manipulate Abin Sur, the Green Lantern that operated in Sector 2814 before he died and his ring went to Hal Jordan. Ganthet points out that if the prophecy was not a lie, then it would not have been recorded in the Book of Oa. One Guardian destroys the pages containing the prophecy, stating that Guardians did it because they did something forbidden. They allowed themselves to feel fear.

We next get a scene in which one of the Sinestro Corps needs a recharge. This allows us to learn their oath, a twisted take on the Green Lantern's oath.

In Blackest Day, in Brightest Night! Beware your fears made into light! Let those who try to stop what's right! Burn like his power! Sinestro's might!

Sinestro himself watches his Corps rampage, and he is very pleased.

Back with Hal, he finds himself receiving a secret communication from Ganthet and Sayd. They want Hal to lead the Green Lanterns through the upcoming war. After all, leading is something that comes naturally to him. Hal refuses, as he knows the Corps don't trust him thanks to his actions when he was under Parallax's control. The two Guardians try to convince him to be the Lantern's beacon. Hal still refuses. Two Lanterns have been asked to be beacons by the Guardians: Hal and Sinestro. And they both broke under the pressure.

Ganthet points out that Hal is still haunted by one great fear, but the Air Force man is just interested in finding Kyle Rayner. Kyle had been kidnapped in the Sinestro Corps attack earlier. Ganthet and Sayd reveal that he's been taken to the world of Qward, the planet that the Sinestro Corps have been using as their counterpart to Oa. Guy Gardner and John Stewart arrive and alert Hal that the "Lost Lanterns" have orders to go to Qward and retrieve Ion. Ion is the embodiment of willpower, much like Parallax is the embodiment of fear. The three Earth-born Lanterns prepare to charge their rings up for the trip, but...

The Sinestro Corps left a nasty surprise in the Central Power Battery: Parallax. He manages to make off with Guy and John. The fear monster then decides to taunt Hal by replaying a memory from his childhood: The death of his father. In Johns' run on the title, it was established that Hal's father Martin was a test pilot himself. Hal loved to watch him fly.

Much like Hal himself in the future, Martin Jordan worked as a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. When Hal was a boy, Martin flew an experimental plane for some investors. However, something went wrong in the plane's systems. Overcome with fear, Hal tries to make his ring save Martin, knowing what's going to happen next.

Martin tries to bring the plane down at the airfield. The plane is going to go down due to the mechanical failure it's suffering, but at least in the airfield, no one else will get hurt. In the cockpit, Martin says something, but Hal can't make it out. Parallax taunts Hal with this. Everyone has fears, and Hal's was that his father died in fear. Parallax shows himself, having possessed Kyle Rayner like he had with Hal years ago.

I have to admit, I love the design of the Parallax-possessed Kyle. The costume includes elements of Parallax's look when he possessed Hal, but also is remisicient of Kyle's first Green Lantern costume.

I do have to admit, I was never too fond of Kyle Rayner's first Green Lantern outfit. It felt like they were trying too hard to make him look "cool". Also, the costume was predominantly black, and I felt it made no sense for a character called Green Lantern to have a predominantly black outfit. The Parallax-ified Kyle taunts Hal about how much more imaginative the younger Lantern is than him, which makes sense. Kyle Rayner in his civilian life is a professional artist, after all.

Hal demands to know where Guy and John are. Parallax!Kyle refuses to answer, instead saying that he's come around to having a Corps of his own. The story ends with Hal facing off against Parallax, the Sinestro Corps, and a pair of constructs of Kyle in his Green Lantern and Ion guises.

This was an enjoyable issue, but it does have a couple of flaws. The main flaw is that it's one of those issues that feels like it's better when read as part of the whole Sinestro Corps War story than on its own. Also, it does feel like you need to have some knowledge of the Green Lantern Corps's history and mythos to truly appreciate this story.

The big strength of this issue is the focus on Hal. We get to see that he's still affected not only by his time under Parallax's control, but he's also still haunted by his father's death. Seeing Martin Jordan's fatal plane crash was the incident that made Hal the supposedly fearless man he is, but it still scarred him.

Ivan Reis to me is an underrated Green Lantern artist. He does great facial expressions, and manages to capture emotion very well. He also manages to make the Parallax-ized Kyle, not to mention the fear monster in his true yellow bug form, look terrifying.

The Sinestro Corps War is an epic story, and should be required reading for anyone who wants to know why Green Lantern is awesomel If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time, as we join Wonder Woman as she undergoes her tenth labor...