REVIEW: ‘The Green Lantern: Season Two”, Issue #1

The Green Lantern: Season Two #1, written by Grant Morrison, illustrated by Liam Sharp, colored by Steve Oliff, and lettered by Tom Orzechowski, is published by DC Comics. In the issue, Hal Jordan has successfully repelled the Blackstar incursion and is hailed as a hero by his fellow Green Lanterns. However, when the Guardians of the Universe depart for another reality, Jordan is tasked with traveling to the planet Maltus and finding their replacements. He is accompanied on this mission by a crystal being named Rykatoro, who is a law enforcement officer on his homeworld of Karalyx.

Morrison is no stranger to grand cosmic epics, having previously written The Multiversity and Final Crisis for DC. With Green Lantern: Season Two he continues that tradition, throwing all matter of insane things at the audience in thirty pages. Cybernetically evolved killer apes, Rykatoro’s Crystallizer gun which can literally rewind time itself, and a scientist named Mother Juna who looks less like a scientist and more like somebody’s grandmother are just a few of the concepts Morrison introduces in this issue. He even finds a new use for the Green Lantern ring that harkens back to Jordan’s Silver Age adventures.

Despite all of this, Morrison manages to make sure that the issue is accessible to new readers. All new readers really need to know is that Hal Jordan is an intergalactic police officer with a ring that can do literally anything he imagines, and also happens to be a superhero. If you hadn’t read Season One of The Green Lantern, or if this is your first time picking up a comic book, you can still follow the story with ease.

Sharp’s artwork perfectly compliments Morrison’s script and showcases all the wild, wonderful creatures, and locations you’d expect to see in a Green Lantern comic. The Primorgs, aka the killer apes previously mentioned above, have several pieces of armor and weaponry literally growing out of their bodies. The machinery of Planet Maltus has a twisting, organic look similar to the designs of H.R. Geiger. Even Jordan’s constructs look otherworldly, as the energy surrounding them is flickering with green flames.

Perhaps the best image in the issue is on page seven (seen above), where Sharp has the opportunity to draw the Grand Hall of Oa, where law enforcement officers from different galaxies and dimensions mingle with the Green Lanterns. Sharp cuts loose with this page, packing it to the brim with several unforgettable images including a twisting, multi-eyed serpentine alien and a Green Lantern whose head is literally an explosion. Paired with Sharp’s colors, these images are a testament to the sheer imaginative power that comics can tap into.

The Green Lantern, Season Two #1 is not only a perfect jumping-on point for new readers, but it also manages to set up a new story for Hal Jordan utilizing existing mythology. I can’t wait to see where Morrison, Sharp, and Oliff go from here.

The Green Lantern: Season Two #1 is available wherever comics are sold.