May
25
Turn It On Again
Green Lantern #1
Creators: Geoff Johns, writer; Carlos Pacheco, pencils; Jesus Merino, inks; Ethan Van Sciver, artist
DC Comics, 44 pages, color, $3.50
So? Now that Hal Jordan's back wearing the emerald ring, what next? Well, Hal's back to being a full-time test pilot and part-time superhero, living in the reconstructed but largely abandoned Coast City and catching up with friends and family members. This is much more fun than the "Rebirth" miniseries that preceeded it, if for no other reason than "Rebirth" had as its sole mission finding a way to resurrect and rehabilitate Hal in a convincing way. Now, we can get to know him a little better, and it turns out he's not such a bad guy. Not a lot of plot happens in this issue, even though it's double size, but plenty gets set up with a new threat from outer space infiltrating Earth and Hal's instant attraction to sexy test pilot Capt. Jillian Pearlman. The test pilot aspect is the one element that feels a bit odd. It was surely a very cool job for boys to dream about when the character first appeared in the late 1950s, an age when test pilots were national heroes and went on to become astronauts. But the job as portrayed here seems to have changed not at all in the past four decades and therefore has an odd, dated feel to it. The potential for great space opera in Green Lantern looks to be the most promising direction for the title, as long as it doesn't get too bogged down in backstory. Pacheco is an unsung artist in the comics biz. He had underrated runs a few years back on "X-Men" and "Avengers Forever" for Marvel, and this book should help raise his star. His clean and attractive art is well-colored by Moose Baumann and helps ground the characters while creative storytelling gives unexpected weight to the outer space action. There's still a ways to go to make this a must-read book for readers who aren't already GL fans, but the book and concept is more interesting than it's been in a long time. Grade: B+
Fantastic Four #527
Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, writer; Mike McKone, pencils; Andy Lanning, inks
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? With the countdown to the "Fantastic Four" movie under way, Marvel brings a new creative team onto its flagship title. Straczynski has been a Marvel mainstay for a while with a lengthy run on "The Amazing Spider-Man" as well his own "Supreme Power" series. The science-fiction elements central to the FF so far makes this an even better fit for JMS, creator of the "Babylon 5" TV series, than "Spider-Man." First issue sets a nice mixture of tones that spotlights Reed Richards and the Thing. Reed feels melancholy from the weight of the knowledge he alone is privy to understand, a feeling compounded by his taking a side job to pay the bills that has potentially profound results. JMS takes a different route with the Thing, who shows off his playful side in this story when he finds he has a large amount of money to his name. These scenes are both fun and funny, though will surely earn some complaints from die-hards that Ben should be portrayed more seriously. McKone was lured away to an exclusive at Marvel from his clear and clean work on DC's "Teen Titans" and it pays off pretty well, though at times Paul Mounts' coloring overwhelms and obscures the artwork. Grade: B-
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