“Secret Origin” (part 4)

Erik Norris: 4 Silver Bullets
Kevin Powers: 4.5 Silver Bullets

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As Geoff Johns’ epic run on Green Lantern continues, Comics Bulletin brings you a collaborative review of the latest issue from one of Comic Bulletin’s newest reviewers, Erik Norris, and resident Hal Jordan nut, Kevin Powers.

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Erik Norris (EN): This week saw the release of Green Lantern #32, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ fourth chapter in Hal Jordan’s “Secret Origin”. Joined alongside me is Kevin Powers, Comics Bulletin’s resident Hal Jordan expert, to discuss the happenings of issue #32. So Kevin, what did you think of Green Lantern #32?

Kevin (KP): Well first, I haven’t officially welcomed you to Comics Bulletin. Readers are probably ecstatic that there are more reviewers in the late week than just myself and Ray Tate.

Anyways, Johns delivers yet another solid chapter in his Green Lantern saga, and the much needed re-telling of Hal Jordan’s origin. It’s fast-paced, action-packed and Johns continues to nail Hal Jordan’s personality and characterization with every issue. As a Hal fan, I couldn’t be happier with this series and the re-imagining of his origin. However, and I may be in the minority on this one, but I can’t help but feel that everything is moving too fast. It’s a weird thing to say because I always commend Johns on his ability to write a condensed story, but I’ve stated in previous reviews that Hal’s origin is one of the most needed re-tellings in the DC Universe. Granted, this all ties into Johns’ next epic, “Blackest Night”, but I feel like he can slow the story down just a little bit for a little more character development on all fronts.

EN: I agree things are moving at a blistering pace. Even with myself being a Hal Jordan fan, I've never read Emerald Dawn, Hal's original origin story. So even though I have been following Johns' relaunch since day one, it's nice to see a contemporary retelling for both myself and fans coming aboard the title from buzz created by the "Sinestro Corps War". However, "Secret Origin" seems to be the epitome of a movie realization of Hal's origin. I can see all of the happenings of this story taking place on the silver screen. Even more so with Johns' connecting all of Hal's supporting cast to his origin. He is making a nice, pretty condensed picture for readers pulling in all of Hal's mythos which would make the story seem to move faster than it sound. With all the connections to Hal's supporting case to show how they fit into the bigger picture, Johns really isn't giving himself much time to sit back and delve into the mindsets of his characters.

KP: I’ve said in the past that I strongly dislike Emerald Dawn. There are certain character elements of Hal that are completely off and the story just doesn’t fit well into the overall mythos of Green Lantern. However, Johns has pulled a few of the better elements from that story and integrated them into “Secret Origins”. He’s also done this with many of Hal’s earliest stories from the late '50s and early '60s, the most notable one being Hector Hammond. Johns has been managing the difficult taking numerous elements from Hal’s long history, tying them into his vision and streamlining it into the next big Green Lantern event. It’s a formidable task, but Johns is an incredible writer and has done it very well. But I think this is where the story gets fast-tracked. Mostly due Emerald Dawn and the style of storytelling in the '50s, there really isn’t a definitive version of Hal’s origin. Most people will say they don’t care about Hal, but there are a lot of complexities and issues to explore that all tie directly into his methods as a Green Lantern. While I absolutely love the story, I really just want more of Hal and Carol, even more of Hal and Tom, a key relationship in Hal’s early days. Yes, there’s a brilliant scene between Hal and Carol and some heavy “daddy issues” between the two of them, but it would be so much fun, just for an issue to see the old love triangle, where Hal wants Carol and Carol wants Green Lantern. Hal staying there to work for Ferris has a lot to do with his father’s legacy; Hal wants to love up to his dad’s legacy and wants to overcome what killed his father. But I think it’s kind of a weak starting point for the Hal and Carol relationship. I’ve always believed that Hal and Carol should have been high school sweethearts.

But Johns does have to put many elements of the origin on the backburner for the main plot threads heading into “Blackest Night”. I think that’s why it feels like it’s moving so fast. A lot of that comes from the way Johns writes. And it does and doesn’t feel like the movie version of Hal’s origin, although Johns writing does have a cinematic feel. Over the past few years, his writing has taken a much more cinematic approach, that’s also the roots of the condensed style of writing. With screenwriting, you basically have 120 to 130 pages to tell the entire story, so if the origin is only a small piece of the puzzle, like much of the character elements in contrast to the “Blackest Night” stuff, then certain things have to be cut out.

EN: Yea exactly. This story is a retelling of Hal's origin, but the reason for it isn't to catch new readers up (though it does accomplish that) its purpose is to show the bread crumbs leading into "Blackest Night". Therefore, scenes that tie into that will take precedence.

Moving along, you touched on Hector Hammond briefly but how did you feel about John's directly tying his catastrophic incident into Hal's beginnings? I'm all for the appearance of John Stewart as a Marine that picked a bar fight with Hal, but do you think it's a little to convenient that all of Hal's major enemies now have direct ties to his origin? I guess I'm personally a tad put off by it because I'm really not sure how Hammond will fit into "Blackest Night" either, if he ends up doing so at all. Then again maybe that's Geoff Johns' mission statement from the beginning; "Blackest Night" is the prophecy that ties everything up into one giant conspiracy theory for Hal Jordan, set in motion from the very first time he put the green ring on.

KP: With Hector Hammond it works. It actually works rather well. Green Lantern #5 from 1961, introduces Hector Hammond as a brilliant scientific mind who loved the ladies. He was indeed quite taken with Carol and actually came into possession of the power ring and was very intrigued by it. Later in 1962, Justice League of America #14 saw Hector Hammond exposed to a meteorite where he grew his large brain and developed his powers. Hammond has always been a Hal villain. So for his origins to tie into Hal’s and the possibility of him playing a role in “Blackest Night” does indeed work. Johns just adds the meteor to the propulsion system of Abin Sur’s spacecraft, works for me. The trend in most superhero stories these days is that villains typically come to be due to direct actions by the hero, thus explaining why certain villains would have an affinity to certain heroes. This is the case with Hammond. I think Johns does it in a tasteful way and if Hammond is to be part of the “Blackest Night” I see no foul as long as it all makes sense, you know? The same can be said for the Black Hand, although his involvement in the whole scheme of things makes much more sense than Hammond’s at this point.

I’m not sure if the whole conspiracy revolves around Hal. Granted he is considered the “prodigal” due to the Parallax incident, I think the conspiracy revolves more around humans being Green Lanterns, that’s why there are four of them.

I’ve also stated I love the fact that John Stewart was made a Marine in the comics. He was a Marine in Justice League Unlimited and it worked. There was a debate on our own message boards about John becoming a Marine. Personally, I don’t think it takes away from his being an architect at all, because many soldiers and Marines move on to completely different careers after service. I do think it adds a much needed element and much need character depth to his story. Plus, I love that he was a sniper, that scene during the “Sinestro Corps War” when he took out their sniper from across space. That was bad-ass.

EN: Yea Kevin, you make a damn good argument for the Hector Hammond origin, I'll buy it. As for John Stewart, I don't know why everyone flipped out about him being a Marine. It's not like it oversteps his back-story of being an architect. I have a friend who graduated college with me and went into the army as a civil engineer. That does happen in the real world. So to see both those universes, that of Justice League Unlimited and the normal DCU continuity, mesh together is a win in my book.

I guess the last cool sequence of the book that we haven't touched on yet is Sinestro's appearance. It's a scene we have seen before in Johns' Green Lantern: Rebirth, but I had no problem seeing it again, this time drawn by Ivan Reis. Johns' even takes the time to expand on the scene with Abin Sur's message which we are yet to hear though has me very intrigued. It was also cool to see Sinestro use his willpower to put Hal's plane back together in a true Yoda moment.

KP: I love this scene, and there’s a simple reason. After Emerald Dawn there was a sequel Emerald Dawn II which is much worse than the original. In the original, Hal was a drunk and was thrown into jail after getting into a car accident and injuring his friends. Sinestro comes to Hal in jail and takes him off for the training and we eventually see the downfall of Sinestro and all that. While the downfall revolves around Sinestro conquering his home world, as has been canon since Sinestro’s creation, the rest of the story is pretty silly.

Here, Johns writes Sinestro as the perfect antagonist and friend for Hal. Sinestro is arrogant like Hal, but he’s also extremely anal retentive in his ways, something Hal is certainly not. What I love about Hal’s characterization during this sequence is the fact that he doesn’t give two shits about who Sinestro is, and Sinestro is a little taken aback by that. Hal cares only about doing what he loves, and again, living up to his father that the Green Lantern duties have to sit on the back-burner. I remember this scene during Rebirth and I loved it then, but to see it expanded on and to see Sinestro actually have a motivation for singling out Hal, not just because he’s his best friend’s successor, is actually quite nice. However, I’m assuming that Sinestro taking Hal “under his wing” and seeing much of himself in Hal, is what will lead to his ultimate downfall as a Green Lantern. And I thought the “Yoda moment” was very cool, but it could also be extremely crucial to Sinestro’s character. No other Green Lantern can do what he did. I have a feeling I know exactly where Johns is headed with Sinestro when it comes time for “Blackest Night” and the things Sinestro can do have to be greater than any other Green Lantern. Hence how he was able to conquer his own planet without the Guardians knowing.

I love Ivan Reis’s artwork. It’s simply stunning and it feels like he’s truly inspired by what he’s drawing. I’ve raved about his work since he took over and there’s just no stopping him, he’s definitely one of the best artists in the business today. But Reis also has some fantastic support. Oclair Albert has provided the inks throughout Reis’ tenure as penciller. While Julio Ferreira runs support in this issue, Albert has always brought an extraordinary level of depth to the page and really highlights Reis’ strengths, which is just about everything. And between Guy Major and Randy Mayor, Johns and Reis really get the best colorists in town.

EN: Agreed on all fronts about the art team on Green Lantern. Ivan Reis gets most of the credit for the gorgeous visuals, but his team is helping elevate his already extravagant skills to out-of-this-world levels.

Well that about covers the entire issue of Green Lantern #32. Overall I saw it as another great addition to the Green Lantern saga Johns' is crafting. While not the strongest chapter of the "Secret Origin" storyline for me, it still had some great kick-ass moments and the one scene between Carol and Hal in her office was much needed to ground the characters in a storyline not spending much time lingering in the present but instead always chugging full steam ahead into the future.

KP: There’s really no other way to classify this issue than as another strong installment in Geoff Johns’ epic. He’s doing a fair share of ret-conning and overall, it works very well. However, like I said, my only real problem with this issue and “Secret Origins” is the fact that key character elements get glazed over and the story is heavily geared to “Blackest Night”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited about “Blackest Night” but I’ve also been waiting for the definitive version of Hal’s origin for a long time. But, I do understand many of those story elements and character points have to be put on the back burner for the next chapter. So, I guess in conclusion I don’t have any other complaints because I absolutely love this book and this issue.

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