Comic Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #48

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #48

DC Comics

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Rafa Sandoval

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #48 is the epitome of ring-slinging and Guy Gardner banter that I have come to expect from the series.  This issue is the first of Robert Venditti’s concluding arc, Last Charge.  With only two more issues before Venditti’s finale, the action and intensity are ramped up to 100%.

Directly following the events of Darkstars Rising, the Controllers of the Universe (dark mirrors of the Guardians) have spread their army of Darkstars across the galaxy.  The Darkstars set their sights on the prisoners of Mogo’s Sciencells, to act as judge, jury, but mostly executioner.  To combat this threat, the Green Lanterns have recruited several questionable allies including General Zod, Arkillo, and Hector Hammond.  While Kilowog and the Corps defend the Sciencells, the Four Corpsmen of the Apocalypse attempt to take down the Controllers once and for all.If Robert Venditti has excelled at one thing in this run, it’s his wonderful interactions between the four main Earth Lanterns.  Robert Venditti gives these characters unique voices that play well off one another.  However, my key problems with Venditti’s run are his lack of world building and a lack of an overarching threat.  Each arc played out similarly, with the four Earth Lanterns dealing with a threat and saving the world in about four or so issues.  Venditti’s concluding arc solves most of these problems. Last Charge brings back many characters and concepts from throughout Venditti’s run.  This all contributes to a grand sense of scale that the book was missing ever since the first arc of the series.

There are a lot of highlights in this issue.  In particular, Hector Hammond’s psychic projections of baseball games and birthday parties offer great comic relief.  But perhaps my favorite moment of the issue involves the Guardians of the Universe.  The Guardians in this issue decide to fight alongside the Lanterns, instead of hiding in their inner chambers.  This proves that the new Guardians are trying to shed the legacy of their predecessors.

I feel like it goes without saying at this point that Rafa Sandoval’s artwork is top notch as always. His work on this series partnered with Green Lantern veteran Ethan Van Sciver makes Hal and Pals one of the most consistent and impressively drawn books on the shelves.  With this run coming to an end, I hope to see Sandoval do more work at DC.  If Porter and Kolins weren’t already doing great work over on The Flash, I’d like to see Sandoval take on the Scarlet Speedster.

Vendetti’s work on Hal and Pals will be missed, but I look forward to seeing what future writers have in store for the characters. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #48 builds towards the conclusion of a solid run by Robert Venditti.