Comic Review: The Green Lantern #8

The Green Lantern #8

DC Comics

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Liam Sharp

Green Arrow guest stars in an issue focused on exploring the fan favorite dynamic between Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen.  Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp pay homage to the legendary work Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams did with the characters, while still maintaining the distinct style characteristic of the current volume of the title.

As the title implies, “Space Junkies” blends Morrison’s focus on the cosmic adventure aspect of the Green Lantern franchise with the depiction of the street crime and related socioeconomic issues plaguing real-world America that O’Neil and Adams were preoccupied with.  A new drug on the streets with intergalactic origins attracts Hal and Ollie’s attention as well as putting Earth in the middle of a conflict between the alien dealer and his rivals.

Morrison continues to draw attention to Hal’s difficulty finding a life and purpose outside his Lantern duties.  As usual, Oliver encourages his friend to spend more time on Earth to keep him grounded (a trend started during the O’Neil and Adams run).  But rather than attempting to persuade him to have a more liberal ideology, this time Ollie is more concerned about his friend’s detachment from humanity.  It’s hard to properly evaluate this personal storyline before seeing the conclusion Morrison has planned for it but so far it’s been an effective emotional cornerstone for the series.  Despite this and Morrison’s general success in accurately portraying the Hal and Ollie dynamic, the story ends on a strange note, with Ollie telling Hal he doesn’t “belong among civilized people in the 21st century.”  While this may very well be true and a hint at how Morrison plans on ending his run it’s very unlike Oliver to give up on his attempts to help his friend, let alone say something so potentially harmful to his face.  The phrasing itself is also the one notable example of Morrison’s satirical, excessively reflexive voice overriding the character’s usual personality.

While Morrison doesn’t let reverence for the work of O’Neil and Adams deter him from including a heavy dose of his signature cosmic weirdness, Liam Sharp’s efforts at paying homage to the Hard Traveling Heroes era are more comprehensive and detailed.  As usual Sharp more than delivers on the psychedelic visuals Morrison’s sci-fi requires but more notable are the grounded scenes of Hal and Ollie talking and fighting street crime.  Sharp’s figures have had more than a passing resemblance to Adams’ throughout The Green Lantern so far but here even the way he conveys motion and his use of tight, canted angles is strikingly similar to Adams’ work, particularly when Oliver is in action.  Still, the darker color palette Sharp and Steve Oliff employ ensures the issue’s art is more than simple imitation.

This is a very enjoyable issue that excites by placing one of comics’ most beloved duos in a surreal sci-fi caper and manages to both offer a heartfelt tribute to past creators while also including some important thematic and plot set-up for the rest of the run.