Green Lantern #21 Review

GREEN LANTERN #21

by Robert Venditti and Billy Tan

So. This is the guy that wrote The Surrogates. Hm.

Now, when Geoff Johns announced that he was leaving Green Lantern, I was shocked. The man who was considered the definitive Lantern writer was leaving. So, I, among everyone else, started speculating. Who could Johns pass the torch (which coincidentally, is the name of a Green Lantern story written by Judd Winick) to, and keep the fire going? Well, when Robert Venditti was announced, I had no idea who this guy was. All I knew was that he wrote the Surrogates, which was only an OK movie. But this was a surprisingly amazing debut from him. He nails Hal Jordan's voice and reminds me of a little bit of George Clooney's performance as Danny Ocean. He sets up an intriguing plotline which involves the main power battery going out. He also introduces a few new recruits who find themselves about to go into battle headfirst with Larfleeze. This issue also nicely sets up some of the other Green Lantern books. Now, the one thing I didn't like about this, and it's a big one, is Venditti's ignorance of some of the things Johns did with the character. For example, it seems like there has been NO development with Hal and Carol's relationship, which is the same as it was, even before Johns' run. Worse, is that Larfleeze seems to show up from out of nowhere, and has had all character development wiped away. But besides these, Venditti has written a stellar book, that's the perfect jumping on point for new readers.

I can't imagine anyone BUT Billy Tan drawing this. The only exposure I had to his art was the prelude to the Dark Angel Saga in Uncanny X-Force, and this looks much different from his work there. His art is pure gold, and beautifully paints the world of the GLC. While it seems the inking is somewhat inconsistent, it doesn't hurt the feel of the book at all.

Green Lantern #21 is a great starting issue for Venditti's Green Lantern run. If he improves his writing from here, we could have a run that could be just as classic as Johns'. 

STORY: 4/5

+ Hal is perfectly written

+ Intriguing plot set up

+ Great jumping on point

+ A very fun issue

+ Interesting new status quo

- Ignores some major developments from Johns's run

ART: 4.5/5

+ Draws the alien environments perfectly

+ Good looking characters

- Slightly inconsistent inking

VERDICT: 4/5