For today’s post, we’ll look at the first issue of Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern. As a new series, you might expect that the comic provides a lot of exposition & setup for the epic story to come. It doesn’t really do that much if at all. The cover, painted by Alex Ross in his realistic style, features Green Lantern Hal Jordan flying among the clouds on a bright, sunny day, reaching out toward the reader.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, I own more Green Lantern comics than any other title/franchise, so I suppose it’s not surprising that the random selection of the comics I’m reviewing would hit multiple GL issues so early. Green Lantern 046 is smack in the middle of Geoff Johns’ epic space opera run on the character, so this issue is pretty much 100% action–a stark contrast to the laser-focused character development of some other comics I’ve discussed recently.
Starman was a comic by James Robinson, Tony Harris, Peter Snejberg, and other assorted artists in the mid-90s that told the tale of a young man named Jack Knight. Jack was the son of Golden Age (1940s)-era Starman Ted Knight and the younger brother of short-lived Starman David Knight. (There were a few other heroes who went by the name Starman, as well, but the Knight family really “owns” the role.) Jack had the hero role thrust upon him when his brother was murdered one night; Jack avenged his brother and decided to protect his city as his family had done.
I think that this might be the newest of all the comics I’ve reviewed so far. Green Lanterns is a series starring Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, two novice members of the Green Lantern Corps, each saddled with their own hang-ups about being a hero. They were paired up by Hal Jordan and tasked with protecting Earth while he went out into outer space to locate the rest of the Green Lantern Corps (as they had gone missing at the time).
While Green Lantern remains perhaps my favorite character-specific franchise, Astro City is far and away my single favorite series, ever. It is superhero comics world-building done expertly, pulling together and twisting tropes in a way that has not been done as fully, consistently, or enjoyably by anyone else. Kurt Busiek has it all together here and presents it in full force with Alex Ross covers and (usually) Brent Anderson art. Astro City is a comic whose stories focus on the titular city (located on the west coast, standing in the place of San Francisco or Seattle), which is populated by more than a century of superhero history.
“Gone, gone, o form of man! Rise the demon Etrigan!” Etrigan the demon is a great character, even if Jack Kirby wasn’t really into it. Arthurian knight Jason Blood, cursed to inhabit the same body/space as Etrigan, a demon bound into Merlin’s service, has been developed as an incredibly cornerstone of DC’s supernatural/horror sphere of comics. (This was made most obvious in Alan Moore’s run on Saga of the Swap Thing, where Etrigan’s rhyming was excellently elevated to a characteristic of Hell’s lieutenants.) The cover to The Demon issue 002 shows Etrigan crouched on a stone archway, which is dripping water, in a town with a medieval aesthetic or a castle square at nighttime (as the moon is visible on the horizon), ready to pounce on a group of torch-wielding citizens and a uniformed inspector.
The first Vertigo post for this blog is also the first Animal Man post. Ahh, Animal Man. Such a great character raised out of mediocre beginnings. Without getting too mired in details, it’s enough to say that Buddy Baker–Animal Man–can tap into the abilities of animals and make use thereof to fight injustice. Also, unlike most superheroes, he has a family (a wife, Ellen, and two children, Cliff and Maxine). This is important, because the central conflict in Buddy’s life is the tug-of-war that constantly occurs between his desire to live a normal life with his family and his desire to use his powers in the best and most effective way possible (often to try and raise awareness about animal rights and ecological issues).
JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE! Possibly the greatest Europe-based superhero team from one of the big two comics companies. Justice League Europe / Justice League International were incredible series in the late 80s/early 90s that really embraced the goofiness of shining a spotlight on a band of B- and C-list heroes. Keith Giffen and Bart Sears worked so well together to make the comic so believable and staunchly ridiculous at the same time.
Just by looking at the title, I can tell that issue 18 from the 1973 run of Shazam! (the first DC title with Captain Marvel/Shazam after acquiring Fawcett’s characters) is going to be amazing: Captain Marvel is lifting up part of a house while asking, “Who called me for help?” In response, a frog—held in someone’s hand—replies, “*Ribit* I did!” Meanwhile, in a note at the bottom right corner, we get a hint of what the issue will involve: “The celebrated talking frog of Blackstone Forest!” I’m sold.