This week: Checking in with Green Lantern #32, the latest issue in a reliably solid book that is liable to remind you why long runs are fun in comics. Plus, the Vertigo Round-Up continues with a look at The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1!
Green Lantern #32
Green Lantern #32Writer: Jeremy Adams
Artist: Montos
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
We have heaped all kinds of praise on DC Comics’ line of late, from the sales blockbuster Absolute Universe titles to the new Vertigo books to the more familiar in-continuity superhero comics. But we haven’t written much in this space about Green Lantern, at least not as our lead review. Indeed, this current run is at 32 issues, and it hasn’t been the primary feature here in literal years.
And that’s not on account of the quality. Under the stewardship of writer Jeremy Adams, this current Green Lantern comic has been a reliably solid read for the entirety of its run. I was given occasion to take stock of that by this week’s Green Lantern #32. It’s kind of a one-off issue, in which Hal Jordan plans to propose to Carol Ferris’ Star Sapphire, but before he is able, a bad guy shows up and it all goes to hell. They, of course, handle the threat, subsequently deciding not to be married, as love-struck superheroes are wont to do, seeing as saving the universe or galaxy or city or whatever is at odds with companionship, in theory.
Anyway, this gave me occasion to think about Green Lantern as a run hollistically because this issue struck me as almost a throwback. It’s definitely a story that’s not written for trade, but it’s also the type of issue that can only be made when a run has time to breath, giving itself character familiarity, long-simmering plot threads, and space between bigger ideas (indeed, next month we are scheduled to get the legacy-numbered supersize Green Lantern #600).
It’s also just executed so well here by Adams and artist Montos, fresh off a much-loved (around here) Green Arrow run, and really letting loose with fantastical Green Lantern ring imagery, colored to bright perfection by Romulo Fajardo, Jr., with sound effects and other letters courtesy of Dave Sharpe.
So yeah, maybe Green Lantern and Star Sapphire don’t get married here (of course they don’t), but it’s fun to have a run that’s so solid and so deep in its bag, that we can do a fun one-off story teasing that. More comics and more extended runs like this, please.
Verdict: BUY
The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1
The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
As a certified weekly comics sicko of many years, I’ve learned a few things about my fellow weekly comics sickos, chiefly, that there are some genres we just love. And one of those genres is old school noir. Another one thing we love is a main character with a cool name whose first appearance hints at a deeper backstory while also promising many more adventures to come. The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 is and does all these things.
Another thing weekly comics sickos like is the creative team of writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob Phillips (and, of course, absolutely anytime Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is the letterer). I consider myself an early booster of the duo’s breakout hit, That Texas Blood, which ran decently-long (very long for a creator-owned comic in the 2020s), and also give rise to the spinoff series, The Enfield Gang Massacre. This is relevant, because one of the smart choices that has made this new Vertigo revival so interesting is that editorial has across the board turned to creative teams with a history working together, generally on much-loved projects. That Texas Blood certainly fits that bill.
Which is all to say that I had very high expectations for this comic, and it actually exceeded them. I think Condon-Phillips might be the longest tenured creative partnership in this new crop of Vertigo books, in terms of how many comics they’ve made (not counting 100 Bullets, which is an old book making a comeback), and with this comic, they’re pushing into new territory with their finely-honed collaboration as the guide.
Whereas That Texas Blood featured laconic and often mustachioed Lone Star lawmen, this book stars and adventure-seeking archeologist PI. Whereas their earlier book was visually minimalistic, set in flat expanses of nigh-endless Texas landscape, this new book is sent decades ago in New York City. But what the duo has brought with them is a great combination of the hardscrabble with the potentially mystical and occult, at least if the opening and the ending of this first issue are any indication.
I think the biggest piece of praise I can give this comic as a first issue is that when it ended, I was surprised. Not by the plot, but that the ending had already come…I was that immersed in the storytelling.
Verdict: BUY
Miss any of our earlier reviews? Check out our full archive!
Read more great reviews from The Beat!
