Reviews

Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear by Geoff Johns

sandeeisreading's review against another edition

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4.0

I've never been really interested with Green Lantern, but my friend is, and so far, he hasn't let me down with his recommendations, which is why I gave this a go.

I was a bit traumatized when I watched the Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds which was why I was a bit hesitant to read anything with that character.Surprisingly, it wasn't bad. I actually, kind of, like it, if only I understood what happened before the events of this. I wonder what happened and why everyone thinks he died. I wonder what it was he did that made him feel so guilty.

On this six part issue, i felt that I knew Hal quite a bit now, as well as his family, and the people he works with. I liked the drama, i felt it worked well with the story.

Hal fought quite a lot of monsters here, some more terrifying than others, and it puzzles me why he was the only one fighting them. There were a lot of other Green Lanterns out there, as you will see here, and Hal almost got himself killed quite a number of times and no backup arrived. Haha. Damn. The other GLs must have been so busy to help him out.

The illustrations were great! I loved them.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and would definitely be continuing on with the rest of this run.

tmwebb3's review

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3.0

A jumbled mess to me, but gave a great overview of Hal being back. Wish there had been more time on the guardians, who are my favorite GL villains.

karliclover's review

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2.0

Not Geoff Johns's best work. But it IS only the first volume in his nine-year Green Lantern run (aside from Rebirth), so it's not entirely surprising. There were definitely some moments that were really great, but the overall story didn't strike me as well as I would have expected. The art by Ethan Van Sciver was great, but the rest of the art was amateur at best.

jameshaus's review against another edition

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5.0

The start of the ongoing series after the rebirth mini-series. Continues to be awesome. Best DC series ever. I cannot express how happy this new series makes me.

crookedtreehouse's review

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4.0

Following up with his [b:Green Lantern: Rebirth|29528|Green Lantern Rebirth|Geoff Johns|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385240205l/29528._SY75_.jpg|542565] miniseries, Johns begins his run on the Hal Jordan-focused Green Lantern series.

For the most part, this is a fantastic introduction to the character. There's a bit less knowledge of the character's previous continuity necessary to follow the plot. We are fed Jordan's backstories in flashback snippets that are connected to the main story. And we're introduced to some new characters that Johns will flesh out in coming volumes.

The main six issues of this book really wavered beteen four and five stars for me, but there's an additional issue, Green Lantern Secret Files And Origins 2005, patched into the back which is an absolute mess. The stark contrast of art styles between Bianchi's (in th Secret Files & Origins issue) and all the other creators who worked on the first six issues is jarring, especially as there's no real indication that we've moved into a new story, other than the complete change in art styles. That's some bad editorial, which is pretty consistent with DC's trade program. It's always about a decade behind its competitors, and riddled with amateur mistakes.

Apart from the final issue nonsense, though, this is a fantastic book, and probablythe best place to start reading modern Green Lantern.

ferrisscottr's review against another edition

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3.0

Those of you that have read my reviews know by now that I am a Marvel guy but am trying to branch out to a few DC books occasionally. A lot of the backstory and mythos of Green Lantern is lost on me because I have almost no knowledge of the DC universe. This was a pretty decent book. It's essentially a reprint of the first six issues of one of the Green Lantern runs.

Great art. Through the first four issues the storytelling is above average but the last 30% of the book the story was very confusing and disjointed. I enjoyed this graphic novel but nothing about it made me want to recommend it or to read any other Green Lantern stories out there.

iffer's review against another edition

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3.0

Having read the first three volumes of New 52 Green Lantern and Green Lantern: Rebirth before having any basic Green Lantern background, I can say that this is a much better place to start Green Lantern comics, and that these six issues are petty good. The quality of the issues varies, but I felt that there was a good mix of seriousness and comic book camp (hard to take a giant "evolved" man shark seriously). This first volume also provides background about Hal Jordan's past and family that makes the reader begin to see why so many people seem to like and respect Hal Jordan, despite his sometimes obnoxious swagger and stubbornness.

P.S. The art was pretty standard comic book fare, but I quite enjoyed Simone Bianchi's art in issue 6.

howattp's review against another edition

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2.0

I was not amazed by this volume. I've really enjoyed the others in this series which leads up to Blackest Night, but this one seemed disjointed; I just couldn't get into it at all.

Really the only thing of import is that the impending "Blackest Night" is mentioned here and the Black Hand arrives.

The artwork didn't do it for me, either. I really liked it at first, and then someone else (Ethan Van Sciver, I believe) finished and it was actually off-putting.

Ah, well.

Onto Blackest Night!

erissa_lestrange's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ubalstecha's review against another edition

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3.0

Hal Jordan is back as Green Lantern. In this first volume of Geoff Johns's reboot of the character, we see Hal trying to re-establish himself. He tries to regain his job as a test pilot. Tries to convince his brother to move back to Coast City. All the while, he is fighting Manhunters, aliens and old foes.

A good compilation of the first few issues of the new series. It is interesting that Johns has chosen to keep the back story of Hal, rather than completely reboot. There are some good elements here, including a beautiful cover by Alex Ross. Still, this is a nicer collection for the die-hard GL fan, rather than a casual reader.