Scan barcode
A review by rhganci
Green Lantern, Vol. 3: The End by Geoff Johns
4.0
(4.5 stars) The size and scope of Mr. Johns' conclusion to his GREEN LANTERN saga seems so much bigger than the modest crossover it appears to be. There are hundreds of issues of plot strands that come together here (many of which I admittedly have not read), and the conclusion is a synthesis, a farewell, a reduction, and above all else a terrific re-insertion of Hal Jordan into the role of Green Lantern going forward.
What follows contains SPOILERS.
The sheer quantity of resolution that takes place in this volume could potentially end the story as we've understood it for quite some time. As Johns notes in the retrospective, the plots that are concluded in THE END tie together everything that began with GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH 10 years ago--and what a conclusion it is.
Although it is very much a big-concept, big action sequence (I actually lost track of where one issue ended and the next began, it moves so quickly), the beginning of this collection starts small by introducing a new character, Simon Baz, who quickly becomes a key player as the bad guys ramp up their aggression and the universe finds itself in eternal peril once again, and who almost immediately shows up in Johns' JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA V1. Simon is a different kind of Green Lantern, almost an apologetic one, whose role diminishes as the predictable and necessary key players such as Hal, Sinestro, Atrocitus, and Saint Walker take their places as Johns tells us, well, "The End" of his Green Lantern story, and specifically of Sinestro's role in that story in and of itself.
The role of Sinestro as mentor-enemy of Hal seemed very much to be centerpiece on which Johns started the New 52, as the first issue tells the story of Sinestro, and not Hal, taking the GL oath and becoming the GL of Space Sector 2814. As the story moves towards its conclusion, that rivalry (the truest rivalry in the New 52) takes center stage, with the same debates and the same points of contention that define this relationship. The final clash in which Sinestro takes the Yellow Lantern back after the destruction of Korugar has all the indicators of really good tragedy, and at that point I felt very strongly that we were about to see the end of Sinestro, though his long-term redemption gets some teasingly short shrift in the novel's final pages. That particular act of structuring really shows Johns' deft handling of impossibly large stories, and with Sinestro narrating his own downfall and the return of Hal Jordan (bookended by rebirth!), Johns can do little more right with his departure from the Green Lantern story.
My sole complaint with this volume was that it omitted one issue of Simon Baz' journey to Oa--probably a NEW GUARDIANS or GREEN LANTERN CORPS issue--in which he and B'dg opened the Book of Black and ended up with Black Hand in the prison. For a volume that already collects 8 issues, this omission seems editorially unnecessary, and even out of the norm for DC and their TPB policies, as the other giant crossover event--DEATH OF THE FAMILY--liberally includes BATMAN #17 in every book bearing that crossover's title, for what I assume is clarity's sake. The omission of Simon and B'dg's adventures in Maryland are not in any way essential to the return of Hal Jordan or the end of the Third Army, but it did interrupt the story's early flow and a rather enjoyable introduction of a character I'm excited to read more about.
Other highlights: the Justice League's check-up on Hal's GL ring and the placement of Jordan's resignation from the JL in the New 52 timeline; Adrian Syaf's stylish renderings of the Dead Zone and Hal's act of self-sacrifice there; the epilogue of events not-yet-arrived, including the fate of Hal and Carol and the rest of the Lantern Corps; the final panel, in which Hal Jordan's role as the greatest Green Lantern is solidified as Johns hands off the book to another creative team. While I was not a fan of the not-quite-reboot of GREEN LANTERN at the time of the New 52's inception, by the time #20 of the book ended, I realized that this story deserved to be told, needed to be told, and that whatever becomes of Hal as JL member and Green Lantern of SS2814, Johns' vision for the character's greatness with provide the context in which it happens.
What follows contains SPOILERS.
The sheer quantity of resolution that takes place in this volume could potentially end the story as we've understood it for quite some time. As Johns notes in the retrospective, the plots that are concluded in THE END tie together everything that began with GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH 10 years ago--and what a conclusion it is.
Although it is very much a big-concept, big action sequence (I actually lost track of where one issue ended and the next began, it moves so quickly), the beginning of this collection starts small by introducing a new character, Simon Baz, who quickly becomes a key player as the bad guys ramp up their aggression and the universe finds itself in eternal peril once again, and who almost immediately shows up in Johns' JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA V1. Simon is a different kind of Green Lantern, almost an apologetic one, whose role diminishes as the predictable and necessary key players such as Hal, Sinestro, Atrocitus, and Saint Walker take their places as Johns tells us, well, "The End" of his Green Lantern story, and specifically of Sinestro's role in that story in and of itself.
The role of Sinestro as mentor-enemy of Hal seemed very much to be centerpiece on which Johns started the New 52, as the first issue tells the story of Sinestro, and not Hal, taking the GL oath and becoming the GL of Space Sector 2814. As the story moves towards its conclusion, that rivalry (the truest rivalry in the New 52) takes center stage, with the same debates and the same points of contention that define this relationship. The final clash in which Sinestro takes the Yellow Lantern back after the destruction of Korugar has all the indicators of really good tragedy, and at that point I felt very strongly that we were about to see the end of Sinestro, though his long-term redemption gets some teasingly short shrift in the novel's final pages. That particular act of structuring really shows Johns' deft handling of impossibly large stories, and with Sinestro narrating his own downfall and the return of Hal Jordan (bookended by rebirth!), Johns can do little more right with his departure from the Green Lantern story.
My sole complaint with this volume was that it omitted one issue of Simon Baz' journey to Oa--probably a NEW GUARDIANS or GREEN LANTERN CORPS issue--in which he and B'dg opened the Book of Black and ended up with Black Hand in the prison. For a volume that already collects 8 issues, this omission seems editorially unnecessary, and even out of the norm for DC and their TPB policies, as the other giant crossover event--DEATH OF THE FAMILY--liberally includes BATMAN #17 in every book bearing that crossover's title, for what I assume is clarity's sake. The omission of Simon and B'dg's adventures in Maryland are not in any way essential to the return of Hal Jordan or the end of the Third Army, but it did interrupt the story's early flow and a rather enjoyable introduction of a character I'm excited to read more about.
Other highlights: the Justice League's check-up on Hal's GL ring and the placement of Jordan's resignation from the JL in the New 52 timeline; Adrian Syaf's stylish renderings of the Dead Zone and Hal's act of self-sacrifice there; the epilogue of events not-yet-arrived, including the fate of Hal and Carol and the rest of the Lantern Corps; the final panel, in which Hal Jordan's role as the greatest Green Lantern is solidified as Johns hands off the book to another creative team. While I was not a fan of the not-quite-reboot of GREEN LANTERN at the time of the New 52's inception, by the time #20 of the book ended, I realized that this story deserved to be told, needed to be told, and that whatever becomes of Hal as JL member and Green Lantern of SS2814, Johns' vision for the character's greatness with provide the context in which it happens.