Green Lantern #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

I'm going to ask this right away: Shouldn't this book be called Green Lantern Corps?

Because that's pretty much what it is.

Mind you, that's one of the few weird decisions in an otherwise solid first entry.

Geoffrey Thorne who also handled the main sections of the Future State: Green Lantern title, is in charge of launching this new volume and he continues the same vibe as in that series. John Stewart continues to be the main character and, just like in Robert Venditti's run, he remains as leader of the Corps which has always been cool in my book since I believe John is the most capable for that role of all the Earth Lanterns, plus, Thorne gets his character fine showing how competent he is at leading the whole team and dealing with the new political course that his group has been assigned to.

The rest of the cast also get decent moments. Unlike Brian Bendis, Thorne at the very least tries to justify very hard Teen Lantern's place on the team but unfortunately has to follow the same one-note portrayal that Bendis created along with adding some really irritating Spanglish lines that are not even properly written (again, people who don't know Spanish should really stop trying to write in Spanish). Simon and Guy get adequate scenes based on their previous portrayals in comparison.

The plot is really intriguing so far due that it handles yet another Bendis' plot-point like the United Planets but in a more compelling manner with the Corps acting like ambassadors and controlling possible attacks that could disrupt the peace they're fighting for and the writer creates good solutions that go along with that mentality. There's also a nice amount of content in this chapter compared to other opening issues.

Not so fond of the appearance of a Thanagarian woman that look suspiciously similar as Shayera Hol from the Justice League Animated series since it seems like Thorne might want to replicate the romance between John and her but who knows? Maybe he will bring some surprises about it.

Dexter Soy does a fantastic job in pencils with a vibrant style and precise storytelling. Marco Santucci's work on the other hand, is just fine, not bad but not that impressive and doesn't contribute a lot to the story.

Promising beginning. Let's see how things go on.

[sifighter]

I enjoyed this, I felt like it was definitely trying to reaffirm John and his place in the Corps, glad they actually remembered that he became a Guardian for a little while, but also establishing kind of the new cosmic world order and how everyone is rightfully a little worried by the Corps (mainly the guardians). I also like how Thorne is using what has come before whether it is a big or small reference, such as New Colu, blackest night, and etc. I even thought that the expanding of the mystery of Teen Lantern was good, glad they confirmed that this was not officially the gauntlet but that raises more questions.

If any thing I had concerns about is, who was the "white lantern" looking guy with the long hair and headband? I've brought this up elsewhere but It's a little odd that just some stranger shows up with no ring but knowledge of the book of OA and the spectrum. I'm intrigued by whoever that is.

[lemonpeace]

I'm just gonna re-post my thoughts from the John thread:

"[...] overall, I dug this issue. it's doing a good job setting up the cosmic landscape we're gonna be working with going forward, there are some interesting nods to the story lines we're gonna see explored, and we get some interesting looking new characters. I really liked the Guardians straight up recognizing John's tenture as a Guardian and acknowledging that makes his relationship to them uniquely significant within the greater Corp. although I would've preferred John more confident in the face of the United Planets, I did like that once **** hit the fan he went straight into work mode and got on his job. I respect that.

what knocks it down for me is some of the dialogue; especially with Teen Lantern. I've grown a little sensitive to the spanglish/"slips into spanish" trope, it's cringey and makes me roll my eyes. it's especially egregious here because we're in space and dealing with a setting where everything is autotranslated across species through their technology, so the broken english makes even less sense. the elemental people's "medieval" speak was pretty bad too. ye this ye that, it reads like a bad renaissance fair; that ain't it chief. also the dialogue at the begin doesn't makes sense when we revisit the same scene later in the book, which kinda took me out of it because it retroactively made the opening scene feel like an overtly cheap "for the previews" hook. I would've preferred if they just started the story at the start of the story instead of the flashforward then "how did we get here" maneuver.

other than those nitpicks, it was a solid read. pilots/first issues are almost universally rough but there's still enough there that I wanna see where it goes. like a strong 6 to a light 7."

[Dioman-san]

I like this issue. The politic aspect is interesting and i found Thorn have a good use of the ideas of Bendis (United Planets, Teen Lantern ...). The art was fine and the characters well charaterise.

But some point let me sceptical. For example, who are this magic terrorist ? X)

It was confused this story of Guardians who emprison Magic and the mention of Starheart (After some research, it turns out the Guardians use the Starheart to create the rings but it's a reference to obscur for me and something the writers don't put in for a very long time). And this white guy who appeare for nowhere.

And to be sure, it's not this attack who destroy the central batteries ? It's come in the next issues ?

[bossofbam]

Wasn't a fan, mostly because when it all hit the fan, Guy and Kilowog were basically just there twiddling their thumbs.

[Digifiend]

They just didn't notice there was any danger until it was too late. spoilers:

The assassin who murdered that Guardian was clearly well hidden.

end of spoilers

[Avi]

I haven't read a lot of Green Lantern comics, which means I'm going in rather blind and am mostly here because all those Youtube interviews by Thorne won me over. I enjoyed the Issue. While it's a lot of worldbuilding, and I do have a little trouble wrapping my head around everything, I don't need all the answers right now. I'm certainly intrigued by the guy in white and am looking forward to learning what exactly the Starheart means to the magical beings.

I enjoyed that the GL Corps overcame the attack without the Brigade's involvement. There was no moment in which the harsh and pretty aggressive critique they received rang through. The narrative elevated them, imo.

The panel in which all present GLs prepare to power down is one of my favorites. A very powerful moment. I liked that third act in its entirety.

Also appreciate the humor. The Omniverse vs Multiverse bit especially.

I enjoyed both Soy's and Santucci's art. It was a smart move to split up art duties geographically. As far as I can tell Santucci only drew what happened inside the conclave. If not for John's face I wouldn't have noted the difference at all.

[sifighter]

Yeah the Star heart thing is a bit weird, you would think the people of Gemworld would then just attack Alan Scott...but then again I guess the guardians are connected to it through Shenanigans so what do I know.

[PLG1962]

It was a pretty bland read imo

[HsssH]

I'm just gonna re-post my thoughts from the John thread:

"[...] overall, I dug this issue. it's doing a good job setting up the cosmic landscape we're gonna be working with going forward, there are some interesting nods to the story lines we're gonna see explored, and we get some interesting looking new characters. I really liked the Guardians straight up recognizing John's tenture as a Guardian and acknowledging that makes his relationship to them uniquely significant within the greater Corp. although I would've preferred John more confident in the face of the United Planets, I did like that once **** hit the fan he went straight into work mode and got on his job. I respect that.

what knocks it down for me is some of the dialogue; especially with Teen Lantern. I've grown a little sensitive to the spanglish/"slips into spanish" trope, it's cringey and makes me roll my eyes. it's especially egregious here because we're in space and dealing with a setting where everything is autotranslated across species through their technology, so the broken english makes even less sense. the elemental people's "medieval" speak was pretty bad too. ye this ye that, it reads like a bad renaissance fair; that ain't it chief. also the dialogue at the begin doesn't makes sense when we revisit the same scene later in the book, which kinda took me out of it because it retroactively made the opening scene feel like an overtly cheap "for the previews" hook. I would've preferred if they just started the story at the start of the story instead of the flashforward then "how did we get here" maneuver.

other than those nitpicks, it was a solid read. pilots/first issues are almost universally rough but there's still enough there that I wanna see where it goes. like a strong 6 to a light 7."

I think I agree with everything you said here, but I'd probably rate it a bit higher, maybe 7.5.

[SebastianS]

As first issues go, this one is a bit weird.

The art is all over the place and it is just not that pretty, and there is a lot of exposition, which is both boring and -in some cases- out of the left field... Couple that with a deus ex machina ending, and we are left with a story that does nothing really to spike my interest in the direction the franchise is taking. Overall, I would give it a 2 out of 5.

[Besouro]

I liked this first issue.

All the positives have been mentioned already.

But I had no issue with Spanglish.....and I do not understand the hate for Spanglish spoken by a Hispanic TEENAGER, not some uppity international corporate executive.

[SebastianS]

I liked this first issue.

All the positives have been mentioned already.

But I had no issue with Spanglish.....and I do not understand the hate for Spanglish spoken by a Hispanic TEENAGER, not some uppity international corporate executive.

Well, Spanish is my native language, and I can see how it can be mishandled. For example: "Agua Chica" is wrong (as it is spelled, it means "Water Small"). It should be "Chica Agua" (which translates to "Water Girl"). And "Eres estupido?" is quite a strong word. In English, it might literally mean "are you stupid?" but a better translation would be "are you retarded?"

[Factor]

A pretty decent issue that's not without its faults.
More than a GL solo, this truly is a new GLC book. Makes sense, considering it's the only GL book around, thought.

Things I liked:
- The United Planets plot is great. I'm all in for cosmic politics.
- Most of the characterizations were pretty spot on, especially John's.
- It was cool getting glimpses into the other Earth GLs even if they aren't important players for now.
- I like the sense of scale and Thorne seems to have a pretty solid plan for what's coming.
- Soy's art looks pretty great (aside from all the alien GLs wearing human clothes and everyone's costumes suddenly looking like John's).


Things I didn't like
- It's 2021 and they're still making language mistakes one would expect from the 90s. If the people involved aren't fluent in Spanish and have no one they can contact to be certain that everything there is correct, they're better off writing everything in English.
- Keli was distracting. I get they're going for a 90s Jubilee vibe, but I'm not sold on her inclusion here and the level of focus she's getting.
- I truly hope the thanagarian won't become a love interest for John, it would be too derivative of his relationship with Shayera in the cartoons and it would be bad to just use a stand-in for that.
- One issue in and there are already art changes mid-story. It was pretty jarring to go from Soy to someone with a completely different style. A debut issue deserved more consistency.

[Johnny]

Aside from that new godawful Sinestro Corps design, it was a fun read. Gets a recommendation from me. Hope Dexter Soy comes back to draw some more issues after the first two.