Books : Green Lantern: Hero's Quest (Justice League of America)

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Rating:

- A poor representation of Green Lantern and DCU
I was anticipating this book for a while. I am a big fan of the DCU and of Green Lantern who is one of my favorite DC superheroes. I read Green Lantern including the transition to Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern. With that said, I am very disappointed in this novel and the concepts that it introduced. Mr. O'Neil is a better writer than this and I am disappointed in him as well. I was so moved (negatively) by this book that I felt I should write a review. Like I said, I know the story about Hal Jordan and Coast City and Parallax and the eventual handing of the Power Ring to Kyle Rayner.

I have no problem when a writer massages an origin or two to make the story work. But this felt like he took what I knew of the Justice League and it's core and Green Lantern and the Oans and put them all into a food processor. What we got out of it looked like chunky green pea sludge. I won't pass all the details of the story along but I felt like the author took established events in the DCU and made them into bland, trivial entries to justify the telling of his story. The origin of the Justice League, the characterization of it's members, the use of Hal Jordan and "Di", the misrepresentation of the Oans and the Green Lantern Corps were a big pile of steaming ____. I'm sorry, but I don't understand what the author was thinking. Gross misrepresentation simply doesn't fit into story.

As some of the other reviewers have stated, the Kyle Rayner we see here is a whiner. If I heard the story he told in this novel, I'd strip him of the ring and give it to someone else. The idea that only humans have artistic concepts which is why Kyle can do so well ... crap. And Gandy? Please. Ganthet was a pretty key Oan in the scheme of things with the Guardians. The author reduced him to a cardboard cutout with Ganthet's likeness. I just find the novel contrived and ill-thought. If I was the author's editor and knew a quarter of what I know about the Green Lantern and his history, I would have told Mr. O'Neil to go back to the drawing board.

There were a few concepts that I had to agree with. Some of what Kyle had to do to train. Yes, good ideas. The idea that the Oans have lost touch with other sentient beings. Again, I have to agree with that. And the portrayal of Batman, was right on.

But Kyle sleepwalking (not literally) through a third of the novel and the misrepresentation of Hal Jordan and the Oans left me ill by the end. If this was an assignment that was turned in for a grade, I'd give it an 'F' just in the poor manner that the story was told. Even worse knowing the history of the characters that star in it.

Mr. O'Neil, I'm disappointed in you. You should never have turned in this story.

Rating:

- Well. Glad I waited for that.
I have read all of the JLA novels. I know the origin of just about any superhero around. I will read just about anything pertaining to comic books. I could not make myself read this. I trudged through about the first ten chapters, then skimmed. I am angry that I waited so intently for this (what was worse prior to this??) and then paid what I always thought was a rather nominal fee to be entertained. While in every other JLA novel, you at least get some interaction from all the Leaguers, here you get maybe five pages of an uncharacteristically quite Wonder Woman, non-existant Flash, a really cranky Atom, a small dose of Batman and Superman, and what may be the best two sentences ever written about Plastic Man in a novel (only because they are the only two and I felt I should say something nice.) However, if all you want a few snappy one-liners by Plas, I suggest the JLA comic books. By far the worst writing I have encountered in a while, the author proceeds to make Kyle (who I like as a GL) into a whiny character without substance who really needs to look into some type of multivitamin. Worst of all? The author messes with origin. The best way to really anger a comic book audience is mess with origin and characterization. This is a really bad way to spend seven bucks. Save it and hope the Superman novel is both on time and better than this.

Rating:

- What the heck were they thinking???
Ok. Kyle was the GL in the DC Comic book world for a long time. He took over for Hal Jordan who decided to take a long needed vacation (ok, he went crazy and killed a whole bunch of people but hey, my version sounds more real then what this novel did).

This novel in one word sucked. It bastardized the entire origin of Kyle Rayner and how he became a Green Lantern. It destroyed what happened to Coast City and how it tied into Superman. It made the Atom seem like a pain in the tucas and the only character that was written correcly was Batman.

Hal is in this but not in a good way. Kyle is in this and it too is not in a good way. When did Kyle ever call Ganthet "Gandy"? And why in the heck did the other Oan's want to remake the universe...wasn't that Hal's job when he became Parallax???

In a nut shell if you like Green Lanter, any version of the character, read the comics and put this book down. There are much better novels out there to read.

Rating:

- Storyline contradictions notwithstanding, a solid read
Well, I was anxious to get this book... in 2003 when it was supposed to be released. A lengthy couple of years and my enthusiasm turned slightly into dread that it would never come out. Finally, it made it past whatever hurdles had so delayed it.

I confess that I was a fan of Green Lantern in my youth, and I am woefully ignorant of the current setting. Thus, while some other reviewers have noted the severe divergences from the comic story, I cannot provide that (much like how some people love movies based on books when they haven't read them, but the people who have read the book are outraged at alterations -- I am typically among the latter by the way).

The book does a fairly good job of telling the story of how a young man inexplicably and randomly ends up with a Green Lantern ring and the immense power it gives its wearer. Kyle is a down and out artist with no confidence and no luck. He gets the ring in a back alley after losing out on pursuing a girl, and life takes a big turn from there.

He gradually learns how to use the ring somewhat subconsciously or from the ring itself, or so it would seem (the actual mechanism is a bit iffier but is explained). He meets up with the Justice League and pretty quickly falls into their poor graces by being a typical flaky young man with personal concerns and no desire to be a hero. When the Justice League disappears mysteriously, save for Kyle and Batman, Kyle is tasked with the quest to recover them. What follows is some outlandish coincidences that affects the very nature of reality and all the beings living in it, which only Kyle and a couple alien helpers to save.

The characterization is good, and the book flies by. I was left wanting a bit more, as Kyle essentially becomes a new man after his hero quest. While this is not the best of the JLA books, it is a decent read, at least for those like me who have not kept up with the comics for over a decade.

Rating:

- "...every plot line shall escape his sight...."
This is the first time I've ever felt so strongly about a book that I decided to write a review.
I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this book for well over a year. I'm a huge Justice League fan, with a big-green-boxing-glove-sized emphasis on Green Lantern... any incarnation. Like many others from my... "generation" I've found myself relating more to Kyle Rayner's point of view far more than, say, Hal Jordan or John Stewart. Like Kyle, I'm a single, twenty-something, devilishly handsome fellow who is charged with ensuring safety and harmony.... (now if my fire chief hears I just compared him to the Guardians of Oa...)
As a result of my love of Green Lantern mythos... I find this book to be a slap in the face. It was in interesting book, truthfully. When it comes down to it, I really am not a fan of Elseworlds comics or any sort of alternate reality book. What drew me into Green Lantern originally were the first few issues of Kyle as GL... (around #47 or so, I think.) The tragedy he endures within the first few issues, in my opinion, really shaped him as a tragic hero. All the women in his life... Alex, Donna, even his MOTHER, for God's sake... all meet some terrifying and horrific end. Yet, he endures. He began as a timid and unsure hero... and by the fifth issue of Green Lantern: Rebirth... he has become a true, noble, proud, and heroic Green Lantern.
Having his entire origin toyed with arbitrarily... is unnecessary, to say the least. There are so many stories about Kyle that Denny O'Neil could've told. I really enjoyed the other mass-markets he's written... he apparently has never felt the need to re-invent a superhero to his liking before... why do it now?
Without the tragic sense of loss that Kyle experienced when he first became Green Lantern... he is an aimless hero. Denny definitely nailed that on the head when he wrote this. Kyle flies around for a while, then gets bored and eats pizza and goes to sleep. In space. In his apartment. On Oa. I'm surprised he didn't crash at the Watchtower. Or into the Watchtower, for that matter. He should've done it in the first chapter... it would've saved me a lot of extra reading.
For the sake of series completion, I'm keeping this book. But if I had to do it again, I wouldn't have bought this emerald pile of Ch'p dung.
Nothing will ever ruin Green Lantern for me... not this book, not the back-burner treatment Kyle will doubtlessly undergo after the return of Hal Jordan... but this novel definitely is a push toward that direction.
So in closing... if you feel that the origin of Kyle Rayner is important to his character... don't bother with this. The entire affair becomes a trivialized "dream" that scores about two paragraphs of the book. If you like it, then good for you. It's just not my personal cup of tea.
Dennis, if you're reading this... I have an idea for your next novel. Re-invent Batman thus:
1.) Bruce Wayne's parents are attacked by a mugger in Crime Alley.
2.) The mugger gets bored and goes to a bar, leaving Thomas and Martha and wander along home happily.
3.) Bruce grows up and begins training his body and mind to become a paragon of human development.
4.) Bruce gets into acting for a while, then becomes the Governor of California.
5.) Bruce gets bored and naps for a while.
Sound good? Because that's what you just did to Green Lantern, my friend. :)

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