Books : Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear

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- The magic is Green !
Hal Jordan's return to the DC universe continues in style. This helps to build the foundation for all that is to come.

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- tough heroes do fly
After the events of "rebirth" I wonder how jordan will fit in his new life and in his new status into the corps. In "no fear" , geoff johns gave me the answers and jumped all the tricks with this wondrous story. Jordan's old foes are here: Black hand, Manhunters, The Shark... Pencillers,inkers and colorists show their habilities and the hard cover is excellent.
"No Fear" is certainly one of green lantern's most exciting books, and one of his best too.

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- "No evil shall escape his sight..."
You've got to hand it to Geoff Johns. The fan favorite superhero writer has managed to sucessfully weave superb stories during his runs on the Flash, JSA, and his DC Universe shattering Infinite Crisis. However, there's something about his relaunch of Green Lantern that just stands head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. After the events of Green Lantern: Rebirth, silver-age GL Hal Jordan has been resurrected and restored as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, with fellow GL John Stewart in the JLA, and fellow GL's Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and Kilowog in space training new recruits. Now that Hal is back, Johns retraces his silver-age origins from when he is first bestowed with the ring, to the present day as he is once again an air force pilot trying to reclaim the life that he had lost. No Fear begins with Hal on the trail of a murderous renegade Manhunter, and seeks out information from long time adversary Hector Hammond. There's plenty of other appearances from the GL rogue gallery as well, and Johns' wonderfully done homages to the GL stories of yesteryear are magnificent, and Johns wonderfully sets the stage for following events as well here. Featuring artwork by a list of greats: Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver, Darwyn Cooke; No Fear is an excellent re-launching of the new ongoing Green Lantern series, and an even more excellent return of one of the most iconic figures of the DC Universe.

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- Green Lantern Soars the Spaceways Again!
GREEN LANTERN: NO FEAR is far less technically ambitious than its predecessor, REBIRTH. The previous novel in the "new" adventures of Hal Jordan basically had to re-invent the character and discard a decade and more of maltreatment of the character, in my opinion.

However, that said, NO FEAR offers a lot in the way of great character building. Geoff Johns's first graphic novel in the Green Lantern saga was all about getting back to the basics and skewering missed approaches to Hal Jordan. This volume reintroduces Hal Jordan and Green Lantern to the world as a human being and a hero. It's about history and family, about dreams and responsibilities, and the fact that there's precious little wiggle room for anybody trying to balance all those things and live a good life.

I especially loved the first story. The art by Darwyn Cooke was amazingly simple and really underscored the light but deep tale as Hal remembered his relationship with his test pilot father. The fact that Hal and Kyle Rayner (the latest Green Lantern, and the character that really split the polls on favorite Green Lanterns) are shown together and we get a sense of how that relationship is going. Johns could have totally blown off the Rayner character, but he chose to embrace him in the series to offer the readers the best of both possible worlds.

From there, the stories move into more Green Lantern history with the threat of a Manhunter, the androids created by the Guardians to police the spaceways before they created the Green Lantern Corps. The art is pretty cool, shows lots of action, and allows a great pacing for Johns's story.

I enjoyed the sequences with Hal's brother a lot too. Johns seems intent on advancing stories as much as he is on introducing back stories that we hadn't before seen. The story of why Hal got dishonorably discharged from the United States Air Force was especially emotionally compelling.

Johns also broadens his current Green Lantern universe by bringing in other old enemies: Hector Hammond and Black Hand. Both of those characters are far creepier and more dangerous than we've ever seen them before.

I have to admit that the scene where Hal pounded away at Hector Hammond when the man couldn't defend himself made me uncomfortable. On one level, I understood it because Hammond had used his mind-probing powers to assault Green Lantern, but it still just didn't seem like something Hal would do.

This collection of stories was much lighter than the arc that ran through REBIRTH. Since I read them so close together, I'm glad there was such a difference. REBIRTH emotionally exhausted me, but NO FEAR was - mostly - a fun romp.

The scene where Hal busted General Stone in the mouth the way he had all those years ago, and the fact that that clue was what gave away Hal's secret identity as Green Lantern, was great. I think having a USAF general know that Hal and Green Lantern are the same guy can't be anything but beneficial. (You still have to wonder how Clark Kent can go missing all the time from the DAILY PLANET.)

I've got two more of the graphic novels lined up to read, and I'm really looking forward to them. Johns is making magic again, and it's fun to watch.

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