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GREEN LANTERN: BRIGHTEST DAY; BLACKEST NIGHT
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Steven T. Seagle
Artist: John K. Snyder III
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Dan Raspler
Price: $5.95 US/$9.95 CAN |
I'm a sucker for DC's Golden Age characters; have been ever since I read Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron #1 in the early 1980s. So when DC releases a prestige-format book featuring one or more of those entertaining, colorful figures, chances are I'm the sort of target audience they have in mind. Seagle seems to try to capture the simplicity and innocence of Golden Age storytelling here with the darker, more mature atmosphere of today, but he doesn't quite hit his mark.
In the midst of the Second World War, Nazis hijack an airplane bound for Gotham City, a plane carrying a top-secret government cargo -- and its inventor -- that could change the course of the war. Not a bad plan... had they landed the plane somewhere other than Slaughter Swamp. Something monstrous and angry lurks in the swamp, and heroes, villains and forces of nature collide in a three-sided battle that puts the original Green Lantern to the ultimate test.
The greatest strength of this book is the art. Snyder's hazy, haunted visuals suits the murky quality of the Slaughter Swamp setting. As the book's title suggests, light and darkness are recurring motifs here, and Snyder conveys those visual themes with his textured and twisted painted artwork. His organic approach to Solomon Grundy coupled with his angular take on Alan Scott makes for some striking visuals. In fact, one could argue that this book is better when simply looking at the art rather than reading the story.
I think the problem here is that Seagle, in his attempt to explore this classic character, is torn between his simple beginnings and a deeper examination of what makes him tick. The plot isn't terribly sophisticated, and that simpler tone conflicts with the reflective tone of the narration, presented in the title character's voice. Ultimately, I don't feel I know Alan Scott any better.
Don't get me wrong... this is a fun adventure intended to take one back decades in comics storytelling. Seagle retells the first encounter between Green Lantern and one of his arch-enemies. Did it merit the prestige-format treatment? Well, the painted artwork certainly deserves the higher grade of paper, that's for sure. But the story itself -- which brings with it the weaknesses of Golden Age storytelling along with the strengths -- doesn't.
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