Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again! Folks, I have a problem: I keep buying comics. Digitally from Comixology, Physically from my local comic store, The number of trades and single issues combined total nearly 200; and I figured with all these comics I have, let's share what I've read. Welcome folks to Comic Casual, and in this first installment, we're covering Green Lantern: No Fear.
Green Lantern No Fear was written by Geoff Johns and art by Carlos Pancheo, Ethan Van Sciver, Simone, Bianchi, the late Darwyn Cooke and the cover of the whole thing by Alex Ross. This collects the first 6 issues of Johns' Green Lantern run. The story is about Hal Jordan putting his life together after coming back to life in Green Lantern Rebirth...which is a whole thing.
I honestly didn't know much about Hal Jordan (a recurring line you're going to see, I'm sure) outside of the animated movies he'll pop up in. If you were a kid in the early 2000's like me, then John Stewart was your Green Lantern growing up, except no substitutes. But I had an urge to read Green Lantern and when I looked it up, every online list I looked at pointed to Geoff Johns' run and after reading it...yeah, I can see why.
If you've never read anything about Hal Jordan, this is the ideal starting point. In No Fear, Geoff Johns gives you an idea of who Hal is and what motivates him, along with showing his supporting cast, and giving you a taste of the greater Green Lantern universe. The big recurring theme of these first few issues is starting over; and Johns does this beautifully by writing a parallel between Hal and the character's home of Coast City. Both were destroyed years ago (The city literally and Hal dying as previously mentioned) and are now in a process of being rebuilt.
GL faces 5 different villains throughout the trade. The two that stood out to me would be Hector Hammond and Black Hand. Black Hand is a villain who is obsessed with death and has the power to suck the life out of the living. So naturally, he wants to go after Hal, who came back from the dead. Hammond, paraphrasing the comic here, was a failed scientist who was struck by a meteor and evolved a million years turning into...
...This...
Part of what helped these two villains stand out is the art by Ethan Van Sciver who draws both these characters in the most grotesque way, especially later on when Black Hand is going on a mini killing spree. When I reached the end of the trade, there was definitely the feeling that these characters are going to become a recurring problem for Hal in later issues, which considering this leads to the Blackest Night Event, yeah, no kidding.
And speaking of art, the trade cover art by Alex Ross is just gorgeous. There's so many great little details in it, from the wind blowing through Hal's hair as he's flying through the skies, the wrinkles in his suit, the streak of light from his ring. This cover has a fantastic realistic look to it, and it really makes you want to find a poster of it and hang it on your wall.
Green Lantern: No Fear is a great introduction to the Hal Jordan character. It's one that I would recommend to anyone looking to get into Green Lantern. If you want my advice, I would probably seek out Green Lantern: Rebirth first just for context as to how Hal Jordan died and came back to life.
And with this folks, I am one comic down. Hopefully, by the end of 2018, I will have put a serious dent in my comic backlog and the number I have left to read will be down to the double digits. But considering I buy more than I finish, that's up for debate.
Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation: Take Care...
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