JP On Gaming

Monday, June 15, 2020

[Kinda Book Report] Showcase Green Lantern #1

I don't know why but I have been interested in reading some Green Lantern comics recently. As such, I ordered myself the Showcase GL #1. This is a series that takes classic DC comics from the 50s and 60s and give you 500 pages of material on course newspaper with black and white art. I read a few Superman and Teen Titans from that series.

After reading the Superman title (which caused a lot of eye-rolls) and the Teen Titans (one which sucked and one that was fine), I did not expect much from this title.

However, while the stories are clearly in a similar style where the hero is more like a paternal figure than someone with real problems they have to deal with. The morality is simple and manicchean, with the bad guys wanting to be evil.

It is little surprise that Sinestro, the rogue green lantern, is introduced in this book. He makes ever-more machiavelian and convoluted plans to capture or kill Hal Jordan.

From his personal life, Hal Jordan does get the girl, but he keeps getting interupted and has to run. And Carol, the love interest, waffles between Hal and Green Lantern not knowing they are one and the same.

I found this book to be the most enjoyable of the Showcase series I read thus far. Some stories raising some definite eyebrows and piquing my interest more than others. The 57th century storyline where they pluck GL from the 20th century and name him Dictator of Earth so he can clean up problems was interesting. The Qwardian plot where evil is good and good is evil is convoluted but did not really detract. We are dealing with superhero-logic.

Rating? I hesitate between a 3 and a 4. It is not a 4, so I have to fall back onto a 3/5, which sounds right. This was good, but not great.

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