Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Doug Mahnke
Inkers: Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin, and Tom Nguyen
Colourist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Previously, in Green Lantern: The Indigo Tribe have been revealed as brainwashed killers, forcibly rehabilitated by Abin Sur before his death. Hal Jordan and Sinestro find themselves on Nok, the homeworld of the Indigo Tribe. Deep in the jungles of Nok, Hal discovered Natromo, an old friend of Abin Sur’s and one of the founders of the Indigo tribe.

When Hal told Natromo that the Blackest Night had taken place and that the heroes of the universe had prevailed, Natromo saw no reason for the Indigo tribe to continue their existence, and shut down the central power battery. This freed all of the Indigo tribe for the influence of their rings, including Hal’s old foe and the instigator of the Blackest Night, Black Hand!

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Whilst there’s nothing wrong with Hal Jordan and Sinestro as characters (Indeed, there’s a lot right with them, which I’ll get to in a minute), the main character of the Green Lantern title, at least for me, has been the mythos itself. Since Geoff Johns started building up the different coloured Corps of Lanterns, and the Emotional Spectrum as a whole, the storylines in Green Lantern have taken an interesting tone that always keeps me wanting more. The first arc of the New 52 relaunch moved away from this approach, which had me worried for a while. Luckily I was still getting my fix of coloured Corps over in Green Lantern: New Guardians, but I wanted more from the main man himself. The Secret of the Indigo Tribe arc, as well as the upcoming Revenge of Black Hand arc, looks to reward my patience, and the patience of other readers in the same boat as I am.

This issue deals with the aftermath of the Indigo Tribe being freed from their rings, as they pursue Hal and Sinestro across Nok, whilst they try to restore the Indigo central power battery. There’s a fantastic exchange between Hal and Sinestro during this section of the book that shows how much Sinestro has grown, and this is compounded by a later scene in which Hal has to decide whether to vouch for Sinestro or not. Johns has worked hard with both Hal and Sinestro over the course of his tenure on this title, and continues to take them to new and interesting places – the evolving relationship between the two is the heart of this title, now more than ever.

The final few pages of this issue deserve a mention, because something happens here that I didn’t expect to happen again. Without spoiling it, the fate of Black Hand is addressed and this cliffhanger will segue directly into the next arc, aptly titled the Revenge of Black Hand. Under Johns’ pen, Black Hand has become a force to be reckoned with before, and given what happened the first time (Hello, Blackest Night), I can’t wait to see where we’re going from here.

Doug Mahnke’s pencils on this issue are fantastic, as usual. The convoluted panels in which the Indigo Tribe chase our protagonists are suitably crazy, but not to the point where details become blurred. The emotions between Hal and Sinestro are well communicated, as are those felt during the scene involving Iroque/Indigo-1, and the final few scenes are absolutely chilling. While Mahnke can struggle with more human looking characters, when he’s drawing aliens and death-crazed madmen, he is truly in his element.

So the Secret of the Indigo Tribe is out, and the Revenge of Black Hand is getting ready to begin. With another arc in the bag, Geoff Johns has secured Green Lantern once again as the primary cosmic book on the market at the moment. With unexpected reveals even this late in the storyline, plus some truly well done character progression for our two heroes (If you can call Sinestro that?), this arc has been a complete turnaround from the sometimes slow paced opening arc. Welcome back to the top, Green Lantern.

GO Rating: 4/5

[Images Via ComicBookResources]