This issue brings the tragic origin of Alan Scott as the Green Lantern, and he’s not entirely the same hero he used to be. Writer James Robinson expands this second Earth to introduce more familiar faces, as well as some familiar concepts that are a pretty big focus of a couple other of DC’s critically acclaimed, currently ongoing series.

Does this issue stand up against the two that came previously? Read on for my review!

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Now, the focus of this issue is Alan Scott’s origin as Green Lantern, but it’s not only that. What makes this issue’s context stand out is that he’s been made out to be the Earth-2 avatar of The Green, like the Swamp Thing. It’s a rather unexpected element to the story but I think it’s one that adds another level of intrigue, and it goes again with Robinson kind of retelling the major events of the main DCU in his alternate Earth. This especially seems true when we see that the villain that his version of the Justice Society will be facing will be Solomon Grundy, acting as the avatar of Earth-2’s version of The Rot, which is called The Grey (probably a reference back to Mark Millar’s run on Swamp Thing).

Elsewhere, we see Jay Garrick and how his encounter with Hawkgirl is panning out. Through these scenes, Robinson teases at the forming of a new team, and he also teases at larger ongoings in this world which we’ve yet have yet to be seen. Hawkgirl acts almost like a recruiter and trainer for Garrick, as he’s a rookie hero at the moment, and I say the former because it seems as if Robinson is using her to bring together a new group of powered beings to take on the oncoming threat—The Grey—turning everything to rot and decay, not unlike the current ongoings over in Animal Man and Swamp Thing. 

However, despite the very interesting story that Robinson is spinning here, as well as the new interpretations of these characters that he’s bringing forth, a lot of the dialogue in the issue is rather choppy. This is seen especially in the scenes of Alan Scott’s transformation into the Green Lantern, where not only does the light that saves him introduce itself as a poorly executed Deus Ex Machina, but it’s dialogue with Scott comes off as odd. On top of that, an issue that I had with the second issue of the series comes back to kick me where it hurts. I expressed that I didn’t care for the fact that Robinson introduced Alan Scott’s lover just to kill him right off the bat, but I wasn’t exactly sure whether or not the character had died or not. This issue confirms his fate, which did leave a bad taste in my mouth, but I have to say that at least Robinson uses the death as a bit of a driving force behind Alan Scott as he goes forth as Earth’s newest hero. 

Overall, it was a solid issue of the series, but there were definitely flaws, not only with the writing but in the way parts of the story is told. I don’t believe that makes me like the title any less, but I do hope that Robinson’s dialogue improves in the coming issues, especially since I’m pretty impressed and interested in the way the series is heading. 

GO Rating: 3.5/5

[Intro image via]