For my first review column, I have decided to take a look at Green
Lantern #98. Credits are owed to writer Ron Marz, penciler Darryl Banks,
inker Terry Austin and editor Kevin Dooley. This issue begins the
"Future Shock!" storyline, in which Kyle Rayner, after the conclusion
of his battle with Darkseid's bastard Grayven, in the previous issue,
has found himself transported to the 30th Century where he now teams
up with the Legion of Super Heroes.
From the outset, let me point out that I have never read a Legion book,
other than the 1987 Cosmic Boy mini-series that I own. My familiarity
with these characters is close to nothing. Having spoken with people
who are Legion fans, I have heard mixed reviews. Some feel that Marz
has about as much a grasp on these characters as I just admitted to.
Others feel that he did an acceptable job, but that his portrayal of
XS's forwardness toward Kyle is out of character. Still others have
said that Marz is dead on with his characterization of the group. I
always find it amazing that numerous people can read the same book
and come away with views completely opposite from one another. Since
I can't give an educated opinion on the subject, I can only recommend
that you read the book for yourself, in order to decide whether or not
Marz has captured the Legion correctly.
Putting the Legion of Super Heroes aside for a moment, I should start
this review by giving the reader some background in my relationship
with the Green Lantern title. Much of my spare change this past couple
of years has been spent on completing my run of the entire 1960-1998
series. Currently, I am missing only 28 of its issues. The pride of
my comic collection is a VF+++ copy of GL#1 (1960) and my oldest comic
is GL#6 (1943). Needless to say, Hal Jordan is, and probably always
will be, my favorite comic character. When the decision was made to
bring Kyle Rayner into the Green Lantern role, I felt strongly that
Kevin Dooley had missed what was really wrong with the title. It was
not, as claimed at the time, that Hal Jordan had grown stale, but rather
that the writer, Gerard Jones, had lost his enthusiasm for writing the
book. After four years, I still feel that way. Interest in Jordan has
not been lost: evidenced by the fact that he is still the most talked
about "dead" character in all of comicdom.
Since issue #48, I have watched as Ron Marz and Kevin Dooley have made
a complete mess of the Green Lantern mythos, destroying everything that
made the character's concept unique. Whereas he used to be a part
of something cosmic, he is now just a guy with a cool ring. I would
very much like to see a complete turn over in staff on this title.
With all that said, I do not think that Ron Marz is the anti-christ
that many of the more vocal Hal Jordan fans seem to feel he is. In
all honesty, I found much of the latter half of Gerard Jones' run on
the title difficult to read. As I said earlier, Jones had lost
enthusiasm for writing the book and it clearly showed. When Marz
began his run, the stories were readable again. Even though I hated
the direction the title was going and Kyle's characterization annoyed
me to no end, the book wasn't painful to read anymore. Do not
misunderstand me, I think Marz needs a lot of help as a comic writer.
He appears to not have any faith in the strength of his own title
character, so he subjects us to a never ending amount of team-up
issues. I have often said that they should just rename the title
"Green Lantern Team-Up." I really want to like Kyle, because it is
hard to have a book you read every month feature a character you that
you don't like, but this writer has seemed scared to give us that
chance. What little we have seen of the real Kyle Rayner has
consisted of him complaining about his insecurity toward being a
super hero. I have always felt that if Marz would take the time
to be introspective with the character, I would grow to appreciate
Kyle. Now, on the 4th anniversary of Ron Marz's first issue, it
seems that the readers are finally being given that chance.
I'm not sure if the run toward issue #100 has rejuvenated Marz's
interest in Kyle and the classic GLC mythos, but starting with
last issue, it does appear that his writing has come alive. Issue
#97 gave us an excellent mixture of action and introspection as
Kyle fought Grayven and dealt with his on and off again relationship
with Donna Troy. #97 instantly became one of my favorite issues that
Marz has written. With #98, this tide of good writing continues.
While he does fall back on his team-up format, Marz has not
forgotten who the star of this book is. Unlike past team-ups,
the Legion is used primarily as backdrop characters. They bring
Kyle up to date on the events leading up to the current crisis.
It is a crisis involving the mysterious emergence of an evil Green
Lantern Corps on the scene. Apprently, this new GLC
had first appeared as heroes upholding the Green Lantern legacy,
but soon showed their true colors by becoming international thieves.
Among the stolen items are priceless antiques such as Dr. Fate's
helmet, Aquaman's hook and Steel's Hammer. (see page 20 of the book.)
Their latest heist has been the theft of a famous sculpture from
the Louvre. From there, Kyle pretty much takes charge. He leads a
group of Legionaries to the former location of the planet Oa, in
order to figure out what this new Green Lantern Corps actually is.
One has to hope that the re-introduction of the Green Lantern Corps
in any form is some sign that Ron Marz and Kevin Dooley have
realized that a large number of readers do want to see the Corps
back. I realize that this version is not exactly the one I have
been waiting for, and after this story arc ends, we might not ever
see them again. I have to be content with what might be a start.
The cliffhanger of the issue, which is, in my opinion, the best
cliffhanger Marz has written yet, gives us hope that the Corps
will return. Knowing that Ganthet, the last Guardian, is still
around makes a future Corps all the more possible. Furthering
this idea is the fact that the default uniform in Kyle's ring does
appear to be that of the traditional Green Lantern style. It was
nice to not only see it again, but to see it being worn by a brand
new character named Cary Wren, who first appeared in last issue's
cliffhanger.
The other plot thread running through this issue was that of Kyle
being informed by the Legionaries that there was no record of his
ever having been Green Lantern. Leaving a legacy of some sort is
important to must of us, and Kyle is no exception. Kyle takes
the news of his absent record hard. However, if the origins' of
both the stolen Sculpture from the Louvre and that of Cary Wren
pan out as I suspect, Kyle may end up learning that the legacies
which are really important are those which do not necessarily
bring us notoriety.
Green Lantern, as a concept, is something which I hold dear to
my heart. At times I can get very protective over elements of
the series. Still, I am willing to accept that change must
occur in any story and Kyle Rayner has been part of that change.
Yet with Ron Marz now tempting us with elements from the past,
I can't help but long for the permanent restoration of certain
aspects. I just hope that as we reach issue #100 and the stories
beyond, that Mr. Marz lives up to the promise he has shown in
these last two issues and doesnt suddenly revert to his old
ways. I wouldn't want more damage done to the GL mythos than
has already occurred. At least for now, I am willing to give
both him and the magazine the benefit of the doubt.
