The Green Lantern #3 // Review
Ratcheting up the scale in every issue, Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp stoke the flames higher with this new chapter of the series. Originally explained as the everyday life of a space cop, Morrison, clearly holding his hand, proves to readers the high concepts he had in mind; pitting Hal Jordan in a fight with a space god. The unique vintage look and detailed level of artistry brought to the pages by Sharp launches this series head and shoulders above its predecessors.
After being stolen last issue, Earth waits in auction to a host of long standing Green Lantern villains. Hal Jordan and a slew of corps members crash the party in hopes of thwarting the sale, only to arrive too late. Selling to a new celestial being, The Shepherd, Earth accepts their new terrestrial overlord with open arms and complete naivety leaving Jordan to face down the cosmic enemy. After making a questionable judgment call, Hal closes this chapter with a jaw dropping cliffhanger.
The level of sheer sci-fi art of Liam Sharp is completely unmatched by any contemporaries on store shelves today. Oozing with an almost 2000 AD look and feel, the series has never looked better. Sharp’s signature pencil work grabs the grandiose nature of the series by the hand and never lets go, taking readers across the galaxy on an epic journey. Every single panel, down to the non existent negative space, is completely filled with stylized detail from the cover to the final page. Steve Oliff adds the beautiful gloss to the primer set by Sharp with his beautiful color work making every intricate page pop, the art alone could completely sell this soon to be quintessential run.
The ever enigmatic Grant Morrison continues his odyssey within Sector 2814, creating wakes in the series to be felt for years to come. Morrison working within the Lantern mythos has been a long time in the making, feeling like a completely perfect match for both writer and series. A splendid mixture between his affinity for the DC Universe as well as his time at British published 2000 AD, creates a Silver Age love letter for Hal Jordan in the same vein as All Star Superman was for the Man of Steel.
Morrison and Sharp display yet again the perfect symmetry they bring while working together. Creating an absolute must read title while being completely accessible for new readers, standing as yet another testament of the series and something predecessors failed to accomplish. With a minimum of two years ahead for this run, as confirmed by Morrison himself, an already unforgettable journey has only just begun.
