The Spectrum Grows

It’s interesting to me how this book plays on. On the one hand, this was exactly what I was looking for from Absolute Green Lantern, a book that clearly establishes deeper consequences for the new version of the Spectrum of Light than the first volume introduced, along with illustrating all the many and varied ways that this universe has diverged (sometimes drastically) from the Prime universe. This book makes it clear that there are big consequences for the shift of spectrum in the Absolute Universe, and that we shouldn’t expect stories that are at all similar to what we’ve known from Green LanternMade up of aliens from sectors scross space, the Green Lantern Corp. defends the universe against threats with the power of the Green Light of Willpower. (unlike in, say, Absolute Batman). So I really like that.

But at the same time, the meat of this book is kind of forgettable. It starts off well, with a solid intro that shoves us deeper into this new world and illustrates clearly who the villains of the greater conflict will be. We get familiar faces in new guises, we get a lot of carnage as everything we think we know is thrown out the window. But then the story moves back to Sojourner Mullein and while I absolutely don’t hate her as a character, and I actually think she’s probably the best part of the main story, what happens around her really doesn’t move the needle very far and it all kind of feels like padding for what comes next.

And it’s weird because it’s not as if the issue lacks action. We get some relationship moments between Jo and her ex, Cameron Chase. We have a couple of solid action moments. There’s a big monster that attacks at one point. It all is quite momentous on the page, but once you get to the end of it the story itself felt rather hollow. We were promised a giant, galactic level threat from the various factions of the spectrum, but our story is stuck here on Earth. We need to really rise up if Absolute Green Lantern is going to meet its potential and, outside the first issue of this second volume, it has yet to do that for me.

The first issue, though, is fantastic. We are introduced to a world with three Green Lantern acolytes. They work to protect their planet and keep everyone safe. Unfortunately agents of the Black Stars, specifically Kilowog and the planet destroyer Mogo, arrive on the scene. They kill the three Green Lanterns, and then blow up the planet, but they aren’t given time to celebrate as the Red Lantern Tomar Re shows up and kills Kilowog, turning him into a literal meat cube. Tomar leaves the scene, but not before Sinestro, leader of the Black Stars, vows to get his revenge for his fallen comrade as he works to eliminate the rest of the spectrum from the universe.

We then bounce back to Earth where Jo is reconnecting with her ex, Cameron, while Hal Jordan (formerly a Black Hand anomaly) is stuck in a coma on Cameron’s couch. Upon seeing the green ring, and learning the threat everyone is under, Cameron goes off to investigate, but that’s when we learn that her boss at the Department of Extranormal Operations is actually a double agent working for Hector Hammond, and Hammond is very interested in the Lanterns, Jo, and all the weird crap that’s going on. He wants Jo dead, Hammond wants the ring, and Jo may soon have to run again as danger comes at her from all sides.

I loved the first issue of this second volume. The whole space battle between the Green Lanterns and the Black Stars was thrilling, in no small part because we got to see all these characters we thought of as heroes acting as villains. We expect it from Sinestro, but not from Kilowog or Mogo. That’s the kind of reinvention I like, playing against expectations to keep us off balance and wondering what comes next. That issue shows the true potential of Absolute Green Lantern and I want more of it.

It is, unfortunately, a bad intro to the rest of the volume because, outside of the last couple of pages of the whole book, the events from the first issue aren’t referenced again in the main story. It’s a great single issue that makes you crave more, but then we get stuck back on Earth with Jo trying to work through the basics of the story and I was really wishing we could get back to the good stuff.

Not that everything in the book was bad. There’s a pretty solid backstory issue that shows us Jo’s life from her early days as a kid through to when she became a cop, when she quit the force, when she moved to the city, and then why she moved back. It really helps to flesh out her character and make you care more about Jo. I liked this part of the story and could read this issue again on its own. I do wish it had come earlier in the overall narrative because we needed this kind of hook to care about Jo in the first volume, not the second, but still, it’s a worthy piece of writing.

I think the issue I’m having is that Hammond as a villain feels so mundane, not just in the context of this story, or the space adventures going on just around the corner, but also in the context of the larger Absolute Universe. Superman is battling Lazarus for the fate of the world. Batman is dealing with multiple arks all around the world causing all kinds of damage. Wonder Woman is fighting against the wishes of the gods. And then here’s Hammond, sending a black goo monster after Jo. It feels so insignificant in comparison to what Jo should be battling.

And that’s the thing we can clearly see already: Jo is capable of much more. She’s good with the ring, she has the willpower to handle it, and she has a solid set of allies developing around her. Even before Tomar Re re-enters the scene (as you’d expect him to from his introduction in the first intro) you get the vibe that Jo could take on Sinestro’s Black Stars Corp. and do a handy job against them. This black goo monster that Hammond sends after Jo and her allies feels like so much filler. It’s there so the book can say, “hey, Hammond is someone to watch…” except it never really feels like he should be. He’s a rich industrialist, and we already have one of those over in Absolute Superman who is way more interesting.

So yeah, I’d say the biggest issue with this book right now is that it’s squandering its potential as it slow-rolls the story we really want to read. I’m at least more interested in the adventure this time around than I was at the end of the first volume, but I can’t shake the vibe that Absolute Green Lantern is holding back right when it should be taking flight. Maybe book three will finally kick this adventure in gear. It has to be more interesting than what we’ve been getting so far.