Some thoughts about Green Lantern #1

What happens once that Hal Jordan goes back to Earth?

After his long time in space, Hal has finally returned home and there's no better way but to reunite with her old lover, Carol Ferris. However, things have move on since he was gone and now he will have to find a way to fit in once again.

Is always good to have a classic superhero book back but what matters the most is the way how it returns. 

To be honest, when it was announced that Jeremy Adams was the one handling this book, I wasn't particularly excited about it. I haven't been a fan of his work on The Flash because all the good intentions in the world can't fix the underwhelming execution that I saw in a lot of his early issues of his run (and even some of the latter ones). Fortunately, it seems that most of the problems with the overwritten craft are gone... but that doesn't mean that there aren't any problems since there sadly are quite a few.

First of all, this is a back to basics beginning for Green Lantern and it makes sense for Hal to start right away in Coast City considering all the years (in real life) he spent in space and the issue itself opens fairly well with a rather strong sense of presentation. Not to mention that we see the return of classic characters like Carol who bring an interesting dynamic with Hal as well as other concepts that appear as antagonists.

So, what are the problems? Well, heavyhanded writing is gone but apparently Adams wanted to compensate that with something and that something is the characterization. Let's get this out of the way, Hal is annoying here, he acts like a complete immature asshole which is completely wrong considering all the stuff he had to deal with over the course of the years, is almost like he has regressed in terms of development, I could accept it if this was an origin story or so (and even then, this might be a bit much at times) but as it is, this is just off. 

Second problem is that, while this started solidly, it quickly went into the "average" camp with not a lot to be invested into aside from the relationship between Carol and Hal and the possible return of Sinestro. This is especially disappointing since the last prominent Hal story was Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern which really understood Hal and Green Lantern's core and created a lot of new stuff for them. Again, it makes sense to make Hal go back to Earth but I wish there was a more interesting story behind.

Xermanico's art is pretty good though, beautiful characters, vibrant style and clear storytelling.

Funnily enough, the second story written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson focusing on John Stewart was much more engaging. John also returns but there are alternate realities ideas brought into the story and creates a much more intriguing set-up. Montos' artwork is solid, not as vibrant as Xermanico's but it has an interessting rough style.

So yeah, not particularly invested in the main feature. Let's see how it continues though.