The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman by Grant Morrison

details
Title: The Green Lantern.
Story-Arc: Intergalactic Lawman.
Volume: 1.
Writer(s): Grant Morrison.
Penciller(s): Liam Sharp.
Colourist(s): Steve Oliff.
Letterer(s): Tom Orzechowski & Steve Wands.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Hardcover.
Release Date: July 16th 2019.
Pages: 176.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781401291396.
My Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆.

thoughts

What would you do if your imagination was allowed to take over and write a story with nothing restricting you from exploring the darkest corners of the universe? Within the Green Lantern Corps, the heroes go up against all kinds of ill-intentioned beings but remain bound by rules that assure the safety of the galaxy and their own sanity. At the heart of it are Green Lanterns with various backgrounds and unique personalities who face countless dilemmas, often very complex and difficult to solve. After so many years, legendary writer Grant Morrison, with the help of artist Liam Sharp, explore the Green Lantern’s universe to present fans with an authentic new series that draws upon the character’s rich history while focusing on the Corps’ space investigative duties.

What is The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman about? Collecting The Green Lantern #1-6, writer Grant Morrison revisits the Emerald Crusader’s lore by focusing on his role as a space cop within the DC universe. Upon learning the existence of a traitor within the Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern Hal Jordan channels his inner spy skills to identify the culprit and put an end to the evolving conspiracy before the Corps crumbles at its foundation. While his plate is full with a new villain afoot, parallel problems of epic scale surge into his sector, including the disappearance of Earth. It is only by breaking the law that the space cop can find a way to save the world from its demise and it is a decision that no Lantern has ever had to make before.

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There’s nothing simple with writer Grant Morrison. His ideas are larger than life and often metaphysical in nature. He doesn’t content himself with anything that has already been done and always does his research before giving his heroes a new mission to take on. In this case, he looks back at the older Green Lantern stories to incorporate and rejuvenate the hero today. Where the story took a big hit is in its verbosity and the lack of cohesion between each sub-plot and each issue. While the artwork helps visualize the spectacular universe in which unfolds writer Grant Morrison’s story, it often feels like the reader is tossed in a melting pot and left to fight their way out of it on their own. The purpose of some of his ideas, while intriguing, are sometimes also dissolved in the grand scheme of things, making it seem like there was too much that wanted to be said in too little space.

To capture the insanity of Grant Morrison’s mind, artist Liam Sharp tailors an impressive and stunning visual style that couldn’t have been done better. His character designs also do justice to all the disturbing creatures in the galaxy, including some of the most original Green Lantern members that have rarely been seen before—including one who has a continuously erupting volcano as a head. There’s also a strange alien body design that is utilized for any humanoid that works wonderfully with the world in which the Green Lanterns patrol. The panel structure used throughout the story arc is also sporadic, extravagant and unique, allowing the story to take on the signature psychedelic tone that comes with projects with writer Grant Morrison.

The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman is a hallucinogenic and intergalactic police procedural, slightly too convoluted to allow the plot to seduce the reader as much as the exquisite artwork does.

EXHIBITA

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Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!

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23 comments

  • The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman by Grant Morrison — Bookidote – Blunimation

  • My first run in with Green Lantern was with the Ryan “Deadpool” Reynolds movie. And honestly I’m in the minority, but I enjoyed that film. Other than that I know very little about this character. Seems this series is both a nice stepping on point, and at the same time it isn’t becuase of some of the stories that seem to, as you say, throw you into a melting pot. That said…a character with a continuously erupting volcano as a head, and pretty cool art seems to make it something that is still worth checking out. Awesome post again! 😊😊

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hahah you are indeed in the minority. I actually reviewed that during your absence too, after forcing myself a re-watch to refresh my memory of why it works/doesn’t work! 😂 He’s probably one of DC’s most versatile hero, with the lanterns composing all the colours of the spectrum and each representing an emotion. DC royally messed up with the Reynolds movie and hopefully their next attempt will be much more successful. This wasn’t that bad but as usual, with Morrison, he either nails the convoluted storytelling or flails. Thank you, my friend! 😁

      Liked by 1 person

      • Lol: well I definitely know that. Perhaps because I am not that familiair with the character is the reason I didn’t have so much problems with the film😉😊 But let’s hope that the eventual reboot will be better😅😂

        Liked by 1 person

  • Well 3 stars is what I rated the movie ….I guess this plot and hero is hard to feature properly Lashaan!

    Liked by 1 person

  • Your reviews are always so engaging. Even if I’m not a fan of the comic/ character, I feel the need to read it/ investigate it.
    I just finished watching the Umbrella Academy. I’d be interested to see how you think it compares to the written form. The series was definitely interesting, even if with some weird plot holes/ lazy writing.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I truly appreciate the kind words. Even if it doesn’t bring you to pick up the book, it’s always a pleasure to know that it still intrigued you one way or not. 😁

      Sweet! I’m waiting for volume 3 to come this September before tackling the show. I’ll definitely try and share my thoughts on season 1 as soon as I’m done! 😁

      Liked by 1 person

  • Another wonderfully descriptive write-up my friend! I do plan to eventually check this new Green Lantern run out, I’m just a little hesitant as I’m not a huge fan of Grant Morrison (and it sounds like his ideas are as imaginatively messy and mind-bending as usual here) although I’m always willing to give him a chance. It does sound interesting though, I still feel the gold standard for GL is the Geoff Johns run (Robert Venditti’s subsequent run was pretty good as well)…think I’ll wait for a digital sale/price drop on this one!

    Liked by 1 person

  • I’m glad you enjoyed this one for the most part 🙂 I’m not a big Green Lantern fan and know very little about it other than the Ryan Reynolds movie, which everyone loves to ridicule (including him XD) so I’m not sure what the comics are like, to be honest! This was a great starting point, though, and I feel like I could try and get into it one day, especially because the artwork is so awesome! You made it clear the writing isn’t as brilliant but oh well.
    Amazing review, Lashaan!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hahahah it’s actually a good thing that it is your own knowledge of the character. That way, when they actually reboot the character on the big screen, you’ll be SUPER impressed by how original the character actually is. Assuming that you give it a shot, of course hahah If there’s a Green Lantern series that is worth checking out to discover the character, it’s the one written by Geoff Johns. It’s the gold standard of the hero’s story. 😀

      Thank you for reading, Sophie! Truly appreciate it. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  • THE EARTH DISAPPEARS?! Hahaha that is so funny. What a wonderful plot for Green Lantern…. 😀 Great review Lashaan!

    I love that you talk about the “panel structure” I just call it frames… but not many (any?!) mention it when it comes to comics. I find when the panel structure is different and not so typical that it really gives a comic energy and flow (for the most part). I also love when the art suits what the artist is drawing. I guess I find American comics have a bit of a disconnect between the writing and the art. I find I feel that way at times with manga and found later that the mangaka wasn’t both the writer and the artist.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hahahah I’ve seen that happen before and it was actually the premise of a Superman story. 😛 This time around, it’s just one event among others within the same storyarc hahah 😛

      I think in comics, the term is usually “panels” so I stuck with it hahah And I agree. When it breaks the whole traditional 6-9 square structure, it gives the story a very nice flow. However, there are some classics that do those 6-9 square structure really well and deliver amazing stories with it. Hahahah I too once thought that the mangaka was the writer and artist all the time. I knew for sure when I found out ONE (the writer of One Punch Man) was definitely not the artist behind the popular series right now! 😛

      Like

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