TITLE: Prodigal Son

Summary

The story opens with a prologue following the progress of the Qwardians, the anti-matter parallel equivalent of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and their attempt at creating a yellow power ring.

The story then cuts over to the Green Lantern, facing off against the new and improved Manhunters. The Manhunters grabbed Kyle from his home in the previous issue, and transported him to their base at the edge of the galaxy. Kyle has been infected with some sort of techno-virus, and looks like a recruit for the Borg.

As one would expect, Kyle and the Manhunters duke it out. Kyle fights valiantly, coming up with pretty cool weaponry with his power ring. However, Kyle is fighting alone against a seemingly unlimited number of Manhunters and is eventually overwhelmed.

The scene changes to Kyle's apartment, where his assistant, Terry, enters in to retrieve a computer file. He's startled to find a huge hole in the ceiling. Terry is then confronted by former Green Lantern Corps member Jon Stewart, who somehow convinces him that the hole is some sort of construction accident, not the result of the Manhunters grabbing Kyle from his home.

The scene shifts back to Kyle, who is shackled to some sort of platform. The techno-virus has continued to spread, and of course, the Manhunters have removed his power ring. Kyle wisecracks with the Manhunters, while the Manhunters explain how they have gained senscience, and are tapped into a singular awareness. (Sounds like a complete rip-off of the Borg collective, eh? At least Winick has Kyle acknowledge as much with one of his quips.) The Manhunters proceed to tell Kyle their plan to control the power harnessed within his ring.

Kyle dismisses their plan, simply because the ring will only respond to his commands. The Manhunters then admit that they introduced the techno-virus into Kyle's body as a mechanism to fool the ring into believing that it is still connected to Kyle. The final panel is a cliff hanger, showing a Manhunter menacingly wielding the power ring...

Opinion

First off, I have to admit that the main reason I picked up the comic was for the writer, Judd Winick. For those who may not recognize his name, Judd was one of seven housemates in the San Francisco version of MTV's "The Real World." On the show, the group basically lives in a home, and gets filmed for our entertainment. (Anyone remember Puck???)

For those who actually watched Judd on "The Real World," they may remember that he was an aspiring cartoonist. He's had some success with a syndicated comic strip, and really came into his own with Oni Press' "The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius." But with Green Lantern, Judd has finally hit the big time.

I've avoided the Green Lantern for years, mainly out of spite over the way DC "retired" Hal Jordan from the Green Lantern role. Surely, there must have been a more graceful way to reinvent the Green Lantern character than to destroy over thirty years of heroism. At any rate, this is an old argument that should not be discussed here.

What I've found is that Kyle Rayner is an entertaining character. He's younger than Hal Jordan, and he works as an artist. Winick has a decent grasp of how Kyle should think and act. While some of Kyle's dialogue feels forced, occasionally trying too hard to sound hip, Winick does throw in references that will appeal to all fanboys. He mixes in Star Trek, James Bond, and even noted physicist Stephen Hawking!

This is Winick's second issue, and his writing shows promise. There is plenty of action, with several pages containing almost no dialogue. The story itself is streamlined, with little to distract the reader from the main plot. Winick also adds hints to what appears to be the introduction of a major arch-nemesis, which all good epics require. The bottom line is that the story is fun to read.

Now, let's address the art. While servicable, I personally found the overall visual appeal to be a bit lacking. I'm not familiar with either the penciller, Banks, or the inker, Smith, so I'm not sure who had the greater influence with the final product. However, the art does succeed in telling the story, and the perspectives are accurate.

The characters' figures are well-defined, but the faces don't seem quite right. On occasion, the facial expressions seem inappropriate. For example, on page 17, Kyle is strapped to a table, about to be assaulted with the Manhunters' machinery. While I can see Kyle cracking wise at the robots, he's basically smiling as if he doesn't have a care in the world!

The other thing that bothered me has to do with the finished art. Smith's inking seems heavy-handed at times. The weight of the lines are often thicker than I would prefer, especially around the characters' faces.

Conclusion

Overall, Green Lantern is a fun read. Winick shows promise in his first mainstream comic work. While this particular issue does not delve heavily into character development, the story doesn't call for it. We'll have to wait for future issues to see if Winick can do more than tell a good action story. I'm looking forward to seeing where Winick will be taking Kyle Rayner.