Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps, Volume 2: Bottled Light by Robert Venditti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After the epic events of the first Green Lanterns Rebirth story arc, Sinestro's Law, the Green Lanterns have returned to Space Sector Zero thanks to the efforts of Hal Jordan. What happened to Hal Jordan and what will happen to what remains of the Sinestro Corps.

The book has two big plots that move together. Sinestro's daughter (and former Green Lantern) Soranik wants the Sinestro Corps to have a role in maintaining order. Her team were Yellow Lanterns who brought order to the galaxy after the Green Lanterns Corps disappeared but wanted no part in Sinestro's insane fear engine plan. Solanik's role in this fascinating. When John Stewart asks her why she's trying to clean up Sinestro's mess, she response, "Because he was my father." When Stewart suggests she just accept he was a psychopathic dictator, she responds, "He was my father." She's a fascinating character throughout this entire storyline.

This plot does really come to a head when the two corps run into Brainiac and an Orange Lantern and have to make a decision about the future. It's an interesting book and it challenges a long-held idea. Do the Yellow and Green Lanterns have to be at war or was Sinestro really th'e main reason for it? It's fascinating idea to explore. Though they have to work much of this out in battle as they face off against Brainiac and Agent Orange.

The other big plot idea is what happened to Hal Jordan. Without giving too much away, this is actually dealt with in a classic comic book way that manages to pay tribute to Green Lantern history with a trip to a Green Lantern afterlife and the return of an old friend.

The five part Bottled Light story is just a delight to read. It weaves in some good character moments with a great galaxy spanning comic book space opera.

This trade wraps up with the one shot story, "Heroes," which is set sixty years in the future and has a Xudarian telling a story of the Green Lanterns to kids. There are a few previews of coming attractions (including a hint on how the Sinestro Corps thing might work out but I didn't enjoy this as much as the rest of the book. In a book like this, I'd rather have a one shot focus on one of the characters in the book. Still, the art's nice. The issue's not bad. It's just not as good as the rest of the book.

Overall, this is just as strong as the first book. It manages to capture the epic nature of what the Green Lantern history while having some solid character moments as well. The art remains solid from start to finish. Highly recommended.

****I received a free digital copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review."***



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