Comic Reviews 04.19.2021

 Hey y’all. We've got a some good ones this week. Because I was unable to do a review last week, I snuck in Green Lantern #1 here for fun. I also have done Featured Reviews for Batman: Black Mirror and Batman: The Detective #1 since the last one of these so you should check those out. Lately, we have a scheduling change for next week. There will be no Featured Review. Instead, this column will take it’s place because Monday is the anniversary of Avengers: Endgame and I want to take a look back at it. It’s going to be interesting.

With that out of the way, let's dive into the reviews!

Spoilers for: Green Lantern #1, Superman #30

Green Lantern #1

Writer: Geoffrey Thorne

Artist: Dexter Soy and Marco Santucci

Colors: Alex Sinclair

Letters: Rob Leigh

Cover: Bernard Chang and Sinclair

The Future State Green Lantern miniseries was not good, but it was playing with some interesting concepts. This issue—by an almost identical creative team—is almost entirely focused on those ideas and is better for it.

The United Planets are voting on Oa’s potential membership. Notably, they are not voting to legitimize the Corps. They are deciding if the Guardians and other citizens of Oa will get a seat at the table. It's a smart distinction to make and it portends a thoughtful approach to the storytelling and politics of the galaxy going forward.

Soy and Santucci turn in some quality, though unspectacular art in this issue. Perhaps more important for a Green Lantern book is the colorist and Sinclair knocks it out of the park. This is no surprise as he has been around the Corps a time or two.

Also, John Stewart and Simon Baz are the stars of this comic and it rules.

Superman #30

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colors: Gabe Eltaeb

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Cover: John Timms

This is a far better way for Johnson to start his time with Superman than the small crossover with Action Comics last month. It is far more effective at establishing the themes and ideas the series will explore for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps most interesting is the continued teasing of Clark dying or being forced to be away from Earth for a long time. Obviously, this ties into the Future State Superman stories. It will interesting to see how that story is taken before it gets cut off. It seems Jon will have to step up and replace his father, the only questions are for what reason and how long?

Godlewski is not an artist I have a tremendous amount of experience with, but his art matches both Eltaeb’s colors and the story well. There is a pervasive sense of hope throughout the issue despite the rather dark plot about an alien parasite. It feels like Superman and that's the biggest compliment I can give.