To tell you the truth, I honestly didn’t know how to approach this book. After all, the one-hundred and fifty-fourth issue of Green Lantern deals with a rather sensitive issue. If you haven’t been following the book for the past year, one of the supporting characters in the Green Lantern series, Terry, is gay. He openly admits that he is gay. Jump to the current issue, where Terry is beaten to a bloody pulp and is in critical condition. Where we have seen the acceptance of the gay issue, we are now presented with the dark side of the matter.
A hate crime and the events that come after it is a sensitive, serious issue. Therefore, the book is somewhat dark, as it should be. A subject like this should not be treated in a bright light and it isn’t. Green Lantern doesn’t just wish he could do something about it, then fly off to face some super-powered bad guy with the same electric powers seen over and over. He actually does something about it, and does so in a very dark, very unforgiving way. Although the issue is handled as more of a “my-friend-is-hurt-so-I-must-get-revenge” story, it is well suited for the atmosphere, which is captured wonderfully by the artwork in the book. Again, no sunny days. No smiley faces. No super-villains with bright colors and lasers. This is a very dark book.
I think the only problem I have with the book is that it’s one sided. Three guys beat up on a gay character, so what was their motive? What were the attackers’ state of mind when they were going through with this assault? Surely, this aspect has to be analyze more closely (of course, this could be the case for the next issue.)
It has been a firm belief that the use and proper implementation of real-life problems always made the best stories. Green Lantern #154 is a good story, but doesn’t provide as much insight on the subject matter as it should. Nonetheless, it is well-worth your money and well-worth waiting up for the next issue.
dtm666 