chezkevin: Reading Green Lantern: Willworld

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!

It dawned on me that I haven't really gone over a Green Lantern book. With all the raves for the current work with Geoff Johns and the Sinestro Corps. War, I thought I'd take a look-see in my local library.

Good timing library!

So Green Lantern: Willworld was a four-issue miniseries published in 2001. You might remember writer J.M. DeMatteis for being a part of the Justice League when it was goofy and offbeat.

You might recognize the title, "Willworld." In order to be a Green Lantern, you need only two things: the power of will and the power of imagination.

Okay, I think that's enough intro, let's get to. . .

THE PREMISE
Green Lantern Hal Jordan finds himself in a strange dream-like foreign planet. Think the depth of Sandman meets the Sci-Fi of Annihilation meets the creativeness of Nextwave.

He has no idea why he's in the Land of Odd, and eventually Nowhere Land, but he knows that he has to find someone called Mairwand. Angels and giant heads and propellers play a part in Hal Jordan's tale of self-discovery.

THE ART
The art is fantastic. I love the layouts, and the expressions are spot-on, and they're wonderfully creative. Here's an example:

I love the post-it frowning face.

The six-handed lady there is saying, "eek." by the way.

THE CHARACTERS
When I picked up this trade, I only had an introductory level knowledge of the Green Lanterns. I knew that Hal Jordan was the greatest Green Lantern, that he turned into evil Parallax, and was tragically killed by Green Arrow only to come back as the Spectre? And then he somehow returned in Geoff Johns's "REBIRTH." When Hal was written by then-DC editor Denny O'Neil, he was teamed up with Green Arrow and did some kick-ass CIVIL-RIGHTS-AND-ETHNIC-EQUALITY-IN-YOUR-FACES-GUYS!!!!

What a great moment.

See, during that era, that's when you knew that superheroes could still be superheroes without having to resort to human flaws/vices. They can be relevant without having to be psychologically complex. You can always count on DC for having heroes like that. That's why I think Oliver Queen's so cool. He doesn't use his talents to fight crime vigilante-style. He doesn't use it to fight alien invasions. He uses them for the betterment of mankind at the STREET-level. He doesn't care about the planet; he cares about the people living on the planet.

A few things more about Green Lanterns: Hal was an airplane pilot, while his successor was an artist (How cool is that????), and I think somewhere John Stewart got a ring, because he was so popular in the Animated JLA.

So, well, I kinda knew a lot about Hal, but not so much about his psychology. Thanks to Rachelle, I got the impression that he's a less-than-witty guy with a big ego. I didn't exactly see the big ego, but I certainly saw that he didn't put much thought into his actions:

Get off the off-reality drugs, Hal! I love his face in the last panel. Priceless.

THE STORY
A summary certainly doesn't do it justice, but Hal explores the new world, questions the nature of reality, as he remembers that this was all a test of will by the Guardians of the Galaxy so that he'd prove worthy of his Green Lantern Ring. He passes with flying colors, realizing that he is ultimately the creator, the dreamer, of all things, and that reality is dependent on him, and takes shape according to his views.

A subjective view of reality, as opposed to objective, which is basically an exultation of human perception. I think it's reasonable to say that we can extrapolate this feeling to us, because we're meant to relate to Hal. When Hal says he has the power, then we do too.

Who is the dreamer?

Gosh, it may be metaphysical, but don't be afraid. That doesn't make it inaccessible. This may be an unconventional comic, but it's a comic done well.

SO. . . WAS IT GOOD?
It was fantastic! This is the kind of stuff that makes you look twice at a panel before you can come to a conclusion. This is the kind of comic that uplifts you. It was absolutely wonderful to hear Hal say, "Hal! My name -- is HAL!" I have a newfound respect for this DeMatteis guy, actually.

And just exactly who is this Ambush Bug guy? He seems to be popular among all of the seasoned DC fans: