ACW #618 – Green Lantern

Action Comics Weekly #618 (Green Lantern)
“First Encounter”
Writer – Peter David
Pencils – Richard Howell
Inks – Arne Starr
Colors – Anthony Tollin
Letters – Helen Vesik
Associate Editor – Dan Raspler
Editor – Denny O’Neil

Hey, now that’s a neat cover… wonder if it might be an homage or something.  Hmm… yeah, yeah… we all recognize it.  We’ll talk more about it later in the week.


Now, though… it’s time to get back to the Freak Show, whether we want to… or not.


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We pick up with Hal still stuck in Stasis’ stasis “bubble” thing.  If you recall, Stasis was yet another never-before-seen member of the Freak Show faction… and hopefully he’s the last!  We pan out and observe that Castle, who we’re going to assume is the “leader” of this stable, is watching this all go down from afar… through a spyglass.

Hal continues to fight his way out of the bubble, prompting… sigh, Incinderella to clap-up some fire to try and burn him up.  This only results in Hal being freed from Stasis’ stasis… and before we know it, we’re back to battlin’.

Hal quickly gets the upper-hand, however before he can… I dunno, arrest the Freaks, Castle “castles” in, swapping places with Hal… sending him to wherever he was watching through the spyglass.  According to Castle, it’s “a few miles away”, though that really isn’t represented in the art… it looks like he might be a block or two away.

While Hal catches his breath and “wills” his costume back into one piece, we shift scenes to Arisia’s place.  She receives a call from her agent about a modeling gig… but, she turns it down, claiming that she will be leaving Chicago… “for good”.  Boy, hope she didn’t have a contract!

We next rejoin Hal as he approaches Hawke’s Industries… you might recognize it as the gaudiest building ever built in Chicago.  Great big flaming “H” logo takes up an entire outer wall of the place!  We pop inside to find our shadowy villainess being alerted to Green Lantern’s arrival… she refuses to see him.

Hal decides to wait her out… he is eventually joined by young, sweet, demure Lillian Hawkes (but, waitasec, isn’t she?  Hmm..).  Lil feigns ignorance about the entire Freak Show facade… er, I mean… since she’s the “good” Hawkes sister, she has no idea… er, did I just give it all away?  Sorry ’bout that.

Lillian immediately suspects… or projects, rather… that her sister, Veronica is likely the queen of the whole magilla, making Hal very interested in having a one-on-one chat with her.  As luck would have it, this takes us right to our cliffhanger panel!

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Ya know… this really isn’t great, but at the same time… I can’t get too mad at it.


I mean, it’s telling a story… and all the nuts and bolts, as obvious and seam-showy as they are, are there.  This is linear basic super-heroics storytelling 101.  Sometimes that’s all we can ask for.


I think I might’ve gave it away during the synopsis, but David is really making it apparent that Lillian is stacking her “innocence” a bit deep.  There isn’t a panel she’s in where she isn’t projecting her virtue… which makes it stupifyingly obvious the direction we’re headed.


The Freak Show… still sucks.  I’m sorry, these characters, as full of PAD charm as they are… are just the worst.  Really can’t get invested in their story… though, I suppose I’m probably not meant to.  I doubt highly anyone looked at Incinderella and thought, “Hey, let’s get that dame on the Suicide Squad… stat!”  Though, I suppose I’ve been wrong before!


Overall, not all that bad a chapter… there is some forward momentum… Hal’s at Hawkes’, Arisia is leaving town… these are things that’ll be followed up on.  Also worth noting, Richard Howell’s pencil has seemed to calm down a great deal… this is the “cleanest” his work has been yet.  So, while not a high point of Hal Jordan’s Action Comics… it might still be worth flipping through.


Tomorrow: Burying the hatchet… Blackhawk style.