ACW #633 – Green Lantern

Action Comics Weekly #633 (Green Lantern)
“Apocalypse”
Writer/Plots – James Owsley
Pencils/Plots – M.D. Bright
Inks – Romeo Tanghal
Letters – Albert DeGuzman
Colors – Anthony Tollin
Assistant Editor – Dan Raspler
Editor – Denny O’Neil


Ya know, yesterday I posted the letters page from Action Comics Weekly #632.  In it, there is a missive regarding the upcoming change in format for the title, back to it’s regular monthly Superman-centric dealie.


Made me stop and realize… we’re getting there!  We’re really getting there!  Then, also yesterday, I decided to get a few weeks ahead on my “re-branded” covers for this project… and came to yet another realization.  Green Lantern, arguably the “main” feature of this entire endeavor… only has two weeks left before it goes away!  I actually did my first few cover-edits without having to drag ‘n drop the green one in!


Time flies when you’re not payin’ attention!


—

We open with Lord Malvolio insisting upon Hal Jordan that he will never leave the wherever-the-hell he currently is.  Hal’s more shocked that this big galoot didn’t think twice before killing that poor blue-skinned scientist.  And so, Hal attempts to trap Mal in an energy bubble so they might exchange words before fists… this, unfortunately for him, proves wildly ineffective!

Malvolio even goes as far as suggesting that Hal’s power levels are so piddly, that he’s actually disappointed in him.  Ya see, Hal’s got a Power Ring… he really ought to be so much better than this.  Hal’s all “Oh yeah?” and delivers a wallop of a blast… which, uh, Malvolio basically just strolls right through.

Proving to Hal that his power is akin to bringing the proverbial knife to a gunfight, his Lordship leaps into the air, and blasts Hal with such force that it literally sends him completely through the planet and out the other end!

Lucky for Hal, his Power Ring managed to protect him from… well, whatever might happen to a person who passes through the core of a planet… and so, he decides to blow this pop-stand, and look for somewhere he might be able to catch his breath.  What he finds is a satellite/space station, made entirely of… gold?!

Inside, he ponders that the people inside might’ve crafted this place to be safe from Lord Malvolio… ya know, since gold and yellow are so similar.  Then, he finds something rather curious… in the middle of the station sits a giant Green Lantern Battery.  What’s more, all of the inhabitants of the station appear to be… worshiping it!  Upon sight, the aliens all call to Hal… believing him to be “one of the chosen”.  I guess Superman’s not the only guy in Action Comics Weekly to get a little weird worship!

Before getting his bearings, Hal is nyoinked into an adjacent room by, of all things, another human!  He introduces himself as Wallace, a Squire to Lord Malvolio.  We learn here that Mal was never a chosen Green Lantern… ya know, where the ring seeks you out and all that jazz?  It was Lord Malvolio’s father who actually wielded the ring.  That is, until Mal killed him in his sleep, and stole the ring (and it’s power) for himself.  He would then travel to the far corners of the universe (finally winding up in Priest’s Sector, no less!), in search of… competition… sport… adventure… friendship?  Hmm…

Hal assures Wallace that they’re both safe from Malvolio aboard the station… at least Malvolio’s Ring-Slinging, anyway.  Wallace scoffs at the notion, and assures our man that the Golden Space Station isn’t a refuge from Malvolio… it’s a shrine to him.  Ya see, color ain’t no thang to the Big M.  And then, right on cue, Malvolio’s giant mitt bursts through a window and grabs Hal by the mush.

We wrap up with Lord Malvolio seemingly destroying the Space Station Shrine… and, likely everyone on board!

—


Oh, this is just so good!  This is what I’ve been looking forward to talking about for over a half year… and, as disappointed as it makes me that it never went anywhere, it’s still one heckuva read.


I don’t want to go too deep into what Malvolio was intended to be, or where his story was likely supposed to go… yet.  We’ll discuss that at length in a couple of weeks.  I did way too much research on that topic during our “Hal Jordan’s Action Comics” series of episodes on the Cosmic Treadmill.  Dug up old USENET and random forum posts written by Christopher Priest, there’s a lot of great (and maddeningly disappointing, because none of it ever panned out) information that I’ll share here when we wrap up this arc.  There’s also that Green Lantern: Sleepers series of novels that we’ll be talking about.


While on that subject, here’s a snap of the inside front fold from Sleepers, Vol. 2:

And then, Malvolio arrives.

Here though, we learn that… Big Mal is able to shake off just about anything Hal can throw at him.  Not only that, it doesn’t look like he has the same aversion to yellow that the rest of the Corps did!  Also… damn, dude’s powerful, ain’t he?  Literally punching Hal through an entire planet?  This is how you make a bad guy look strong!


It’s also revealed that Malvolio was never a “chosen” member of the Green Lantern Corps.  Indeed, it was his father who served as a Green Lantern… Malvolio just wound up killing him and swiping the ring for himself.  I didn’t know Power Rings worked that way… but, I also thought they all had that Yellow Impurity as well, so what do I know?  It’ll all make sense soon… sorta.


Overall… this is some great stuff.  Some seeds (that would sadly never sprout) get planted here… but, still… I’d say this is “must reading” for fans of Green Lantern lore.


Tomorrow: Outta the Cat-Pan…