Green Lantern (vol.3) #119 (1999)

Green Lantern (vol.3) #119 (December, 1999)
“Spectre of the Past”
Writer – Ron Marz
Penciller – Darryl Banks
Inker – Cam Smith
Letterer – Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist/Separations – Rob Schwager
Assistant Editors – Harvey Richards & L.A. Williams
Editors – Kevin Dooley, Bob Schreck & Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $1.99


Well golly, but that’s a lot of editors for a single book!  What is this, Marvel?  Well, no… because even with that many editors Marvel couldn’t ship a book without spelling and continuity errors.


This is a somewhat special installment, as it’s the second Green Lantern #119 we’re covering here!  That’s your random Chris is on Infinite Earths trivia for the day.  Speaking of the site, I haven’t really said much about it… but on the right side of the page, you’ll see a button called “The Fall and Rise of Hal Jordan”… it looks something like this:

If you click on it, you can read all of our Hal-centric discussions from Emerald Twilight through Green Lantern: Rebirth.  It’s the shakiest decade of Hal Jordan’s life, and for the first time (on this site) you can read them all in chronological order!  If’n you’re interested, give it a click!


Enough plugging!  Today… we’re revisiting the fallout of Day of Judgment, a story we covered in long-form not all that long ago.  Kyle acted a cad (I guess?), and Hal got himself some new duds.


Annnnnd, go!


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We open with Kyle arriving back to his apartment… and to a very angry Jennie Lynn Hayden.  Turns out Kyle and his old flame Donna Troy locked lips during the Day of Judgment event.  Since I don’t recall that happening, I’m going to assume it went down in one of the tie-ins.  Anyhoo, Jennie asks Kyle if there’s anything between he and Donna… and when he hesitates, she decides it’s time for her to go.

We shift ahead… ya know, I write “shift” a lot on this blog… and every so often I wonder how many times I might’ve misspelled it.  Like, left the “f” out.  Anyhoo, we join Kyle at Radu’s (what I wouldn’t give for a “Radu’s” mug!).  It’s here that he (and we) learn that Radu was, at one time, a married fella.  This might be important later…

Kyle starts ramblin’ on about his girl troubles, when he hears the familiar voice of someone who’s “been there, maaaaaaan”, Hal Jordan!

Hal takes Kyle for a little walk “in between places”… showing him just a bit of what he’s now capable of.

They are then teleported to Ferris Aircraft, where we learn that Tom and Carol are having a pretty rough time “keeping the lights on”.  Everything’s riding on their latest prototype… and if it’s a flop, it just might be curtains for them.  Carol asks Tom to leave… and then suddenly finds Hal Jordan going through her mind.

Hal-as-Spectre presents himself before reaching into Carol’s head… and retrieving the Star Sapphire gem.  She is (understandably) shocked… first to see Hal, second to see that the Star Sapphire was still a part of her.

Hal encourages her to stop blaming herself for everything she had done under the influence of the Star Sapphire… and, well… she does!  Hal hands her back the Gem… and, armed with her… uhh disbelief, she makes it vanish.

Suddenly, everything’s hunky dory in Ferris world.  She instantly forgets everything about this odd “visit”, and finds herself with a new positive attitude.

Hal is happy that he was able to do one last “good deed” before losing himself completely to the Spectre.  He takes Kyle home and they share a moment that Kyle won’t even remember.

We wrap up with something completely different.  Radu is locking up for the evening… and is being watched by a sniper (with the most generic of guns).

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Ehhh.


Had higher hopes than usual for this one… but really feel as though it under delivered.  I mean, just looking at that cover… it feels like something big is gonna go down.  I was really hoping for a bit more Hal/Kyle bonding… but for the most part, Kyle just hangs out in the background.


I get that this is a Hal story… but I can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t included in the Day of Judgment Secret Files & Origins rather than eating up an issue of Kyle’s ongoing?


I guess I appreciate it for tying up some loose ends between Hal and Kyle… and it was neat seeing the Star Sapphire get a mention/cameo… but, really… I feel like this could have been more effective as a 6-8 page story in the SF&O… or at least less of a distraction to this series.


I’ve said it before… and I’ll say it again, Ron Marz never fails to treat Hal with respect.  I’d say “I’ll never understand…” why those H.E.A.T. goons got so upset, but being a lifelong comic fan… yeah, I get it.  But the idea that Marz somehow hated Hal… that’s just wrongheaded.  I’ve never seen a Marz-penned story that treated Hal unfairly.  I suppose Emerald Twilight could be argued… but I’ve already said my piece on that.


The art here feels a bit… I dunno, muddy?  I see we have a new inker… but, I never associate such muddiness with Cam Smith.  Maybe it was a rush job… maybe it was the colorist.  Either way, Banks’ work did not come across with its usual level of polish here.


Overall… not an issue I’d suggest breaking your back to track down.  If you come across it (or if like me, you’re a completionist)… yeah, grab it… it’s not a bad story… just an underwhelming one given the circumstances.  This issue is available digitally.


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