Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #6 (1991)

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #6 (September, 1991)

"90 Days, Part VI: The Power and the Glory"

Plot & Layouts - Keith Giffen

Just the Words - Gerard Jones

Pencils - M.D. Bright

Inks - Romeo Tanghal

Letters - Albert De Guzman

Colors - Anthony Tollin

Associate Editor - Kevin Dooley

Editor - Andy Helfer

Cover Price: $1.00

The Sinestro-Shattering Conclusion!

To catch up, go here, here, here, here, and here!

--

Picking up right where we left off, the Fists of the Guardians have arrived on Earth and have declared Sinestro (and Hal) derelict of their Lantern duties... and under arrest!  Sinestro immediately and vehemently justifies his actions, before and after the revolt on Korugar.  All the while, Hal tries playing it cool, and Guy hasn't the foggiest idea what's going on.  During the verbal spar, the rioting inmates burst on the scene.  In the midst of the distraction, Sinestro decides that perhaps discretion is the better part of valor and flees the facility!

The Fists are quick to give chase, unfortunately leaving Hal and Guy to the mercy of some stick-wielding convicts.  Sinestro is tracked across the barren landscape, and finds himself colliding with a sort of mill... a mill that just happens to be full of a yellow powder, which renders him powerless.  This caught me completely off guard, because A. I completely forgot about the yellow impurity, and B. I so often associate Sinestro with the color yellow.  In this state, Sin's easy pickin's for the Fists.

Back in the clink, Hal realizes the jig is up... he's got no choice but to Lantern-up and leap into action.  The uprising is almost embarrassingly short-lived as Hal easily scoops up the goofs, and safety deposits them back into their own cells.

With the crisis averted, the Warden enters the scene.  A guard tips him off that Green Lantern appears to be perhaps a bit too familiar with the prison environment... to which, the Warden immediately orders an inmate head-count.  Hal takes this as his cue to return to his own cell, and manages to make it back in the nick of time.

With everything back in place, Hal slumps onto his bunk and lets out a well-earned exhale... just in time to be summoned (by summoned, I mean nyoinked off planet) by the ever-ehhh Guardians of the Universe.

Hal has been called to serve as a character witness for Sinestro, who is currently on trial for overstepping his bounds as a Green Lantern.  Tomar-Re is acting for the persecution and Sinestro is representing himself (he mustn't be familiar with the axiom of he who represents himself has a fool for a client).

When questioned, Hal admits that Sinestro is perhaps a bit too much of a stickler for "order", and makes mention of the seeming worship the Korugarians showed Sinestro.  The Guardians ask if the worship appeared forced or demanded from Sinestro... Hal stammers a bit, and sheepishly answers in the affirmative. 

The next witness called is Katma-Tui, who upon teleportation heaves her guts all over the courtroom floor.  Once she regains her composure, she spills the beans on Sinestro's tyrannical rule.  Tomar hands the witness over to Sinestro for cross examination.  With a resigned smirk, Sinestro states he has no questions...

The Guardians of the Universe do their confab and come to the conclusion that Sinestro is... guilty (as sin?).  His punishment?  Banishment to the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward.  Sinestro is, as one would imagine, not terribly pleased at this finding.  He falls back into his rants about chaos and flips off the Guardians before fading out of existence.

Hey, up yours pal!

The Guardians adjourn the court, and offer Katma-Tui the title of Green Lantern of Sector 1417.  She puts up a bit of a fight, but ultimately decides to take on the responsibility.

Weeks go by, and we arrive at the 90th (and final) day of Hal Jordan's incarceration.  Guy Gardner, case worker for hire is present, and helps facilitate Hal's release.  He reads over a note left for him from Gentleman Will, and greets the day for the first time in awhile as a free man.

--

Well, that was Emerald Dawn II.

It's been called a sin, it's been ignored... hell, it's been written out of continuity... What it is, is good fun comics.

This issue was a great capper to the series, and a wonderful examination of several key Green Lantern cast members.  Hal is heroic and confident when face with a threat, yet is nervous when it comes to being questioned.  We can see that he feels torn.  There's a certain loyalty to his trainer (and perhaps, sorta-kinda friend at this point?) Sinestro, and the Guardians of the Universe.  There is a brief scene where he confides in Kilowog that is quite telling.

The flawless (on the surface) Sinestro has that facade slip away here.  While we, the readers see that he's been "losing it" throughout the series, it is during his arrest and trial that it becomes clear to those around him.  He is humbled in several ways... first, he falls victim to his rings yellow impurity... then, when called on the carpet for his actions and rule... he slumps his shoulders and accepts defeat.  He is hit with a punishment most severe, which gives a measure of justification for Sinestro's future disdain for the Green Lantern Corps.

I suppose if I were to nitpick, I'd have to say that I wish there was a bit more Guy Gardner in this issue, perhaps even having him somehow winding up in the suit.  I gotta wonder if there was an Emerald Dawn III waiting in the wings.  I also would have liked to see more of a physical battle between the Lanterns and the Fists.  We've been teased with the Fists for the past three issues, and when they arrive, they don't even use their namesakes.

Overall, Emerald Dawn II was an enjoyable read and definitely worth your time.  Keeping in mind that this story is somewhere deep in that nebulous miasma of DC continuity, this can still be great fun.

--

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Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #5 (1991)

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #5 (August, 1991)
"90 Days, Part V: The Price of Power"
Plot & Breakdowns - Keith Giffen
Dialogue - Gerard Jones
Pencils - M.D. Bright
Inks - Romeo Tanghal
Letters - Albert De Guzman
Colors - Anthony Tollin
Editors - Andy Helfer & Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $1.00

Hal and Sinestro on the run?  Guy Gardner in a suit?  The Fists of the Guardians in Guy Gardner's suit?  What in the world is going on here???

If you need to catch up, you can do so here, here, here, and here!

--

We open up with Hal and Sinestro biding their time on an asteroid.  Sinestro is recounting the events of the previous chapter, and discussing the importance of their "laying low" during such a time.  Hal is shocked to find that by this point they have been "laying low" for the better part of two days!  Hal insists they head back to the prison, and Sinestro feels that may be their best option to avoid discovery.

Back in the prison, a guard has been suckered into coming a bit too close to the bars or trouble-maker (and food fight loser) Clendon.  The poor guard is choked out and robbed of his keys and side-arm.  Clendon, his blonde "homey", and several more wannabe escapees set out to find Hal Jordan and his magic ring.  

Along the way, the crew encounters another guard.  Rather than rely on stealth, Clendon jams his pistol into the poor guy's back and blows a hole through him.

As they approach Hal's cell, the crew is surprised to find it empty.  After tearing the cell apart, they figure Hal may be visiting his pal Gentleman Will, and set out toward the infirmary.

In the infirmary, Will is being visited... but not by Hal.  Caseworker extraordinaire, Guy Gardner is in the house.  He's worried that Hal's gone missing over the past 48-hours and what this could mean for the length of his stay in the pen.  During the chat, Guy expresses the importance of anger management and not letting one's rage get the best of him.

Clendon and Company enter the scene and after roughing up Gentleman Will decide to take Guy Gardner as their very own hostage.  As the goons carry Guy out, his cool appears to be slipping away by the step.

Hal and Sinestro pop back into his cell, and the green explosion in their wake causes a prison guard to stir and pull the alarm.  Hal notices the his cell's state of disarray, and knows something is going down.  Sinestro bellyaches some more about "chaos" following them.  Chaos seems to be Sinestro's term for anything that goes against his own idea(s) of order.

Hal and Sinestro head to the infirmary straight away, and meet up with Will.  Sinestro takes the form of Will so he can fit in a bit better in the clink, and despite Hal's protests... blinks the real Will somewhere outside the prison grounds.

word.

We finally get a cameo from the Fists of the Guardians.  They are currently on the asteroid that Hal and Sinestro stood upon at the start of the chapter.  They appear to be tracking the duo with a great amount of precision... their next reading tells them their next destination is Earth.

Back at the prison, Clendon and Co. are continuing their path of rage.  Clendon is becoming mad with power.  He shoots one of his own due to a minor annoyance, and after viewing Hal and "Will" in one of the guard's monitors, decides to open every cell in the facility.  The riot is in full-swing!

In the fracas, Clendon is finally able to confront Hal.  He demands he hand over the ring... otherwise, Guy Gardner will be killed.  Sinestro-as-Will gives Hal the okay to hand it over.

Clendon slides the ring on his finger and immediately starts blasting away.  Little does he know that "Will" is actually a ring-wielder himself.  Sinestro sheds his Gentleman facade and nyoinks Hal's ring back.

All appears to be settled... however, there's still the matter of the pistol.  Clendon no longer has it... instead Guy's got it, and it's aimed directly at the baddie.

Hal pleads with Guy to beg off... to no avail.  Guy pistol-whips Clendon and proceeds to beat him within an inch of his life with his own bare hands.  Hal eventually intervenes with a ring construct... and Sinestro questions the wisdom of saving Clendon's life.

With the riot averted, Sinestro decides to hit Clendon with a handy-dandy mind-wipe.  Once that's taken care of, he decides Guy Gardner's the next to get the brain drain treatment.  Hal won't stand for this, and gets in Sinestro's face.  Before they can come to any sort of resolution... enter: The Fists.

--

Well, it's all about to hit the fan innit?  I'm definitely glad this was an Earth-based chapter.  In fact, this series has done a wonderful job of shifting from setting to setting without either overstaying its welcome.  I feared this would be a predominantly space-based series, and am pleasantly surprised to be mistaken.

One of the more striking (no pun intended) bits of this chapter concerns the shift toward violence in Guy Gardner, Social Worker.  Guy finally giving in to his more primal instincts was a lot of fun.  We could feel it percolating in every scene he was in... just bubbling away below the surface.  He just had his fill this issue, and nearly killed a man with his bare hands.  I love the way this was done.  Guy Gardner, with subtlety... with layers.  Not just the fists-first jerk we've come to know, but one who'd rather appeal to his own "pussycat" side.

Hal and Sinestro having their team-up was a treat as well.  I really dig that they both have reservations about working with the other, and yet they still manage to coexist.  It feels kinda Goku-Vegeta from Dragonball Z in a way, and in my opinion that's a good thing.

If I had one complaint (and it's a nit-picky one), I guess it would be that inmate Clendon looks a bit like Hal in several panels, which caused me a bit of a pause a time or two.  Otherwise, another wonderful issue of Emerald Dawn II.  We'll wrap this one up tomorrow.

--

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Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #4 (1991)

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II #4 (July, 1991)

"90 Days, Part IV: The Will to Power"

Writers - Keith Giffen & Gerard Jones

Pencils - M.D. Bright

Inks - Romeo Tanghal

Letters - Albert De Guzman

Colors - Anthony Tollin

Assistant Editor - Kevin Dooley

Editor - Andy Helfer

Cover Price: $1.00

Still chugging along through Emerald Dawn II.

If you need to catch up, you can do so here, here, and here!

--

As we ended the last chapter, Hal and Sinestro had made it to Korugar where Sinestro was expecting the hero's welcome... they were both rather surprised to find that rather than having rose petals dropped at their feet, they've got laser beams aimed at their heads!

We're not the only ones observing this scene.  From behind a monitor we see that Katma-Tui is also looking on, and she is joined by one of the alien leaders Hal and Sin ran into during chapter two's summit.  We get the impression that the Korugarians don't quite see Sinestro as a god... but, more as a tyrant.

Hal and Sinestro hold their own pretty well against the Korugarian forces until something inside Sinestro appears to snap.  He believes that his people must be under some sort of mind-control or have been corrupted by chaos, and completely loses his cool!

Hal is taken aback at Sinestro's ruthless assault on his own people and attempts to restrain him from causing any mortal damage.  The two bicker back and forth, Sinestro blaming Hal for what's going down.  He believes if his focus wasn't on training the rookie Lantern, he would have been their to save his people from the chaos corruption.

With Sinestro appropriately restrained, Hal tells him he'd summoned other Corps members to help subdue the Korugarian riot.  Well, this is absolutely not what Sinestro wanted to hear.  He bursts free from his restraints and redoubles his offense, now completely focused on Hal.

Sinestro manages to get the upper hand, and puts Hal in a devastating choke.

Luckily for Hal, Sinestro's head isn't quite in the game.  He is able to break free and pop Sin with a ring-blast.  This causes Sinestro to believe himself as a victim of chaos corruption, and as such... does a little twirl and an Ole pose?

Ole!

In all seriousness, Hal is able to take Sinestro down and talk some sense into him.  Sinestro pleads with Hal that they must leave Korugar at once.  Without truly thinking it through, Hal agrees.  We see that he almost immediately regrets his decision as it only makes the pair look guilty... as sin.

Back on Earth, Gentleman Will is recuperating from his recent shivving.  He is joined by Guy Gardner, who is trying to get him to spill the beans on his attacker(s).  Will knows what happens to stoolies in the joint, and remains silent.  Guy gives a disappointed "whattayagonnado?" shrug and takes his leave. 

Back on Korugar, Katma-Tui is addressing the masses.  They are cheering the end of tyrannical Green Lantern rule on their planet.  It's becoming more and more clear that these folks only held Sinestro up as a deity because they feared what he would do if they didn't.

During her address, the rest of the Green Lantern Corps arrives on the scene.

After a brief skirmish, Lantern Tomar-Re is able to convince Katma that they mean the Korugarians no harm... in fact, they're there to help them.  The Lanterns see the Sinestro shrines-a'plenty, and express concern that he just might have overstepped his authority.

Before we wrap up, we check in with the zzzzzzz.... Guardians.  They are not happy with the events of the day, and decide they must track down the pair of errant Green Lanterns... Sinestro and Hal Jordan.  To do so, they call in the (Guy Gardner uniform bedecked) Fists of the Guardians!

--

Well, we're four issues in and I have mixed thoughts on this one.  First, it's a space story... and in my last review, I discussed my relative disinterest in space stories.  That having been said, it was an engaging space story.  I enjoyed it for the most part, however, I'm still a bit conflicted.

A lot went down this issue, and it still kinda felt like it dragged.  I really can't explain it... it's certainly not decompressed... so it's not that.  Maybe I'm just comparing it to the issues that came before.  But, again... I did like it.

I'm interested to see what's up with these Fists of the Guardians.  Their armor having the design of the (now) classic Guy Gardner Lantern uniform is intriguing.  I gotta wonder if we're gonna get Guy in green by the end of this series.

We also find out that... shock of shocks, a man named Sinestro (as in sin and sinister) isn't all that great a guy.  They should really put spoiler alerts in super villain names!  Sinestro's a great bad guy, so I can't complain... I just wonder how the all-knowing Guardians would ever think he'd be one of the good guys.  I really like that Hal is portrayed as headstrong, yet a bit naive.  He knows he shouldn't be following Sinestro off Korugar... yet does anyway.  I enjoy a conflicted Hal Jordan.

As with the past three issues, words and art are top notch.  I received a comment earlier today about how the covers of these issue don't do proper justice to the interior art, and I totally have to agree.  I think the covers for the first and fourth issues are amazing, striking, and memorable... but the second and third are a bit ehhh.  Interiors always deliver, however... this is such a fun book to both read and look at!

Really enjoying this series.  We're going to return to our discussion and review of it this weekend.  Tomorrow we're got a special.  We're gonna be staying green... but there won't be a Lantern in sight...

--

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