Hal Jordan is back, but not quite as we know it. Strange happenings in Evergreen that he seems to be blaming on himself. Can he get to the bottom of what’s going on? Find out in this review of Absolute Green Lantern #1.
Absolute Green Lantern #1
Writer: Al Ewing
Art and Main Cover: Jahnoy Lindsay
Variant Covers: JULIET NNEKA, ESAD RIBIĆ, MARTIN SIMMONDS, HELENA MASELLIS, RYAN BENJAMIN, JAHNOY LINDSAY, FABRIZIO TOMMASO
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: April 4, 2025
Absolute Green Lantern #1 line kicks off with a great Big Bang today. We’re introduced firstly to Hal Jordan, probably the most notorious of the Earth Dwelling Green Lanterns, but Ewing has certainly looked to change things up with his characterisation of Hal.
The Hal Jordan I know back from the stories of Geoff Johns is fearless and brave. Though when we’re introduced to Ewing’s Hal Jordan we are met with a fearsome and scared Hal. Complete polar opposites to what I’m accustomed to from a Hal Jordan character, but for some reason I am finding myself not too bothered by this, and the reason for this is purely down to the writing of the first few pages. It grips you with a standoffish encounter with a police officer who seemingly only wants to help the stranded and nervous wreck of a lad that he has encountered in the desert whilst on patrol, but things take a quick turn when the officer catches Hal with his hand in his pocket. Gun drawn and demands for Hal to get on the ground make this situation a bad one for the on patrol Cop. He’s made to vanish into seemingly thin air.
The art layout in for these pages in Absolute Green Lantern #1 really lends itself to the dialogue as well as action. The closeups of Hal and the officer during the conversation really give you a sense of the emotions that both characters are going through as Lindsay’s use of facial expression is perfect in these first few pages. We’re then treated to some lovely exterior perspectives of a highway diner which sets up the scene for the next few pages.
Hal makes his way into this beautifully drawn and inked highway diner where he is treated well by the locals, made to feel welcome. But with Hal carrying a great sense of existential dread with him about the things he has seen recently, this starts to put the locals in the diner a little on edge. Though before anything happens a news bulletin is flashed across the Television screen in the diner, with images of a Giant Green Lantern Power Battery laying across the most of a now destroyed Evergreen, Hal Jordan’s Hometown.
We then get flashbacks to a time before the madness where Jon Stewart & Jo Mullein join Hal for a bite to eat at a local restaurant. It’s here that we learn that Ewing has also changed the profession in which Hal works. Hal is no longer a fighter jet pilot, he is now a Collectibles Dealer. Jon Stewart also seems to be part of the local Town planning as he talks about getting the contract to extend the local hospital. The dialogue begins to slowly die down at this point for a couple of pages to make way for some more action.
A group of bikers are tearing up the streets until one of them travelling at a high speed fatally crashes in to what appears to be a green forcefield being conjured by the earlier mentioned Giant Green Lantern Power Battery/Spaceship. Hal, Jon & Jo find themselves gazing in awe at the sky where the Spaceship is, we then over the page get a lovely full page art piece showing Abin Sur, who again has had quite the makeover in terms of character design for this absolute run.
We then return to the present where Hal finishes recounting his tale to the locals at the diner. It takes them a second to process everything they’ve heard before quickly turning on Hal leading him to do things somewhat similar to that of the police officer at the beginning of the issue.
Luckily Jo shows up at the end with what appears to be the powers of the Green Lantern. Though it would take the next issue to firm that all up for us, the readers.
Having been looking forward to Absolute Green Lantern #1 for quite a while, I must say that it has lived up to my expectation in terms of the pacing, the artwork and the story that is being developed. I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough wanting to find out what is happening next. Although I was initially surprised to see Hal Jordan be characterised as a somewhat scaredy-cat, as I kept reading I felt it was a great direction to take the character in order to pave the way for a new Lantern. That can set standards in this new vision of The Absolute Green Lantern.
If you’ve never read a Green Lantern arc before and aren’t familiar with the characters, Absolute Green Lantern #1 would be a great jumping on point as everything is fresh, feels like a complete reboot and reads well at a great pace. It’s also greatly helped by some visually stunning artwork.
