Green Lantern #1

Oh Sinestro...you bad bad boy. And yet...as we all know, bad boys can sometimes be just so good. In a bad way. Or something.

The Green Lantern books are probably going to sail right through the new DC relaunch, more or less unchanged. After all, why screw with a good thing? Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke are still on Green Lantern, which is a good thing because I LOVE Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke on Green Lantern!

As we begin, the Guardians still have Sinestro all chained up, and he's reciting the oath for their pleasure, and getting a bit testy, as who can really blame him. Despite all of their...shall we say differences...over the years, the Guardians still think that giving Sinestro a ring, and sending him back to Korugar is a dandy idea. And so they do. Sinestro STILL thinks that the Guardians are losers, and STILL thinks that he's right and completely justified in everything that he's done. Ganthet is the lone dissenting voice, and when he tries to explain that letting one of their greatest enemies loose with one of THEIR rings and a power battery may be just this side of insane, the rest of the munchkins turn on him.

Poor Ganthet.

Stupid Guardians.

Meanwhile, back on earth, Hal is having a bit of a problem...adjusting to normal life. It's been quite a long time since he's HAD a normal life, and even then, being a hotshot test pilot isn't your run-of-the-mill sort of job. His landlord isn't too excited with him, and suddenly, Hal sees what looks like a mugging going on in the next-door apartment, and he leaps OFF of the balcony, and tries to save the fair-haired damsel in distress! Oops. It's actually a television or movie set, and gosh, is Hal's face red!

Carol comes and bails him out, and gently tries to explain that he can't fly, because he's uninsurable...but that there are other things that he can still do to earn a paycheck, and that MOST people have to suck it up and earn a living. I get the feeling that her words of wisdom are going right in Hal's shell-like ear and out the other. Obviously Hal's not paying a whole lot of attention, but he DOES ask her out, which she considers to be a positive sign at least.

Sinestro, has been observing Korugar, which he left under the care of the Sinestro Corps. They...haven't been the best caretakers, and he's starting to get pissed, when one of his earstwhile cohorts shows up, all full of piss and vinegar. He's a little startled to discover that this random Green Lantern is ACTUALLY his boss, and tries to tattle to Arkillo. Sinestro handles that in his usual...efficient manner. Quite frankly, I'm a little bit sorry for the the Sinestro Corps hanging out on Korugar, because I'm pretty sure that they are in for an extreme ass-whuppin'.

Back on earth, Hal and Carol are having a nice dinner together. Hal even seems as though he had actually paid a tiny bit of attention to what Carol was trying to tell him, saying that his ring has moved on, and he should do so too...and he has something to ask her. Something important.

Carol leans forward, lips parted, expectantly, waiting...waiting to hear those words from Hal...and he asks her if she'll cosign on a car loan for him.

Oh...Hal.

At this point I just about lost it. The look on poor Carol' face is priceless. Hal is completely clueless of course. She dumps her drink over his head and walks out, and then Hal trails after her, whining that she was the one who drove. He's quite flabberghasted to discover that she was hoping that he might actually be proposing to her, and is stupid enough to make it abundantly obvious to Carol that he IS flabberghasted.

He then trudges home in the rain, to discover his belongings sitting out in the hall and an eviction notice on his door. But not to worry, because SOMEone is standing in the hallway as well. Someone with a solution.

I have to admit it...I absolutely loved this. I find the aspect of Hal being stuck on earth, without his ring, and without his powers, broke, homeless and as stupid as ever...simply delicious. Because finally, FINALLY...he knows what it's like, when he took away Guy Gardner's ring waaaaaay back when. And you all know what Guy did. He continued to fight the good fight anyway that he could, and then he went and figured out a way to go and find Sinestro's yellow ring, getting help from Lobo, going to Qward, going to Oa, and stealing it off of Sinestro's corpse. THAT'S gumption! We'll see if Hal does half as well. Because it serves him right.

And it's funny.