Green Lantern, Volume 7: Renegade

Green Lantern (2011)

by Robert Venditti (Writer), Billy Tan (Illustrator)

The seventh volume in the popular Green Lantern series by New York Times best-selling author Robert Venditti!
The Green Lantern Corps is lost and nowhere in this universe to be found. And over the past few years, the Green Lantern Corps has made a lot of enemies and been the scapegoat for a lot of bad that the Guardians of the Universe caused. Former Corps leader Hal Jordan takes it upon himself to assume the blame for all of the bad that the Green Lanterns have been accused of, and the universe is not happy.
A bold new chapter of the Emerald Warrior's mythology is here in Green Lantern, Volume 7: Renegade.

Collecting: Green Lantern 41-47

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Science Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2016

About the author

Robert Venditti is a New York Times bestselling author of more than three hundred comic books and graphic novels. Some of his works include the monthly comic book series Justice League, Superman ’78, Hawkman, and Green Lantern for DC Comics, X-O Manowar, Armor Hunters, and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior for Valiant Entertainment, and the graphic novel Six Days, inspired by the story of his uncle’s participation in D-Day. He has also adapted Rick Riordan’s global bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus novels, as well as Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia and Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz. His graphic novel The Surrogates was adapted into a feature film by Touchstone Pictures, and his work on The Flash was the basis for season three of the CW television series.

Venditti lives in Atlanta, where he both writes and serves as a storytelling consultant for some of the most recognizable entertainment brands in the world.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

My reaction to seeing a hooded Hal in a bar was all, Oooooh! Badass new look, Jordan!



Then he pulled the hood back and revealed his new greasy, douchebag hair.
Pass!



I vaguely remember Jordan took off after the Godhead storyline, but it didn't impress me enough for the reason why to stick. But evidently it doesn't matter, because something mysterious has happened in the time between the last volume and this one, and whatever it was is only hinted at in Renegade.
In other words, don't feel bad if you're not sure what's going on. For some reason all of the Green Lanterns are gone, Hal is a wanted man, and everything just picks up from there.
shrugs



Giant Space Guy is back, and so is Black hand. Their stories intertwine because of that massive Wall at the End of the Universe. <--forgot what it's called, and I don't care enough to go back and look.
There's also the introduction of two new sidekickish characters (one good, one more morally ambiguous), and a sassy talking spaceship.
Eh. I didn't hate them.



Hal was kind of a mess. I don't know what happened, but I think they were going Space Pirate and missed the mark. It felt more like Knight Rider in Space, and not in a good way.
In a bloated, aging, drunken Hasselhoff way.
*shudders*



And not that it matters, but Hal's eyes go from brown, to blue, and then back to brown again. It was odd, but still not as odd as that hair.

I'm planning on finishing out this bastard of a title, but unless you're as crazy as I am, you should sit this one out.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this from Edelweiss and DC Comics in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this one.

[Jesse A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, if a bit scattershot.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best and worst thing about this book is that it's very different from most other green lantern stories. At least they were trying something different, although I could have done without all of Hal's new quirky sidekicks.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got whiplash from this book. Granted, it has been awhile since I read the last stuff (the New Gods/Godhead event) and I didn't really remember how Hal made out there, but this felt like a hard reboot ordered from the higher-ups:
MEMO to VENDITTI, re: GL:
Make it more Joss Whedon-y (Firefly)...Hal is Mal, duh
Have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy? See it 6x NOW.
How about a sassy AI spaceship? (Think 'kiss my grits' meets HAL)
AT LEAST two sidekicks (one pure as snow and the other a merc w/ a *buried* heart of gold)
Give Hal '90s Fabio hair
Bring back the Source Wall and Relic. Everyone wants more, we think

YR WELCOME,
DC EDITORIAL STAFF

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focusing on Hal as he becomes a renegade to save the corps name after the war of light and so many events, he has become a hired gun and his first job is to free someone named Virgo and capture the guy known as Trapper who well captured Virgo in the first place and return him to his homeworld of Kethleth prime only to find that it has turned to stone and then he meets Relic, the big guy who hates lightsmiths and its an interesting conversation before an eventual battle and they escape and Hal interrogates other people and then we shift to what might have happened that led Hal to this and then pick up with some hospital in "Port Spire" and Thanagarian Marauders have taken it over so Hal has to fight them and learns that GLC has disappeared and its upto him to save them and then he helps Virgo and finds the real cause of this whole ordeal: Black hand who has become Space Medusa and so its upto him to save everyone and defeat this villain while learning more about what made him this way and another face off with relic.

Its an interesting arc and focuses on how Hal has become this person and trying to take the blame on himself to get the corps the good name again and even though he has gone bad he can't help but help people and then the focus is on old villains of Hal and how they become present threats and there is this tension of who will be the new "boss" of the universe now that GLC is not there? Meanwhile some "Gray Agents" are around, it will be interesting to see how he deals with them and this whole tale of having his own crew and ship and then next up: Earth is just fascinating! Interesting focus on "man alone, surviving on his own" concept.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Venditti's Green Lantern run has kind of been all over the place. Lights Out was fantastic. Godhead was not. Uprising was awesome. Some of the filler issues between arcs, not so much. This looks like a return to form, or at least another uptick in quality.

After the events of the previous volume, Hal is now on the run from the Green Lantern Corps, operating as a renegade Green Lantern (hence the title) and is now equipped with Krona's unstable Green Lantern Gauntlet. But when he discovers that the GLC have all disappeared (see GL: Lost Army and GL: Edge of Oblivion), he sets out to discover where they've all gone - only instead to run afoul of Black Hand, and Relic.

Hal is joined by two new friends, Virgo, a kidnapped prince, and Trapper, the bounty hunter who kidnapped him. Oh, and Darlene, the sarcastic spaceship. It's a recipe for disaster, but their dialogue is quite good fun, especially Darlene. It's a shame they didn't take the opportunity to revisit the Interceptor and Aya from the Green Lantern animated cartoon and War of the Green Lanterns. They're kind of distracting in terms of the overall story though, which is much more interesting.

Again following on from the previous volume, Black Hand is out in the universe trying to resurrect Black Lanterns, but his time in the Source Wall has caused his powers to break, and instead he's become a modern day space Medusa, turning entire planets to stone with his touch. Cue Hal and Relic trying to stop him. It's a great little storyline, and once I very much enjoyed.

Artwork-wise, Billy Tan draws most of the story, with his partner in crime Martin Coccollo popping up for a fill-in here and there, as well as an issue by the always-amazing Ethan Van Sciver. There's an annual by Pascal Alixe midway through too, whose style is a bit more paint-wash and a bit less hard pencil lines, but it's not a deal-breaking change.

Green Lantern's rollercoaster of quality continues, but this is a high point after a few shaky bits.

[Christopher Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice work, Mr Venditti!

[Anchorpete · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not really been enjoying the Post- Geoff Johns Green Lantern stuff.

Sure, they have moved away from the constant warring between the lantern corps, and have played up the Space Cop aspect, but the quality of the storytelling has gone down.

Also, every single debilitating event that has struck the corps seems very forced. It seems like they are in a pattern they can't break out of, where they are trying to see how much they can reduce the numbers and the power of the Corps.

I was expecting this to be the very worst of the books in this arc, considering the new direction, and Green Lantern's look, but I ended up enjoying it, a bit. Hal Jordan as the one man Green Lantern Corps is kind of fun, and they were certainly trying to bring in a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe. I will most likely keep reading, no matter what, since I love Green Lantern so much, and the mythos that Johns built up.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Green Lantern was, at one time, the best book series in the entire DC Universe. Therefore, we must apparently throw everything that made this book series great, and return to the type of writing it had in the 90's, when Hal Jordan wasn't a Green Lantern, he was wanted and on the run, and the book series was absolutely awful.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good deal better than I expected it to be given who is writing this. For the most part enjoyable. Though, when Hal takes his mask off, he looks like a 12-year old girl. He never looks much like Hal Jordan. Or an adult male for the most part, when unmasked. Weird.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The status quo change was MUCH needed, a lot better than Venditti's earlier stuff.

[Michael Church · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is so sad to watch a character, and a series, that you love devolve into something that is absolutely devoid of enjoyment for you. Reading this volume was an absolute chore. Robert Venditti manages to weave an intergalactic story about the death of worlds that lacks any sense of empathy or true emotion of any kind. Billy Tan’s art similarly fails to convey anything more than the basic action of a scene. The one creative piece that stood out to me as positive was Dave Sharpe’s letters.

The whole premise for the book is forgettable. Venditti revisits characters like Black Hand and Relic who have long outlived their relevance and interesting stories. Black Hand is especially disappointing. He’s gone from a truly fearsome entity in Blackest Night, controlled by the very avatar of death itself, to a pitiful man who is confused and lost within the universe. It could be a fantastically interesting arc, but there’s no real depth to it. Relic, on the other hand, in my opinion, represents an utterly stupid and counterintuitive concept. That of depleting the “emotional well” of the universe and thus destroying all life. The more the various lantern corps use their power rings, the faster the universe will be destroyed. As if we only experience emotion based on some force beyond the Source Wall (the edge of the known universe...shown as an actual physical well that seems to have defined dimensions rather than seeming to go on for infinity). I think it’s a concept that nearly ruined the book to begin with and yet here it remains.

Hal Jordan continues down the path of being an asshole that people want to find the best in. I no longer really get the sense of him as a likable character, just a martyr. Except he’s not a self aware martyr, just the other supporting cast keep pointing out how he puts everyone before himself. Venditti is trying to force characterization by telling us what a character is like instead of demonstrating it (because the demonstrations in this volume don’t give us anything of merit).

Oh, and let’s talk about Hal’s new look. This was part of the last hurrah of the New 52 when DC tried to give all their big heroes a new look. Superman donned a shirt and jeans. Wonder Woman updated her armor. Batman became a mech suit. And Green Lantern started to wear a trench coat and long greasy hair. Wonder Woman was really the only successful redesign, in my opinion. The whole book looks bad, but Hal’s design is especially uninspired. Even the plot point of him using this stupid bulky gauntlet weapon instead of his iconic ring.

It all feels so FORCED. I’m sick of watching Hal at odds with the Corps and the universe. I’m sick of the back and forth and the gray areas and the supposedly complex or sympathetic villains and making things more complex than they have to be. Until Green Lantern makes some real changes back toward what I want to see in this book, I’m afraid I’ve got to give it up.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Po zrzuceniu przez Hala jakiejkolwiek przynależności do Korpusu Zielonych Latarni oczekiwałem całkiem niezłej jazdy bez trzymanki. Jordan jako taki zbuntowany wędrowiec, wyposażony w specyficzną rękawicę, miało w sobie spory potencjał. Co zresztą pokazuje pierwszy zeszyt. Dużo akcji, świetnych momentów.

Niestety dalej akcja nieco siada i choć mamy sporo użycia zielonej mocy, to praktycznie spałem. Dialogi kuleją. Udział dwóch nowych kosmitów jest zwyczajnie słaby i ich losy były mi obojętne. Nawet pierwszy udział w zabawie Relica tutaj nie powala. Dopiero po jakichś 2/3 tomu, kiedy pojawia się Blackhand, całość nabiera nieco rozpędu i wygląda znacznie lepiej. W dodatku sprawa z tymi cząstkami zamieniającymi wszystko w kamień, także się tu wyjaśniła i było to bardzo leniwe rozwiązanie, mocno wtórne względem poprzednich części.

Billy Tan i Ethan Van Sciver robią tu całkiem niezłą robotę, choć nie wiem czy jestem w stanie przywyknąć do wersji Hala Jordana z długimi włosami.

Siódmy już tom przygód Jordana i spółki w ramach New 52 jest małym regresem w stosunku do przygód poprzedzających ten tom. Hal jako renegat stanowi całkiem ciekawy koncept, ale niestety nic poza tym. Także miałem wrażenie, że Venditti jest już nieco zmęczony tą serią i nie ma mi nic ciekawego do powiedzenia, serwując nam mocno wtórną rozrywkę.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs direction and better characters.

World: The art is okay, but wow the annual was fugly...why does Hal's face look like that?! The world building is basic and self contained. It feels like a departure from the larger Lanternverse and is doing it's own thing.

Story: A bit lost in it's direction and doesn't know what to do with Hal. Is he a bounty hunter? Is he a anti hero, what is he? The stories we do get here are middle at best, add to that the companions he has are just boring. A highly forgettable first arc of Hal on his own.

Characters: Hal doesn't really get to dig deep I to his psych in regards to where he is in the world so it's light there. I'm sorry but Virgo and Trapper are boring companions and brings nothing of note to the story, there is no great banter there is no chemistry and there is no development...

A less than stellar first arc for Hal on his own.

Onward to the next book!

[Dean liapis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed here, but that comes with a caveat. I am a green lantern fan, yet I am not a huge science fiction fan (I realize this makes little sense), so I am usually more bored when it gets to far flung galactic tales without recognizable villains and earthly stakes.

Venditti's run was great on XO-Manowar, so I was hoping a hero with a similar vibe would be a home run. Granted i picked this volume up without reading what came before but the book does a good job at setting the backstory.

It just seemed like more of the same; Hal is on the run, the GL Corps is missing or dead (again?) the guardians are dicks, no one trusts them and Hal is one man against the world. It all just seemed a bit played out, very "been there done that" and I lost interest quickly. Even the addition of Black Hand didn't do much for me.

Billy Tan's pencils usually do it for me, but I was underwhelmed with the art as well. Bummed.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

So apparently Hal now has long hair like some teenage Goth and looks about 12. Oh, and he has a big green glove, a malevolent ship, and is a wanted criminal. Why? I'm really not sure. It turns out that DC again did a horrible job of mapping its collections, so the Godhead crossover that followed Vol. 5 overlaps only half of Vol. 6. So, I dunno how we got here, but fortunately Venditti's run hasn't been great enough for me to care about missing the three issues in between (38-40).

As for this volume: it's not bad. It makes good use of an old foe and nicely recalls the (problematic, but canon) Light's Out event. Everything is way, way too decompressed, with (for example) an issue spent visiting a doctor. And, Hal's companions are a little one note. But, this is more like 3.5 stars than 3.

[Paweł · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hal Jordan jako kosmiczny tułacz-awanturnik? Zapowiadało się bardzo ciekawie, wyszło jako tako. Podoba mi się idea wagabundy z rękawicą mocy, ale w tym tomie na główny plan wychodzą konsekwencje walki z Nowymi Bogami w postaci niewygodnego dla świata Black Handa. O ile sprawdzał się jako główny zły w fenomenalnej Blackest Night, tak tutaj jest zapchajdziurą, bo autorom nie chce się wymyślać nowych przeciwników i zagrożeń dla zielonego protagonisty. Wrażenie deja vu potęguje pojawienie się paralaskowej wersji Jordana.

[Caio Venturelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

O gibi começa se passando algum tempo depois do último volume dos lanternas verdes dos novos 52, volume 6, e mostra Hal Jordan como renegado portando a luva de krona e se aventurando pelo espaço. Hal e agora um sobrevivente, procurado e que faz servições em troca de dinheiro. No início da história um personagem e resgato, outro se junta a eles e um segredo com relação a tropa e revelado. Concomitante a isso, um ameaça atinge diversos planetas os tornando pedra. Aliados estranhos são feitos para resolver essa situação.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this volume but it did take me a little to get through and I'm not sure why. It may be just me but the story did seem a little verbose. Also the random change in art style mid-issue threw me. I had to go back and see if I was missing any pages but that was really odd. Overall, I'm really enjoying where Venditti is taking Hal Jordan and the run he's on. Could have used a little more exposition on Hal and his run from the law rather than the focus on Ketleth and the bandits but still fun. I'd recommend the series. Grade: B

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't like this. Robert Venditti continues his quest to ruin Hal Jordan (including his worst look ever). Here, without any kind of explanation Hal acts out of character and gets a new cast of supporting characters that are generic and cliched. The antagonists here are weak and repetitive. I just don't understand why this version of Hal was thought to be anything but terrible. Billy Tan's art was also sketchy and subpar. Overall, an abysmal rebrand.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the weakest part of Venditti's run so far. I do like that Hal gets pure alien supporting cast. If you're a space cop, have only aliens as your team-mates. Too many human and human like aliens take prominent roles in GLC stories.

Relic's back which is fine. The Black hand storyline from Godhead is interesting. The team that is trying to fill the void of the missing GLC is a good idea.

[Adan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty dumb, though I am fond of Darlene. Hal's new status quo doesn't make a lot of sense, and I had really hoped they'd follow up on the New Gods stuff, but alas. Billy Tan's art is what saves this book from getting only one star. And Darlene, of course.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you never get around to watching Star Wars?
Do you hate Green Lantern as much as Robert Venditti does?
Then this is the book for you.

As a Star Wars pitch, this is pretty mundane and retreads much of what we have seen before. As a Green Lantern book, this is non-existent.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than the previous volumes, but it did raise the question of when the other Green Lanterns disappeared. Did it happen in the pages of Green Lantern Corps, or Red Lanterns? I don't think it did...

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of Hal Jordan going rogue works really well here. I don't know if I'm right, but I felt like I was reading a really well done sci-fi western.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey! A step up! Vendetti writes charming and funny dialogue this time and the plot is simple enough, so hooray!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic Adventures and Galactic Action! :D Crisp High Five! :D

[Jonas Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the direction this thread is going even though I know it won't last.