The Green Lantern Omnibus, Vol. 1

Green Lantern

by John Broome, Gardner Francis Fox, Gil Kane (Illustrator)

Collecting SHOWCASE #22-24 and GREEN LANTERN #1-21 in a massive new hardcover! These are the tales that introduced Hal Jordan and feature his induction into the Green Lantern Corps. Also included are the intros of the Guardians of the Universe, Star Sapphire, Sinestro and more!

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

640 pages, Hardcover

First published November 26, 2010

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bro...

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to talk about how Hal Jordan is an asshole.

1) His mechanic and friend Tom Kalmaku is an Eskimo from Alaska, so of course since this is 1959 he calls him "Pieface". Eskimo Pie, get it, hahaha. Also "his little greasemonkey". It bugs me, and even though he played along it bugged Tom too (if you don't believe me read Englehart's GL comics from the 1980s). Tom's wife is called Terga and not "Mrs. Pieface" so there's that.

2) Hal doesn't seem to do any work for half of these stories. Most of the time he's trying to hook up with his boss Carol Ferris, going to parties, driving around in his convertible, being a prick. But, a fearless prick, so there's that.

3) Hal's not very smart. The writers make him smart at times to get out of certain situations but he wasn't chosen for his mind that's for sure. Also, he gets hit on the head and knocked out A LOT. All of this is separate from the yellow-vulnerability issue. I don't feel the need to harp on that.

Reading these stories I mainly wanted to be reading Flash stories because Barry Allen was at least a good guy and a smart guy and frankly more entertaining. However, I enjoyed seeing other Green Lanterns, and goofy Silver Age villains, and best of all, the Qwardian contest to see who was the most evil, complete with a betting line and a random guy with a bowler hat. Apparently that was a thing.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently I have been engaged in reading Geoff Johns run on Green Lantern which culminated in Blackest Night --a publisher event based on the extended Green Lantern mythos, going back to Hal Jordan's first appearance in the pages of Showcase as the new Green Lantern in 1959. The "Silver Age" of comics, at least for DC who used the pages of Showcase to introduce updated versions of "Golden Age" heroes like the Flash, Hawkman, the Atom and Green Lantern, was an opportunity to update those heroes for new readers. The world was several decades away from acknowledging that comics weren't just for kids, but DC's attempt to update their heroes in a post World War II context (and Marvel's subsequent "response" in the form of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers) was an important step to legitimizing the comic form as a storytelling medium for all readers. However, the road to that legitimization was not always a smooth one, which is more than proven with the existence of this omnibus, which contains the Showcase Green Lantern appearances, as well as the first 21 issues of his own title, mainly under the vision of writer John Broome.

The good here is some of the classic elements of Green Lantern that Johns was able to use as the central drivers behind most of his run on the book--the Weaponers of Qward, who were so central to Marv Wolfman's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Star Sapphire, the alter ego of Jordan/Green Lantern's love interest Carol Ferris (yes her existence was misogynistic as hell in that first appearance--more on that in a moment--but was rehabilitated by later Green Lantern creative teams, including Johns) and of course Sinestro, Sinestro, Sinestro (maybe too much Sinestro?) The good here is definitely utilized by Johns during his run brilliantly in such arcs as The Sinestro Corps War , much like Ed Brubaker did in the pages of Captain America.

However, there is a lot of bad here as well. Some of it is just silly--things like the ring not working against anything colored yellow or the fact that a ring that could create constructs based on will alone could also somehow make Green Lantern invisible or shrink into an atomic microverse. Eventually the powers of the ring would become more codified as the series wore on, but even for someone who really doesn't give a crap about continuity, could we at least make sure what the ring can do is consistent? But this volume also has even more insidious problems with it. In previous Green Lantern reviews I have complained about how Hal Jordan is my least favorite Green Lantern because of the privileged cis, white maleness of the character. Unfortunately, in this volume we get a heaping helping of misogyny and racism. Carl Ferris, the owner of Ferris Air, decides to go on a two year sabbatical and leaves his daughter Carol in charge. Usually one would think that this would be a really forward thinking view of women in executive positions in Corporate America, but instead it is used a flimsy excuse for her not to date Hal Jordan while pining after Green Lantern. Of course, Hal and the Green Lantern are the same person, but Hal's disgusting internal monologues where he feels entitled to Carol's affections, but only as himself, and not as the masked dude that he also is really undermine any sort of autonomy that Carol feels running her father's company. And then there is her role as Star Sapphire herself, where she essentially spends the whole issue trying to figure out a way to effectively submit to the Green Lantern's dominance. And let's not forget Hal's "eskimo" (the Inuit people hate that term) mechanic "Pieface." If I am unwilling to give Will Eisner a pass for the casual racism, John Broome certainly will not. The excuse that it is just a product of the times is garbage. Eisner figured out ten years earlier that the black minstrel figure that was Ebony White was problematic, so that should definitely not be the excuse here. However, we shouldn't attempt to erase our terrible history in these regards, but acknowledge that they are there and they are wrong.

Unfortunately, given these issues with the character of Hal Jordan, sometimes these early Green Lantern stories feel like when the ring sought out Abin Sur's replacement (although in this volume it was the dying Sur himself) it decided to pick Bret Kavanaugh and I just can't get behind that. In Johns' run, I think he managed to redeem Jordan somewhat, but it's really hard to ignore all of this history, especially when it is staring you in the face.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am something of a newbie in Green Lantern circles. I had never read any comic books featuring him until the Chronicles trade paperbacks came out two years ago. I wasn't going to go for the upgrade, but this book was pretty and sang to me from the shelf of the comic book store. After a few weeks, I could no longer resist the siren's call. The first two softcovers covered roughly 320 of the 640 pages in this book, so the first half was a re-read for me. That's fine, as the faulty science and zany Silver Age DC flavor made this lots of fun to read. DC was so square when compared to the Atlas/ Marvel Comics of the day. I try to keep things in context of the area it was released in when I am reading it, but I had to dial that way down for this book and just enjoy this for what it is: light hearted science fiction flavored superhero comic books. Gil Kane's early artwork didn't hurt this title's cause none. You can watch his work become more refined with each passing issue.

Gil Kane redesigned Green Lantern's now iconic costume for this Silver Age relaunch. I have never read the Golden Age Green Lantern, and it is not necessary to understand this character. The Flash is another character who was completely redesigned around this time with an equally dynamic costume and powers.

My biggest gripe with DC as a whole are the seemingly limitless powers that their heroes have. At least Green Lantern has some hiccups and some limitations to his power. Marvel excelled because of the flaws and limitations of their heroes. Green Lantern/ Hal Jordan's biggest problem is that his girl is in love with Green Lantern and not him. These are just fun reads, and there is a second omnibus being released this November.

DC's collected editions department boggles my mind. I can imagine them sitting there with a dartboard with things written on it in the various target areas: Glued binding. Sewn binding. Nice paper. Tissue paper thin paper. Mediocre paper. Sealed in cellophane. Not sealed in cellophane. Fully restored. Discolored scans. I imagine the editor throwing 3 darts, and whichever of the three in each category he hits, that's what the book will have. Marvel has an across the board level of quality that is 99% consistent. DC does not.

I am grateful that the C.E.D. editor's dart hit the nice paper space for this release. While not as nice as a DC Archive or a Marvel Omnibus, it is a decent weight and a low sheen coated stock. The binding, while glued, allows this 640 page book to lay reasonably flat. The only trouble spots are the first and last 40 or so pages. The gutters aren't bad except in the aforementioned areas, where you have to pick up the book and tilt it slightly to see the right hand (in the back) or left hand (in the front) edge of the page. Most folks are not as anal as I am books laying flat on the bed like I am, so your mileage may vary.

The color and linework restoration are all excellent, and while I wish that this book had sewn binding, it is acceptable at the price point and the glued binding is not brittle and doesn't crack when handling, a very good sign for long term viability.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for historical purposes but fairly cheesy by today’s standards. Still, fun to see the origin of so many iconic characters. May pick up Vol 2 down the road.

[NS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic old style comic. I actually really enjoyed this thinking about what someone my dads age as a kid would have thought about it. it felt nostalgic in the best way. good story and enjoyable run in this omni.