Release Date: January 11, 2012
Cover Date: March 2012
Story: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Mark Irwin, Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy and Tom Nguyen
Cover: Doug Mahnke and Keith Champagne
Variant Cover: Mike Choi
Arsona and friends try to use their rings against Sinestro, but of course they won’t work. Sinestro summons his power battery, and the group uses it to help break free. Along with Hal Jordan, Sinestro is finally able to shut down the Sinestro Corps Central Power Battery, which knocks out all of the evil Corpsmen on Korugar. Some of the citizens hail him for saving them, but Sinestro admits that he does not deserve their praise. Arsona tells him to leave, and never return. Sinestro sends Hal back to Earth without a power battery and returns to Oa, where the Guardians are not pleased. They plan to release the First Lantern from the Chamber of Shadows to lead their Third Army, though the other horrors in the Chamber may not like it. Meanwhile, Hal reconciles with Carol. (What a shock.)
The Sinestro Corps brought down?! Wasn’t quite expecting that, but in true comic book fashion, there’s an easy out right there in the pages. Sure, Sinestro disabled their Central Power Battery and rendered hundreds of Corpsmen comatose, but he states that there’s still loads of active members still roaming the galaxy. I’m assuming that they’re still drawing power from their personal batteries. It was mentioned that Arkillo is incommunicado; that’s a nice reference to Green Lantern: New Guardians, but if someone’s not reading that book, it doesn’t seem forced or out-of-place. Well done.
With Hal claiming a power ring can’t be broken by its user, and Sinestro bragging that he’s done it not once but twice, we’re given yet another example of how much Hal sucks compared to his former mentor. I really don’t like that. I know Geoff Johns has a raging fanboy hard-on for Sinestro, and his work in revamping the character deserves tremendous credit, but this is getting ridiculous. It seems that every other Green Lantern is far more skilled with the power ring than Hal; it makes you wonder why he’s considered to be so powerful in the first place!
Carol giving Hal another chance wasn’t so hot, ether. I know their romance is longstanding, but after the shitstorm she gave Hal in past issues, she’s back in his arms in no time. She even mentions this is his tenth chance! Carol was often portrayed as a strong, independent woman, but this reduces her to a stereotypical female who needs and is defined by her man.
Let’s move on to the other good plot points. The big name drop here was the Chamber of Shadows. We’ve heard the First Lantern mentioned before (and possibly seen), but this Chamber is new. This serves a few purposes: one, it’s naturally the prison for the First Lantern, but by mentioning that the Chamber contains other denizens, it gives Johns a hook for future stories if he so chooses. (And retcons, but that’s to be expected by now.)
Doug Mahnke’s linework was great, and I love the creepy Sinestro Corps members he’s dreamt up. The Korugarians looks a bit too generic, with Arsona being the only standout, but the massive battle scenes were expertly rendered. Even the little details stood out; for example, when flying back to Oa, Sinestro’s got the Central Power Battery and evil Corpsmen locked up…and you can also see Mongul imprisoned separately below the Battery. Mongul was trapped in the Battery in Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #46, and it’s nice to see that little detail has not been forgotten.
Overall, Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #5 was a very good issue. The story seemed to end here, but modern comics do love their six-part tales, so we’ll see what next month brings.
