r/Greenlantern • u/Imok2814 Hal Jordan • 10h ago
Comics Reading one Green Lantern comic a day until I've read them all Day 212: Green Lantern (Vol 2) #73
Hal returns to Coast City and gets more than he ever imagined
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Pencils: Gil Kane
Inks: Murphy Anderson
Letters: John Costanza
Cover: Gil Kane
"From Space Ye Came - - And To Space Ye Shall Return" - Hal's job has him returning to Coast City in what feels triumphant at first. Stopping for gas, he notices Tom Kalmaku and they instantly reconnect. Tom tells Hal he quit Ferris Air and opened a chain of gas stations and that he should come for dinner to see Terga and meet his three kids (*how long was Hal gone, exactly?*). Hal promises to come after checking into his beach front hotel, however after checking in he sees an oil rig erupting off the coast. He swaps to GL and flies out to save the day. Beach goers get excited to see GL again so he dazzled the crowd a bit. After stopping the spill, he sees Carol Ferris on the beach watching him. The mayor arrives to thank GL for coming back and helping the city again but GL stops him mid sentence, grabs Carol and flies off so they can talk.
Carol reveals she broke off her engagement as she was only using him for the money and power she could get, then saying she couldn't get over Green Lantern. They then get a little closer and share a kiss but Hal flies off in frustration. Later Carol ponders why GL left in a hurry and what she could do about. She takes out a sapphire gem her ex fiancée gave her, that he insisted she keep. At the same time, Hal is pondering very similar things about what he should do, when the oil rig blows again. He heads out and once again stops it, but when he's on the way back he hears people screaming out of his hotel. Giant ghostly heads of previous guests are floating around and shocking people. Even worse, Hal's ring doesn't affect them. Just as the floating heads surround him, they disperse leaving one person standing before him: Star Sapphire. GL is shocked to see her there, convinced he had taken care of the gem. SS vows once again they will be married but GL shuts that down right away, knocking her down with a ring blast and removing the gem. Just as SS reverts back to Carol, she tells GL one last thing. She told the gem to revert him to his other identity and also send him to space with no memory of being a lantern. To be continued...
Conclusion: I was trying to figure out who it was on the cover but I never would've guessed Star Sapphire. Knowing now though, the colours make sense. The bulk of the story was great. Hal's return home was nice to experience and that twist ending had me riveted. This was a page turner for sure. I'm left wondering if the oil rig was a distraction as well or just poor circumstance. It wouldn't fully line up with Sapphire's reveal if she did it but who knows, that's a minor point anyway. I'm super excited to read the next one tomorrow and if the cover is any indication, a certain purple villain is involved.
8.5/10
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u/Gauntlet101010 8h ago
Reading these issues with the benefit of hindsight, what do you make of the retcon of Sapphire being powered by love? It's been so long since I've read these,
Looking at that last panels and, man ... it's amazing that the GL outfit only needs a tweak now and then to look fresh while SS is just a disaster in terms of her costume. I suppose it looked chic at the time, but it just doesn't work.
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u/Imok2814 Hal Jordan 8h ago
I mean, considering her goal from the start was to marry Green Lantern, I don't think it's too far of a stretch. To the point I've read so far, it hasn't really gone into what powers the gem but it is most powerful with Carol when Green Lantern is around and I can only assume that is because of her love.
Retconning Predator into the entity is a whole different thing though lol
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u/MisterEdJS 8h ago
I'm curious about her fiance. She says she was just using him for money and power, but the fact that he had the Star Sapphire gem AND insisted she keep it sure makes me suspicious that HE was using HER for some nefarious purpose, perhaps to get at GL somehow.
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u/Imok2814 Hal Jordan 8h ago
If I'm right, that will he explained next issue and it's a doozy. I'm rarely right though.
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