Art: Doug Mahnke, Mark Irwin, Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC Comics
Well that was interesting. Green Lantern #9 crams in a lot of history and exposition into its pages. We get some background on Sinestro, which is interesting, but of greater import is learning the Indigo Tribe’s connection to Abin Sur. And if that’s not shocking enough, why he had a connection to the tribe in the first place is sure to rock the world of any long-time Green Lantern fan. We hear the phrase “this changes everything” a lot in the comic book world, but I think that perhaps this time, that just may turn out to be very true.
At its core, and without spoiling too much, it seems the Indigo light of compassion is really all about contrition; a forced contrition of sorts. The rings help people come to terms with their past, to feel remorse for the things they have done. The question is, if the only reason they’re feeling any of that is because of the ring, does that make what they experience true contrition? Are they really changed? Have they truly found redemption? You may be surprised to know that God actually has a similar plan, albeit without using rings. In John 16: 8 Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit and he says of him, “When he comes, he will convict the world the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…”, the point being that God wants people to change as well, he wants them to find redemption, and he know that change can only come when there’s remorse and contrition over sin. The Holy Spirit helps us understand just how serious, dangerous and damaging sin is, and then the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection is what frees us from sin, brings redemption and is the catalyst for lasting change. The key difference between’s God approach and Abin Sur’s; with God the choice is entirely up to us. We aren’t forced to put on the Holy Spirit to bring about the change, we must freely choose him and change will come. There’s also that whole issue of what happens to the “change” once the rings come off; Hal and Sinestro may be about to find out.
As for Abin Sur’s plan, the question now is whether or not it can succeed without him. Some, apparently don’t think so, and if they are right, then the shape of the Green Lantern universe is about to be reshaped in some very surprising ways. Look, I’m not a long-time GL fan, but even I can tell there are some very ominous things on the horizon in light of what’s revealed in this issue. If you’re looking for big action, that’s what you have Justice League for. Here, there’s pretty much just a lot of talking, but that talk is pretty gripping and some big things are happening. I should also say that some of the layout of this book was a bit confusing. Transitions between flashbacks and present time weren’t very clear (maybe that was part of the trippy point), and there where time where things didn’t flow well from one panel to the next (Whoa! Where did those guys suddenly appear out of nowhere from?!). Despite all of that, I’m not just excited to see what happens next with this “Secret of the Indigo Tribe” arc, I’m also excited to see where it all leads.
Score: 5 of 7
A BIG thanks to Astro-Zombies for providing the material for this review. Learn more about them at astrozombies.com.
