Green Lantern: Hero's Quest | |||||
Dennis O'Neil | |||||
Multi-cast narration, adaptation | |||||
GraphicAudio, 7 Hours | |||||
A review by Ivy Reisner
In the back alley behind a smoke-filled bar, young art student and ne'er-do-well Kyle Rayner encounters a strange
blue gentleman in a red nightshirt. The gentleman gives him an odd green ring, then disappears. Soon Kyle
finds himself possessed of powers he doesn't understand. He is invited to join the Justice League, only the
League, and the Watchtower, suddenly vanish. In trying to find out why, he uncovers a plot to erase all of
the aesthetically disturbing elements in creation, which would be most life forms. Talk about a crazy first assignment.
This is an alternate reality version of how Kyle Rayner became the Green Lantern, and although it carries a
few in-jokes with the original, it doesn't fix precisely into the DC continuity. In this version, Hal Jordan
is immediately succeeded by Kyle Rayner. There is no Guy Gardner, and no John Stewart. The Oans are very
different in this incarnation.
There is a tremendous growth for this character, and that, more than the space battles, strange aliens, or
missing super heroes, is the driving force for this story. Because it is a coming-of-age story for Kyle,
we don't get to see much of the rest of the Justice League. We have a few scenes with Superman, and the
occasional appearance of Wonder Woman, the Flash (we aren't told which Flash), the Atom, Plastic Man,
and the Atom. Batman has a bit more time, but for the most part, those heroes have to move to the side
so that Kyle can transform from self-proclaimed slacker to hero.
The structure of this book is particularly interesting. We're facing a quest within a quest here. First,
we have the quest to save the universe (and incidentally the Justice League), but second, we have the quest
to save, not only Kyle's sense of self, of identity, but his potential. We're told in the beginning that he's
not living up to it, that "potential" is all it will ever be. At the end, we not only see it realized, but we
see why it is important that his unique potential, not in terms of power but in terms of how he sees the world,
is important. We start and end on a small island with a small group engaged in a skirmish with a larger
one. The Justice League rushes in at the book's opening to defend the law; Kyle doesn't rush, but that's
both his bane and his blessing. When he goes in, at the book's closing, he goes with information, and
wisdom. He's telling the story to one person, and along the way mentions how he had been telling the story
up to a point to another person, and how he told that other person about telling the story to an even earlier
point to a third person. It's a kind of series of concentric narrative rings.
This story deals with time, and you have to pay attention, because there are some parts of the story's history
that are changed, but that Kyle, as narrator, doesn't realize have been edited. We're clued to these changes
once in a while, so we're told that the planting of a redwood tree was moved back a few decades. Sometimes
we're not. Kyle is summoned to the Watchtower, just before it vanishes. Later, Batman shows a video taken
inside the Watchtower where it is implied that Kyle called the meeting, and an anomaly that suggests the
cameras were filming after they had vanished, only Kyle didn't know how to call such a meeting. Finally,
when that meeting ultimately happens, Kyle begins by explaining why he called it. Other, similar distortions
happen, and finding them is part of the fun. Those familiar with the DC universe will see another distortion
in exactly why Kyle just happened to be "in the right place at the right time" to receive the ring.
How Kyle responds to his surroundings is a telling measure of his growth, and his expectations of himself,
though he never seems to get over a fascination with barcaloungers. It also parallels him. He starts small,
beaten psychologically into a small curled-up ball, living in half of a basement. As the story grows, his
horizons expand, to various parts of the Earth, to the solar system, to the whole of the universe, and he
starts replacing terms like "amazing" to "familiar" to describe the same things.
The ending might be a bit disappointing for readers who want a standard, formulaic resolution to the external
problem, but this one better solves the interior problem, and in a character-driven story like this, that is
more satisfying.
The production quality is extraordinary, with music scored by Dan Smith and Johann Dettweiler, and a host of
talented voice actors. The sound effects contribute to the story, without getting in the way, and start to
become an audible shorthand for things like the ring activating or charging, and this helps to speed the
telling, thereby making the story seem faster. This is one better enjoyed in audio as opposed to text. It
suits itself well for it, and it is perfectly done.
Watch for Green Lantern: First Flight coming on DVD in July 2009, then Green Lantern in
theaters December 2010. Both of these feature the Hal Jordan Green Lantern. The Green Lantern (again the
Hal Jordan version) is featured in his own monthly comic, by DC Comics.
Ivy Reisner is a writer, an obsessive knitter, and a podcaster. Find her at IvyReisner.com. |
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