Green Lantern #42

What an entertaining issue. Geoff Johns is rolling along at full speed as the DCU gears up for Blackest Night. I'm still loving where Johns is steering the DCU. Hal Jordan faces off against Larfleeze as the two of them fight over the blue lantern ring and the orange battery. The opening scene where Hal creates an army of constructs to battle Larfleeze was fun, but Larfleeze's response was genius. Larfleeze yells out "You stole my idea!" making it the best scene of the issue. Larfleeze is so petty and quick to think people are trying to steal from him, he is a fantastic villain. He's more than just a coward, because he seems to believe he deserves everything he takes. He's like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, and the whole world is his precious.

There is a great sequence where Hal finally gets the blue ring to accept him and suddenly, Hal is back in the game. He grabs the orange battery from Larfleeze and Hal is suddenly an Orange Lantern. The battery immediately starts whispering to him and calling him "Mr. Jordan" and asking if he wants something to eat. I suppose after a lifetime of that whispering, someone could end up like Larfleeze. I was pleased to see that no more Lanterns got killed this issue, although it doesn't look good for our Anti-Monitor search crew. The "good" Guardians are seeming more and more evil, this issue they sell out Ganthet's Blue Lantern world to Larfleeze pretty quickly. It is going to be tough rooting for the GLs if the Guardians are going to be this shady all the time.
Phillip Tan and Eddy Barrows' art looks VERY rushed in parts of the issue. The cross-hatching and detail work that was so overwhelming in Tan's early issues isn't a factor here, but the art isn't as striking either. The writing is where this one shines.

Good