Member Reviews
"Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1" by Gabriel Hardman is a fresh and exciting take on the classic Green Lantern story. Hardman's writing is compelling, with well-rounded characters and a richly imagined world. The artwork, also by Hardman, is stunning, with bold lines and vibrant colors that pop off the page. The Earth One series is known for its innovative reimagining of classic DC characters, and this volume is no exception. Highly recommended for fans of Green Lantern, science fiction, and graphic novels in general. This is a standout entry in the Earth One series.
As a mom of kids who absolutely love Green Lantern I thought they did a great job with his character and story. My girls had a fun time reading this with me and they agreed it was a must buy!
Usually I find the Earth One series from DC Comics to be pretty good. This Green Lantern volume was a bit underwhelming when compared to other titles in the series. In a not too far future, Hal Jordan works for a deep space mining company. He is disillusioned, and he remembers the days when NASA used to exist and promote the nobility of space exploration. Now, in one of the asteroids his team is mining, they find what appears to be an alien spacecraft. He finds a ring that turns out to be quite powerful. Soon he is in another part of the galaxy, where the Green Lantern Corps has fallen. It falls up to an untrained Hal Jordan and a few reluctant corps survivors to attempt to restore the Green Lantern Corps.
To be honest, this book is a quick read, but it is not particularly memorable. The pace picks up, and the story feels seriously rushed. You can't really connect to anyone because the characters and plot are barely given any depth. It's just a rushed whirlwind. Since it is the first volume in a series, it does end in a cliffhanger.
Overall, this felt flat and rushed. After I finished reading it, it just did not feel memorable. Long time fans of Green Lantern may be disappointed here. Casual readers hoping to get a good look at Green Lantern may want to consider other works. This is just a quick and forgettable read. For libraries, I would say this is highly optional. For me, it was just OK.
My knowledge of Green Lantern is very limited, so I knew I had to try this book out when I saw it on Netgalley. Unfortunately I can't say I'm more knowledgeable now after reading this book than I was before. The ending took me by surprise and I'd like to see what happens next with the new rings. The story was also a bit too fast paced and I didn't get to have a real connection with Jordan, the main character.
The art was beautiful, and it matched the tone of the story, even though I felt as if some of the drawings were a bit too grainy for my taste. The panels weren't crowded with text and they were easy to follow.
All in all, this was a good story, but one that didn't meet my expectations.
I am unable to provide feedback for this title, as I was never able to read it. Literally the day after my request for it was approved, it was archived. And I didn’t see the approval email until that next day. So I was never able to download it, nor read it, And that’s a shame, because it looked good.
A very well-illustrated graphic novel. Can be used as an entry point to readers new to the Green Lantern universe. But this was out of my usual reading genre, and I had trouble finishing it. I don't think it was anything to do with the quality, just that the Green Lantern is not to my personal liking.
Everything I knew about Green Lantern, prior to reading this, came from that oh so popular movie starring Ryan Reynolds (no, not that movie, you know the one, yeah, that one). When I saw this title on NetGalley, I thought it would be a great opportunity to start fresh. As such, I tried to forget what I thought I knew (which given my one resource, really wasn't that much), and see this from fresh eyes. Before I continue, I need to say that I received an ARC of the book, which I'm told means the art may not have been completely set. Having said that, there were some aspects of the art I had a difficult time with. Some of it was too dark (not Exorcism of Emily Rose dark, but shaded too darkly). I enjoyed the story, but some of Hal's external dialogue to himself (is that a thing) didn't hit the spot. I mean, it felt like the writer wanted something funny to be there, not because anything funny was actually funny - but they wanted the reader to laugh. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say some of the humor fell flat. Otherwise, it was very enjoyable. We've already got a copy in our teen section!
ARC from Netgalley.
This new spin on an origin story really shows off the will of Hal Jordan, and how a man who should have buckled under the pressure of galactic chaos rose up to become the greatest Green Lantern of all.
Hal Jordan of Ferris Galactic is an asteroid miner who has sworn off ever returning to Earth. During a deep mining operation, he runs across a dead alien wearing a green ring near a deactivated robot. Taking the ring for himself, he discovers it has powers when a mishap leaves him adrift in space. The ring gives off a green aura that protects him, both instinctively and through the making of light constructs Hal himself controls. When he activates the ring for the first time, the robot (known to us as a Manhunter) puts himself on Hal's trail.
Arriving on Bolovox Vik, he meets Kilowog, another Green Lantern (though with much less training then we are used to seeing) and they spend the rest of the book either running from Manhunters, meeting other members of the Corps, or fighting to restore the main Green Power Battery on Oa. Lots of action, love the darker and gritty art style, and can't wait to see what else Earth One has to throw at the Green Lantern Corps.
High recommend.
Anyone who enjoyed Green Lantern will want to read this title. For any library looking to build their comic collection and are looking to do some events around a library comic-con idea, then they should get this title.
The Earth One series from DC Comics is intended to retell the origins of the heroes as they are starting out in their superhero journey.
We all have a general idea of how Hal Jordan became a Green Lantern, whether it was from the movie, or from reading a previous comic book. For this Earth One comic though, we get a completely different telling of how Hal Jordan becomes a Green Lantern.
This different telling of how Hal Jordan becomes a Green Lantern is not set on Earth. Hal is an astronaut (which suits the origin story better in my opinion) and whilst out on a mission, discovers a Green Lantern ring. The set-up for the next volume was the main purpose in my mind, but it was done in such a way that it was not obvious or annoying either.
The art style used in this comic will probably not be everyone’s cup-of-tea, I personally absolutely loved it! It felt very gritty and down to Earth (even though it is set in space). In every panel, you can see the attention to detail and the care that has been taken. Like I said, it is very gritty which most people will not enjoy as the colour palette is on the darker side.
If you are enjoying the other books in this Earth One series, then the Green Lantern one will be right up your alley.
I love Green Lantern comics! I am a huge fan. I was curious about how this alternate take on Green Lantern would go. And I must say I am pleasantly surprised and happy. The Graphic Novel has the characters I wanted with an alternate take it is very interesting considering the new alternate knowledge about them. It has an incredible take and held my interest the whole way through. I do not want to ruin anything but it is definitely a worthwhile read!
I didn't dislike this story really and the art was good. The balance between the neon green by the colourist was really well handled.
My issue was that Hal didn't feel motivated to do anything. His story progressed because it was, but I felt nothing from him. O top of that every character read with the exact same voice and tone.
Overall it was a good start but underwhelming.
I am a huge Green Lantern fan. Those who know me, know that GL is my hero of choice, so I was excited to get a chance to read and review Green Lantern: Earth One Vol 1.
I have to say that I really like the different take on the GL mythos that's found in the pages of this graphic novel. While long term fans like myself will spot a lot of seemingly minor differences in the history of the characters and universe, it was overall similar enough that the baby isn't being thrown out with the bathwater.
Additionally while many other DC series have seen major reboots in recent years, GL has largely been the same since Geoff Johns' Rebirth series. And while some of those reboots were hit or miss, I think this pays enough tribute to what has come before while repacking everything in a new way that leaves me excitedly waiting to see what comes next.
And what is any comic book without the art? This book offered a different, grittier take than I'm used to, but I found myself really enjoying the style. The visuals of the lantern energy in particular are top notch, and I like the new depictions of otherwise well known characters. They somehow feel a little more real and lived-in.
I highly recommend this book to Green Lantern fans, both old and new, as well as anyone interested in comics or the sci-fi genre.
I tend to treat the Earth One series as Elseworlds tales. That way I can process the familiar characters with unfamiliar details in their origin stories. Since we are rebooting an established character, I'm always filling in the gaps in the story with what I know from normal DC canon, and looking for the ways the Earth One book is different. For example, Harold Jordan used to work for NASA, and he begins the story in space looking to mine precious metals from asteroids. Perhaps that is a more modern/futuristic occupation for him than test pilot. Instead of being bequeathed the ring by a dying Abin Sur after he crashed his spaceship on Earth and earning it because he is a man without fear, Jordan finds the ring on the dead body of an alien in space (okay, that at least reduces the number of questions we have about why a Green Lantern needed a spaceship in the first place) and apparently anyone can wield one.
But the problem with the book is that the storytelling and art are below average, so I'm not sure the story stands on its own. If this was a book about a new hero called "Space Ring," I don't think it would be very popular.
This Earth One story differs from other books in the Earth One universe in that besides a few tweaks, it's the same origin Hal Jordan has always had. Hal Jordan is an asteroid miner who comes across Abin Sur's crashed ship. He finds the ring but doesn't really know what to do with it, acting on pure instinct. He comes across Kilowog and finds out the Corps has been wiped out by the Manhunters and the few GL's left live in hiding. That's pretty much all you need to know at this point, it's Green Lantern versus the Manhunters. The Manhunters are something of generic villain, but c'est la vie. Hal has lost his swagger. He's more of an regular Joe, than a egotistical, hotshot test pilot. The book is left open for a sequel.
Gabriel Hardman's art is very fitting for the book. You can tell he's a sci-fi vet and it shows, having worked on Invisible Republic and as the storyboard artist on Interstellar.
Green Lantern: Earth One Vol.1 tell the origin story of Hal Jordan becoming the Green Lantern. Rich in green hues, the art expresses the story and sets the mood for an action packed telling of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal's backstory is well thought out and expressed and the addition of Kilowag, who has long been my favorite Green Lantern, just adds more enjoyment to the story. The Manhunters scream creepy villains in a story where heroes are made in battle. Although sometimes lacking in dialogue, the story line is unique and well written for a smoothly flowing plot full of rich characters . The book was a fast, enjoyable read that leaves you wanting more. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
Hmmm... I don't know why people are reviewing this as a birth-of-Hal-Jordan book, when it hardly qualifies as such.
It's about the birth of the whole Green Lantern Corps just as much as Hal, and as I'd not seen an origin story for the whole shebang, that counted as a plus. But the greatest plus remained the slightly old-school, but really distinctive and quality artwork - the writing wasn't up to a huge amount, the story wasn't brilliantly original, and the characters don't exactly endear themselves (I never did like Kilowatt anyway...).
Still, as an origin story/rebirth story/reboot for the Corps it wasn't too bad.
Review for Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1.
A new angle on the Origin of the first Green Lantern of Earth. Set in the future where Hal Jordan is a disgraced ex-NASA astronaut working as a contract miner.
More to come...
So, it's time for Hal Jordan to get his turn getting the Earth One treatment.
It was a different sort of story about Hal, but not so different enough that it was off putting. Hal's an asteroid miner. But, then he finds an alien ship on one of the asteroids and the Green Lantern ring as well, and gets thrust into a war between the Manhunters (from the regular universe guys, although a bit robot-ier I think) and Green Lanterns who are scattered about the Universe and don't really know who they are. Also, he sorta restarts the Green Lantern Corps.
He also meets Kilowog who is a different sort, and that was cool seeing him in a different light. And I can never get enough Kilowog. I just wish that there had been a little John Stewart in this, or Jessica Cruz or Simon Baz. Hal Jordan these days is kinda the boring Green Lantern to me...
I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.
I got an ARC of this from NetGalley for a honest review.
I say this all with the above caveat and the caveat that I'm a huge Hal Jordan fan. He is by far my favorite Green Lantern. This book takes the basis of Jordan's story and flips it on its head. This is a great addition to the Earth One canon. The idea that Jordan has become an ex-astronaut and is now a excavator in space is just phenomal. The art in this is a little dark but it definitely fits the theme of the book.
I can't recommend this enough, especially if you like the Earth One canon already.