Gorgeous, that’s what Xermanico’s cover illustration is, and it’s the perfect image for the month of St Valentine. It looks like our star, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, is going to propose to his longtime on-off lady love, Carol Ferris. Formerly a fierce businesswoman, these days Carol is spending her time as a member of Justice League Unlimited, and League business is what’s brought her to Paris with colleague Dove.
Or so she thinks. There’s no emergency, it’s a surprise!
After a spot of clothes shopping – a girl has to look stylish in Paris – Hal and Carol embark on a wonderful evening exploring the streets of the French capital. He’s working up to the big moment…
Carol has tuned into something. Is it this green-clad troublemaker?
It is not, though she does make for a few fun pages of action as Star Sapphire, miffed at having a probable proposal interrupted, unleashes the full force of her pink power to stop Cupid’s stunt. And then we see what was calling to Carol – a gem hidden in a cross stolen from Sacré-Coeur. And it talks.
Carol accepts the mission, meaning she and Hal don’t get engaged, but Hal having his own mystery to solve – he’s been having visions connected to the Book of Oa – will be keeping busy.
Another riddle this issue concerns the identity of an escaped prisoner being followed by some familiar figures in the Dark Sector.
And that’s the least interesting aspect of Jeremy Adams’ entertaining script. The gaggle of Guardians does have me intrigued, I’ve not seen this blue man group for ages, but with no idea who the renegade is, I don’t care about their doings.
The Hal and Carol stuff, though, is just my cup of tea – I’ve followed their romance since its Silver Age beginnings. They’ve been in and out of love, Carol married and divorced another man, Hal has had loads of failed flings, Star Sapphire has regularly tried to hurt Hal as the possession project of alien amazons, and as for what Carol-not-Carol did to poor Katma Tui…
Seeing them on a more than even keel, talking about the future, I love it; of course, I know they’ll never get a happy ending, they’re comics characters, the story goes on… and on. But for a few minutes, I can pretend, and seeing them team up is the icing on the cake.
I don’t know this Cupid person, she seems to be a minor Green Arrow and Black Canary baddie, but it’s fun to see a fresh face, someone unconnected to the Crayola crew of colour-crazed characters who have populated the Green Lantern books since the Geoff Johns days. She’s chatting to some unseen person throughout her attempted escape from the Paris police, but who? Also, for someone named after a god of love, she’s missing the Valentine’s vibe.
Talking of Green Arrow, Hal makes a couple of references to Oliver Queen having done something for him involving Parisian lights but I have no idea what. Did I miss something?
What I didn’t miss is how pretty the City of Lights is under illustrator Montos and colourist Romulo Fajardo Jr. I’ve been to Paris and it feels like I’m back there, while the grittier Dark Sector scene also works well. And Hal and Carol look amazing – OK, hairy knuckles apart, Hal appears far too young, but it’s been established that Oan energy can tone the musculature, maybe it can bring a bit of Botox too! Their costumed selves also look fantastic, as do Dove, Cupid and the two heroes who show up on the final pages. The body language is just fantastic.
The colours really do play a big part in the story’s success, adding to the sense of romance. Hal and Carol’s distinct glows fit nicely into the warm yellows of the French night, while the dustiness of the Dark Sector looks real. The latter scene also shows the care taken by letterer Dave Sharpe, as he gives the mystery narrator a subtly different font to that assigned Hal.
Have you been reading Green Lantern lately? If not, this is an issue to try – I loved it.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 