Comic Recap/Thoughts: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1: Sinestro's Law Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of this recap of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Volume 1: Sinestro's Law. In this recap I am going to be covering issues #4-7. We left off with Hal getting his butt kicked by some over powered Sinestro Corps.

Sinestro's Law Part 4: The Fear Engine: On Warworld all of the Sinestro Corps are chanting, "Sinestro's Might" over and over. They are carrying a construct of a coffin and are about to present it to Sinestro. Lyssa is congratulating Sinestro as one member of the Corps reports that five Yellow Lanterns died but they got him. Lo and behold, they remove the construct and it is not Hal, but our good pal Guy that these Yellows have captured. Obviously Sinestro is pissed. These Yellows didn't even know about Hal; they were just bringing a Green Lantern that they ran into. Sinestro being the smart guy that he is begins to deduce that if not only is Hal back, but Guy as well that means...Guy gets to interrupt the monologue with a joke and to tell Sinestro that, "We're ba-aaack" (In my head I have made Guy sound like he is from Brooklyn for some reason, I guess because I have no idea what a Baltimore accent sounds like).  Sinestro feels the need to hit Guy with a really, really, comically large construct of a skeleton hand, before sending him off. He demands to know where Hal Jordan is.

In an unknown space sector we see a Yellow Lantern does have Hal. It is just a silhouette but you can tell it is Soranik. She has Hal strapped down to a complicated, I assume medical, table. His ring is in a construct jar bouncing around. Hal is in real bad shape and at this point it is not clear if Soranik is helping or hurting him.

On Warworld the Yellow Lanterns who had beaten up Hal arrive with all of the kidnapped people in tow. Sinestro wants to talk to Strafe (Predator guy). Strafe explains that Soranik showed up and told them that Sinestro commanded her to take custody of Hal. Sinestro does not handle this news well and literally rips Strafe in half (goodbye Predator guy, aka Strafe I guess).

 

Sinestro sees one of the people his Yellows kidnapped is a kid. He sets the child free and tells the Corps no kids, he only wants the strongest and hardiest of each world. They are enforcers of order, not villains. A real creepy Yellow Lantern promises to return the child home. Sinestro looks off into the distance and says his own child's name.

Speaking of Soranik. We see that she has been trying to help Hal. He is all stitched up and she is holding his hand hoping he doesn't die. 

Guy is waking up again, only to meet a member of the Sacrament called Administer Lash. Lash is about to perform a type of Baptism on Guy, but he basically says hard pass, because he has already been baptized. Sinestro shows up and tells him this baptism is very different from the one from Earth. Guy tries to fight him but his ring is down to zero power. (Funny note: because it is on zero power, his clothes also disappear.) Sinestro is monologuing and shows Guy the Fear Engine, which is impressive, see picture below. 

When Sinestro turns around to look at Guy, he shakes his head and Guy makes a funny comment about Sinestro's undies being in a bunch. Sinestro goes on to explain that the Fear Engine shows all the beings trapped in it their worst nightmares, then uses the fear to give all the members of the Corps insane amounts of power. Guy is unimpressed. Sinestro basically belittles Guy a bunch and tells him that he needs to tell where the rest of the Green Lanterns are or Lash is gonna mess him up. Guy asks for his bag and Sinestro thinks he is going to put on some clothes, but instead Guy just pulls out some beer, chugs one, smashes it to his head and says he is a nut they will not crack. 

John is floating in space wondering what in the heck happened to Guy. He decides to address all of the remaining Green Lantern Corps with two options. The first is to finish healing and repairing their systems or do they follow Guy's lead and go head first into the unknown. He gets a unanimous vote to head right into the unknown. 

Sinestro's Law Part 5: Joining Forces: On Warworld Guy is being tortured. He is handling it like a champ, even Lash is impressed. Instead of giving Lash the location of the other Green Lanterns, Guy is reciting the Green Lantern oath.

Elsewhere, Lyssa is trying to comfort Sinestro, who I thought was going to be worried about his daughter but is just thinking about Hal Jordan. To be fair he does mention her, but mostly he is concerned about all the Green Lanterns. To help him relax, Lyssa and Sinestro have sex (it is tasteful, don't worry). 

Somewhere in space sector 1417, Hal finally wakes up. It takes him a second to get his bearings, but he does recognize Soranik (she used to be a Green Lantern, so did Sinestro for that matter). Hal is super confused, so Soranik explains that she saved him from the other Yellow Lanterns. As a show of good faith she gives him back his ring and further explains that she was the leader of the Sinestro Corps and she is the reason they are now the police of the universe. Hal gives us a very shocked face. 

Lost and hurtling through deep space, the majority of the Green Lanterns are heading in the direction that they think Guy went. Suddenly, they come upon a lot of space ships (like a lot, a lot). 

In sector 1417 Soranik is explaining that she wanted to change the Sinestro Corps, make them into something good. The Green Lanterns were gone and the Universe was falling apart. She believed her father to be on his deathbed, so she took over. Hal is able to guess that she is the one who convinced everyone the Yellow Lanterns could be good and the Sinestro was faking being sick. She is impressed, but says he wasn't faking, that he would have died if not for Parallax. She is totally blaming herself for everything. There is a moment of silence and then she asks him if this is the part where he puts on his ring and they go save the day.  

There is a beat and he tells her not to freak as he puts on his ring. We see his arm go an opaque green, resembling that of a construct. He tells her that he is changing and that he made his ring from his own will. He thinks maybe he is becoming pure Will. She is looking through his hand and is pretty impressed. Her doctor brain wants to figure out what he did, because when she was fixing him up he seemed normal. He says that when the Yellow rings were all super charged he didn't fight back at full force for fear of blowing up the whole city. The ring's supercharging is news to her but she does tell him about the Fear Engine and the Sacrament cult. Now he says the line about time to stop Sinestro. She is unsure now, based on his changes. He disagrees, saying, "I am not going to just push the envelope. I'm going to blow it all to hell."

John has the Green Lanterns get into defensive positions (there is a squirrel Green Lantern, this note is just for my girlfriend). They give all the ships a warning shot. To me it kind of looked like they just blew up one of the ships, but maybe it just pushed them away. John tells them they don't want to fight but they sure will. A guy in a spacesuit comes out and is actually really happy to see the Green Lanterns. John goes up to talk to the guy, asking what all these ships are doing. Turns out they are all on their way to take down Warworld. This guy explains to John about how the Yellows are the police now, but they came and kidnapped people from all the worlds. Now they are sailing to go get the people back. He asks John if the Green Lanterns will help. John asks about Guy, but they didn't see him. (John makes a, 'I feel guilty face'). Long phrasing short, John tells them, sorry we were gone, but of course we are going to go kick some butt...once we make a battle plan.  

The last page has three panels. The first is John flying towards Warworld with all the Green Lanterns and all the ships. In the second we see poor Guy still getting tortured and reciting his oath. In the last is Hal Jordan, suited up and ready to take back the Universe. 

Sinestro's Law Part 6: World of  War: In space sector 3384 and moving towards Warworld, John and Kilowog now have maps and a plan. They assume Guy got grabbed by the Yellows and that now the Yellows know the Greens are back. They also guess that Sinestro is torturing Guy, but they know Guy would never talk. They plan to storm Warworld and get Guy back. John does point out that they will be super outnumbered and with a fleet of second-rate ships, their odds are still rough.

Back at Warworld a couple of Yellows are discussing who to go terrorize, when a speck of green begins to get closer. It is none other than Hal Jordan who has constructed a whole bunch of fighter jets. In his bedroom Sinestro gets the message about an ambush. They know it is Hal. Lyssa tries to talk about prophecies and stuff, but Sinestro is not into it. He knows that Hal is a formidable foe. This will be a battle between fear and will and for Hal Jordan there is no book of prophecies. He tells her to go guard the engine. 

Hal is having a fun time taking out many Yellow Lanterns. There is a lull, but then many Yellows descend on him at once. Because he is a little crazy, he is happy about it.

Down in the Fear Engine room, Lash is not liking all the noise from the fighting above. Lyssa shows up to tell Lash they need to protect the engine. Guy being Guy gives her a dumb pick up line. He is in pretty rough shape from all the torture. She tells Lash to crank the engine to maximum and to put Guy in it. Lash tells her he hasn't gotten the information that Sinestro wanted. She says that doesn't matter, Hal Jordan is here. Guy thinks he is being rescued by Hal, but Lyssa points out that no one knows he is here. Lash does get to 'baptize' Guy and puts him in the engine. We see Hal fighting, mingled with Lash dialing the engine to 11. 

At the surface all of the Yellow's rings have reached power level 200% and they hit Hal with all they have got. At the same time we see Sinestro meditating? Hal seems to be doing just fine. The rings are now at 500%. Hal is fighting and calling Sinestro out. Sinestro turns off the safeguards in his ring, hoping to flood himself with the full force of the Fear Engine. Sinestro is juicing hard and reaches power level 1000%!

Hal has beaten up almost everyone and right as they are about to start round two, Sinestro shows up and says that he plans to deal with Hal Jordan. (Quick note: Predator looking guy is back...the one who got ripped in two. I wonder if this is just his replacement or an oversite?) 

Sinestro's Law Conclusion: Final Flight: Hal is narrating, telling us who he is and how he became the Green Lantern that he is. He always assumed that he would go out in a blaze just like his father. This new (to me) Predator guy wants to take out Hal, but Sinestro chokes him out and tells him and every Yellow Lantern to get off Warworld. He chokes out a yes sir and all the Yellows bolt out of there. Hal tells him that was the wrong move. Sinestro tells him it is time for the teacher to give Hal one more lesson.

(He totally looks like the other guy right? I guess not, but why do these fear guys all have long tongues?)

Five Earth minutes from Warworld, John gives a speech while flying. The Green Lanterns are outnumbered 20:1, but the Greens will fulfil their oath and he tells them it is an honor to serve with all of them. 

Hal and Sinestro posture and banter a bit. I could type it out but you can guess it went like this. Hal says he is gonna win. Sinestro says he is gonna win. They fight. While fighting Sinestro talks about their first meeting, how he taught him and will always be better than him. Hal points out that when he (Hal) makes mistakes he tries harder to be better, but Sinestro just went wrong. Sinestro does the classic, join me and we will do great things together. Hal tells him no thanks, fear is not his jam. Hal tells him he has a plan and Sinestro points out that Hal's plans historically suck. Hal tells him good thing it isn't his plan.

Down by the Fear Engine, Guy is still reciting the Green Lantern oath. Lyssa tells him to give up, he has no ring or clothes or hope, only fear. Guy makes a joke about safe words, then starts his oath again. She somehow cranks the machine higher. He begins to struggle to say the oath anymore, but others trapped in the engine pick up where he left off. Lyssa calls them blasphemers, but then more join in. People are overcoming their fear. Before either Lash or Lyssa can turn the engine up any higher, Soranik shows up and bashes their heads together. She frees Guy, who seems to have recovered enough to make jokes about how Soranik looks ugly in yellow. The ladies banter this time and Guy adds his two cents about hurrying up a little. Soranik takes his advice and punches Lyssa right out. 

Meanwhile, Sinestro is beating Hal up pretty good while going on and on about how he trained Hal and then Hal betrayed him. Fear is the only way, blaa, blaa. (Sorry it is just a little too much for me. He doesn't want to kill Hal, he want to be partners, I get it.) 

Soranik has brought other Yellow Lanterns to help her and thank goodness Guy found some clothes. All the prisoners are still chanting, "Green Lanterns Light" as Guy frees them. Up on the surface Sinestro's power begins to decrease. All the good Yellows are evacuating the prisons, including Guy who wants to stay and help Hal. Soranik points out he has no power, but also this is Hal's fight. Sinestro's power goes down even more and he knows his daughter is to blame. Hal confirms Sinestro is right, while hitting him hard. Sinestro is still confident that he will win because he has the power of the Parallax entity, what does Hal have? Hal tells him that rescue was up to Soranik, Hal is here to end this once and for all. 

Hal powers up and starts to look like a construct again with green lightning shooting off of him. The only thing Sinestro says is, "Jordan?" Hal gives Sinestro credit for helping him overcome his last great fear. Sinestro tries to stop him but Hal is just glowing with more and more power. Lyssa shows up right as Hal is about to go full Nova, grabbing onto Sinestro. There is a huge explosion. Right before the wave hits the Green Lanterns that are finally reaching Warworld, John tells them to put up their shields. 

All the shields hold and everyone is mostly okay. They think the energy blast might have been Guy. They see a bunch of Yellow Lanterns heading towards them and get ready to fight. Not to worry though, Guy tells John these are the good Yellows. 

Thoughts: Told you all this was a long volume. Anyone who thinks comics are light reading is wrong in my opinion. I enjoyed this story line. I feel like I learned a lot about Hal, Guy and John. They sure are very different guys and are way different than Jessica or Simon for that matter. I am going to venture a guess that Hal is not dead, since this series is called Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. I also am not convinced that Hal is human anymore. I wonder if he isn't something more like Parallax. An entity of Will more than a wielder? Not sure yet, but I am looking forward to finding out. 

My favorite line of this volume goes to Soranik when she totally burns her dad. Got to learn from one's mistakes.

Next Week: Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Die Laughing Part 1                    Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Die Laughing Part 2

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