Green Lantern 182-183
“Day of Disaster”
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| Not only is Stewart cooler, but Jordan's cry-baby face is great. |
Just a reminder: Hal Jordan is no
longer Green Lantern and I couldn't be happier. Say hello to John
Stewart.
As introduced before, John Stewart is
as an architect helping to rebuild Ferris Aircraft
after an attack by the Demolition Team. The same attack that caused
Hal to give up the mantle of Green Lantern because the Guardians
rightly wanted him to save a dying planet rather than his
girlfriend’s business. Out with the cry-baby and in with an actual
hero of integrity.
A
little bit of history: who the hell is John Stewart? While this is
his first time as Green Lantern the primary, he had wielded the power
ring before so it's not like he's a completely out-of-nowhere choice.
In fact, Stewart is the official back-up for Hal Jordan should he
ever fall in the line of duty or be an epic dick. The Guardians
always knew it'd be the latter. In his first outing as Green Lantern, his training mission for lack of a better term,
Stewart would aid in the ousting of a bigoted politician as well as
claim that Jordan was little more than a tool of the authorities.
He's not wrong and I already love him.
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| Saves people and gets the lady. Hell yeah. |
Cue a
few years out of the spotlight and all of sudden Stewart is back just
in time for Jordan to throw his hissy-fit. That's how narrative
works.
Stewart's first outing is cleaning up
one of Jordan's messes in facing off against a colorful Major Disaster. I've
talked before about my love for these silly villains
but Major Disaster is a favorite. Not quite Shark-level but
definitely better than a Rainbow Raider
or Crazy Quilt. I
know I probably shouldn't have compared the two color-based villains,
but I did. My blog my rules.
Not
to tangent too far from my in-progress tangent on Major Disaster because he's
amazing. His costume is purple, pink and lavender. Takes a real man
to rock those colors. His goofy look is the only reason Disaster is
seen as silly because his name is dead-on. Disaster literally has the
ability to cause natural disasters. He points his fingers and an
earthquake will erupt. He walks down the street and everyone suffers.
This guy is a powerhouse. He's also intensely insecure: Jordan has
embarrassed him time and time again and Disaster just wants to grind
his face into paste. Too bad for him Stewart is now Green Lantern.
Too bad especially because where Jordan could be a bully, Stewart is
just pragmatic. After saving a town from the flood caused by a
ruptured dam that Disaster just happened to look at, Stewart catches
up with the confused villain and punches him square in the face.
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| Coolest villain costume: maybe. |
Punching
the mentally-ill in the face is something Stewart and Jordan do have
in common. It's kind of a superhero thing.
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| Doesn't quite punch him yet. |
This
being his first public appearance, news reporters in Coast City are
quick to realize that Green Lantern is now black. What does Stewart
do, fly off before any one can question him? Deliver a lame platitude
about fighting crime? No, he sticks around to charm reporters and
then asks one out on a date. Because he's John Stewart that's why. I
love this guy. I'm suddenly excited about John Stewart again. And
while John Stewart is excited about being Green Lantern, danger looms
in the distance. Bruce Gordan, solar scientist, is haunted by the
existence of his evil alter-ego Eclipso and
The Monitor lurks,
concentrating on Stewart and the role he'll pay in the
soon-to-be-coming cosmic Crisis.
Best
part: Jordan regrets abandoning the ring. Sucker.
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| See Hal Jordan. See Hal Jordan cry. |
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