Random Happenstance

The awkward intersection of comic logic and movie logic.

I shouldn't even blame Hal Jordan for this one: for this first issue of Green Lantern vs. Aliens, Ron Marz is trying to get the plot from point A (flashback with classic GL Hal) to point B (current timeline with new kid Kyle), using various Green Lanterns.

It is nice to see Hal with a Pro Bowl assortment: Katma, Kilowog, Green Man, Salaak, and Tomar Re. At the time this issue came out, it was pretty much the height of Hal's nostalgia, pre-Spectre, and most of the other Lanterns were dead. (The only exception was Salaak, I think.)

With six of the best Green Lanterns (well, five and Tomar Re. Way to save Krypton!) at the top of their game, there shouldn't be any problem wiping the Aliens (xenomorphs, Giger's creations, bugs; whatever you want to call them in story). Except that this is the first issue of four, which means some wrinkle needs to be added.

So, Hal defends the Aliens as not evil but just killers; which I don't buy. He convinces the other GL's to go along with his plan without a fight, and they take the Aliens and dump them on Mogo, the planet Green Lantern.

How do Green Lanterns agree on anything? I mean, if willpower is their main attribute, that's going to translate into steadfast stubbornness in some of them, isn't it? If not most.

Maybe you should ask Mogo first, if he's interested in having bitey, acid-filled monsters infest him? Granted, the Aliens can't hurt Mogo, but it would have to be like Hal deliberately gave Mogo toenail fungus or something equally gross, unsightly, and contagious. Moreover, suppose someone else, like other GL's, innocent refugees or travellers, pretty much anyone that doesn't lay their eggs in your chest; needed to land on Mogo? (Pretty obviously, that's going to happen in the next issue or so...)

I haven't read the rest of this series, but I know Kyle ends up fighting the Aliens, continuing his proud tradition of cleaning up Hal's messes. I like Hal, but this is just too stupid. Not to be xenophobic, but the Aliens are monsters! Monsters, man! Get a stick and kill it! If your apartment had roaches, you'd kill them, right? Especially giant acid-filled roaches with extra teeth and a drool problem. The only plausible explanation, aside from Hal getting hit in the head a whole lot, is that he watched the Star Trek episode with the Horta 20 minutes before he left the house...

On the bright side, the art in this is crisp and bright, and we've got Green Arrow and Black Canary in a short guest shot. This has been Green Lantern versus Aliens #1, a Dark Horse/DC presentation, written by Ron Marz, pencils by Rick Leonardi, inks by Mike Perkins.