Monday, May 24, 2021

Celebrating our 15th anniversary with the second part of the one from our 13th anniversary! Yeah, that makes sense.

...has it been 15 years? Maybe? But only two years since we checked out the previous issue, which again, is a halfway decent turnaround for around here! From 2017, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #31, "Mind Games, conclusion: Metamorphose" Written by Robert Venditti, art by Patrick Zircher. And I had to upload this variant cover by Barry Kitson!
Last time, we saw villain Hector Hammond helpless at the hands of little yellow gremlins; I didn't realize I had seen them before: the Kroloteans! I remember them from an episode or two of Young Justice. The Kroloteans' "Master Engineer" apparently caused Hammond's mutation, to turn him into a weapon for their plans for dominance, but before he can be harvested or kidnapped or whatever, Hammond grins: his call for help got through, to Hal Jordan. Bonus: Hal was hanging out with Superman at the time, it's a two-fer!
The Kroloteans try to use Hammond's powers on the heroes, with the usual fantasy perfect lives. Hal is there with his brother's family, whom I believe were killed when Coast City first went up, and Carol. Hal knows it isn't real, and knows he has to go get the real thing, so he can still use his ring to get the head Krolotean's remote control, which frees Hammond. Supes is pissed at his memories of his parents being used against him, and treats one of the little aliens a bit roughly; then Hammond explodes all the Kroloteans' heads!
Hammond refuses to be controlled anymore, but also seems to have had enough of life as a big head, and tries to use Superman to kill himself. Hal deflects enough of Superman's heat vision to injure Hammond, but not fatally. Before passing out, Hammond again calls Jordan his hero; I can't tell if he wanted to die or not. The prison doctor doesn't know how to help Hammond; and before they leave, Hal asks Superman a really dumb question:
Rushing to Coast City, Hal tries to figure out what to tell Carol to win her back; then is stopped on her doorstep by an emergency call, and reluctantly takes off. Good, Carol deserves better. 

Hammond should've held out for the Master Engineer to get him a MODOK chair. Seriously, my neck hurts just looking at him.

1 comment:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

So today's the 15th anniversary of your blog? If so, congrats man. I've definitely been thoroughly entertained ever since I first discovered it.
Here's to 15 more and beyond until you get bored with it.