Absolute Green Lantern vol. 2: Sojourner

Jo “Sojourner” Mullien managed to not only escape the alien chaos that engulfed Evergreen, also managed to save her childhood friend Hal Jordan after he had been consumed by the Black Hand.  With nowhere else to turn, she’s taken Hal back to the last person she wanted to see:  Department of Extranormal Operations agent Cameron Chase – her ex-wife.  The thing is that the DEO is also looking for Sojourner, and their boss is reporting to Hector Hammond, the villainous industrialist who pillaged all he could from Evergreen for his own benefit.  Which included some weird black goo that he’s got at least one big idea for.  The thing is that this goo has a connection to forces beyond Hector’s control:  The red light of another anomaly, and the Black Star that is Mogo, driven as it is by a most sinister presence.

Two volumes in and I can respect Al Ewing’s reinvention of the “Green Lantern” mythos more than I actually enjoy it.  Part of me wonders if the writer was anticipating that everyone was expecting him to do the franchise’s usual Space Cops stuff with a good dose of the worldbuilding he brought to his Cosmic Marvel work.  Which is why we’re instead getting lots of talk about the different levels of emotional light, and the various characters’ standing within them that has yet to really connect with me.  He takes some decent steps in the first issue, which features a lot of characters that will be familiar to “Lantern” fans, but it’s not quite there yet.

What is connecting with me is the story of Sojourner and those around her.  We get a really effective summation of her personal history early on, with solid introductions to Cameron and her partners as well.  This leads into the meat of the volume as they have to work together to protect themselves from Hammond and his cronies which is really easy to get involved with and supported by solid art from regular artist Jahnoy Lindsay and new regular contributor Sid Kotian.  It all leads to a climax that dramatically recasts what we expect from Hal, while also setting up a cosmic revenge plot that will hopefully have the light coalesce into a more solid and appreciable form in the future.