If Hal Jordan is the maverick of the green lanterns, then John Stewart is the wisest, if not the most pragmatic. In the aftermath of Sinestro’s “demise†the yellow lanterns were led by Sinestro’s daughter Soranik. But in reality John is the leader of both squads. He makes the decision to pair up one yellow and one green lantern. It’s the beginning of a new age until sentient shards start attacking and Rip Hunter appears out of nowhere. You won’t be able to decide which is worse in issues 18 through 20 of the ‘Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.’
Kyle is back in the fold. No longer a white lantern he now believes he can start over with Soranik. Then there is the interlude between the guardians and the last blue lantern. So much has occurred. The once vast rainbow now has to start over. But they are darker forces at play.
You may think that Rip Hunter is some new creation for television. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Originally created in the 1950’s Rip has been screwing up timelines for decades. Each incarnation has kept secrets all to protect the timeline. At the end of issue 18 the bedraggled time-hunter collapses as he proclaims the end of the green lanterns. Worse yet, there’s someone who’s attempting to take up the mantle of Sinestro, who isn’t nearly as smart or intuitive. Whenever a player as large as Sinestro leaves the board there’s a large void causing a mass amount of chaos. By issue 19 Rip fills in some blanks, particularly the reason why he was wearing a green lantern ring. But that only leads to more questions.
‘Prism of Time’ as the subtitle of this storyline arc deals with the complexities of Jordan’s decision making when he believed he was the last lantern. Sporting a homemade ring he still has bravado, but there’s something about his facial expressions when Rip starts explaining why he’s on Mogo. We’ve seen Jordan express several different emotions, but shock and horror at the same time is rare. What did he do when he was alone? Is he the cause of this potential disaster?
When you come to issue 20 it won’t be pretty. Considering that there are a lot of lanterns, some of them may not make it out of this. But take a look at Guy Gardner and yellow lantern Arkillo. Two of the last people who you would think would work together, be the ones to end conflict. Almost always crass and at times barely likeable, it’s times when you think it’s the end of the world that Guy comes through. From lanterns floating around their main base of operations to Hal creating a construct of himself, then finally facing off against a threat that could end them, it will take every lantern to see both corps through this. Particularly when John does the unthinkable.
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