Continuing with my last post on Green Lantern #8, which saw Sinestro captured and converted by the Indigo Tribe, issue #9 backtracks to show the process. Sinestro's mind flashes back to meeting his love, sister of his former mentor, Ari Sur, her disapproval of his tyranny over Korugar, and the dire consequences that befell all involved.
Taking Hal down, Sinestro expresses remorse for all he has done to him in the past. "Now I know you've been brainwashed. Which surprisingly bothers me," Hal answers before breaking free, escaping from the mob of Indigo Lanterns who want to teleport him back home. "I'm not leaving without Sinestro."
In search of the Indigo Tribe's central power battery, Hal encounters Natromo, original keeper of the Indigo light from the planet Nok. It's here that the strange aboriginal man reveals the secret of the Indigo Tribe to Hal Jordan, revealing that Abin Sur helped create the power rings, converting the universe's worst sadists and murderers, including Indigo-1, who had killed Abin's own daughter! "So Abin Sur thought this was a way to redeem people?" Hal asked. "Oh no. No, the tribe would be an army at the ready for Abin Sur, " Natromo went on, "But the true reason behind the forging of these rings had nothing to do with the redemption of his enemies..." Natromo went on to say that Abin Sur had seen the coming of the Blackest Night, and following this would come the end of the Green Lantern Corps, destroyed by an evil within... "Abin Sur called them THE GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE." Whoa!!
The Indigo Tribe were merely a test- Abin Sur had planned to change the invincible Guardians with the rings before their madness overtook them. When Hal reveals to Natromo that Abin Sur is dead, he shuts down the main power battery in despair. By this time the Indigo Tribe has caught up with Hal Jordan, Sinestro wrestling him to the ground, just as the central power goes down...
... though Sinestro regains his former state of mind, Hal realizes that without the the central power battery, so have the former psychopaths that make up the Indigo Tribe, such as the likes of Black Hand...!
This has been a great book- far better than the New 52 Justice League in my opinion, which I liked for Jim Lee's art, but didn't go too far plotwise in the first six issues. DC has received a ton of criticism for the New 52 titles, and Geoff Johns catches flak for overexposure, but Green Lantern has been interesting artistically and narratively. And again: I love Doug Mahnke's obsessively tight artwork, particularly when he draws Sinestro!
In the back of this issue DC touts their second wave of the New 52, including an Earth 2 parallel universe book which I may have to try on. They go on to tease about Alan Scott taking the Green Lantern mantle in this alternate reality, which makes me think "So what? Was he not Green Lantern in another reality before Final Crisis?" ...or just the predocessor to Hal Jordan's Green Lantern? Hard to tell nowadays with DC's ever evolving continuity :D But hey, I don't really care. As long as the story is interesting and the art is good, continuity is of no concern to me. Seriously. I'm a fan of character reimaginings AND action figure variants! :D
Below are a couple of the Earth 2 character designs- I'm particularly fond of the Superman, but I liked Jim Lee's Justice League costume designs, so...
More Later- Make It FUN!
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