Absolute Green Lantern #10

I never know what to expect when I open a new issue of Absolute Green Lantern, and that thread of uncertainty runs through the series from the perspective of both each issue’s storyline, and its quality. This series has been a rollercoaster ride from the very beginning, and now, with the release of its tenth issue, it’s clear that thematic consistency is not something that Absolute Green Lantern is looking to prioritise any time soon.

Today, we’re reviewing Absolute Green Lantern #10, with spoilers included! Make sure you read the issue for yourself if you’ve been keeping up to date with the series, and want to see how this issue unfolds! So, let’s get into it! It’s time to dive into our Absolute Green Lantern #10 review!

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Absolute Green Lantern #10 Review

Image by DC Comics

As I read through Absolute Green Lantern #10, the first thing I noticed was how uncharacteristically gory this issue was. Sure, this series has been violent before, particularly in its early days, when ‘horror’ was still an applicable genre tag for it. However, it’s been a while since we’ve seen unfiltered violence on the level provided by Absolute Green Lantern #10, and honestly, as much as it caught me off-guard, I enjoyed how this issue’s violence upped the intensity of Sojourner’s situation. There are some seriously graphic panels in this comic, with Sojourner’s removal of bullets from her own wounds with pliers seriously making my skin crawl. It takes a lot to get me to squirm, so hats off to Absolute Green Lantern #10 for pulling it off.

With that being said, Absolute Green Lantern #10’s violence is somewhat reflective of a downward turn that the story has taken in the past few issues for me, as what was once a cosmic horror tale has quickly descended into a strangely-paced crime story, with extremely street-level stakes. It’s been jarring to go from our heroes dealing with the Abin Sur, a cosmic entity in charge of the judgment of humanity, to fending off Goldface, who feels mostly like a commonplace mobster with a superpowered suit. There are some panels in this issue that feel directly ripped from the pages of a comic like Criminal, or at a stretch, a Batman comic. Watching Sojourner crawl through the kitchen, leaving a trail of blood behind her after kicking her assailant in the nether regions felt like such a far cry from what we’re used to in this series, and while it was a somewhat welcome change of pace, it did leave me a little worried.

I’m unsure if anyone will relate to me on this, but for me, Absolute Green Lantern #10 had an extremely strange feeling behind it. Despite how grisly the whole thing was, there was a weirdly comedic tone to it all, and I can’t tell if this was an intentional, Tarantino-like spin on things, or if the comic was just lacking a little in tonal consistency. Goldface is wacky, way more eccentric than I was expecting. The way he talks is not only incredibly peculiar, but even his temporary defeat after being kicked in the crotch felt like it was meant to make us laugh instead of wince. I wonder if the character was meant to come across as unhinged and insane, and if I’m just reading him entirely wrong. However, despite how terrifying he should have been, he came across as pretty funny to me.

Image by DC Comics

It matters little what I made of Goldface though, because he is killed by the end of Absolute Green Lantern #10, which is kind of frustrating. It seems like Absolute Green Lantern has taken a liking to killing off potentially interesting antagonists before they have a chance to build up steam. Perhaps I still hold a grudge over Abin Sur’s hasty defeat, but some of that familiar anger returned here as Sojourner drove pliers through his eye socket. The pliers scene was pretty intense, and it certainly grabbed my attention, but I was almost sure he would take one final stab at taking Sojourner out after it happened. Instead, that was the end of Goldface, a potentially compelling villain whose only real achievement by the end of his run in Absolute Green Lantern was shooting Sojourner twice while she was caught off-guard. Not a great resumé.

I wouldn’t mind Absolute Green Lantern killing off its potential villains so quickly if it weren’t for the fact that the overarching antagonist of the series is so underwhelming in their absence. Hector Hammond gets quite a bit of attention in Absolute Green Lantern #10, and yet he still continues to do nothing for me as a character. Upon discovering his involvement in this assassination attempt, our team of protagonists seem to fear for their safety, but none of that intimidation or charisma has been presented to us as readers yet. Some of the other Absolute comics suffer from this, but Absolute Green Lantern feels like it suffers the most, mainly because every villain outside of Hammond has so much more potential than him.

Sojourner, as evidenced by Absolute Green Lantern #10, is far from fully in control of her powers yet, and she has a lot to learn about combat. However, I can’t help but feel like she’s already beyond the level of Hammond. He doesn’t feel like a worthy foe for her, at least not yet. In fact, he seems like he would barely be a hurdle. I hope to be proven wrong when he gets a little more time to shine in future issues, but as of right now, I can’t help but wish we were getting more of Abin Sur, or maybe even seeing Jo take to space to meet Sinestro, or some villains on that level.

Image by DC Comics

I have some serious issues with Absolute Green Lantern #10’s pacing, and its narrative decisions. However, I would be lying if I didn’t say it was an incredibly entertaining comic, from start to finish. It was action-packed, held nothing back in the violence department, and did feature one of the most eccentric villains I’ve seen in a while, even if he was taken out too quickly for my liking. I was never bored during Absolute Green Lantern #10, and though it is important to dissect the story of these issues, sometimes entertainment is all you need.

Absolute Green Lantern #10 didn’t do all that much for the world of this series, but I had a pretty fun time reading it. I have some serious issues with it from a narrative and pacing perspective, but in a time where an awful lot of comics are leaving me feeling a little bored, Absolute Green Lantern #10 excited enough to leave me feeling distracted from some of its glaring issues. What did you think of Absolute Green Lantern #10? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

See also: The Best Comic Books for Adults

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