Review: Green Lantern Vol. 2- The Revenge of Black Hand

Quick Summary

Pros: The first story arc is exciting and has several awesome twists. The worldbuilding that takes place in this arc is great. The second arc is a tense dive into horror. The entire volume helps build excitement for future stories. The artwork mostly looks great and makes this a better comic.

Cons: One of the story’s arcs has a slightly underwhelming conclusion.

Overall: This is another successful entry in Green Lantern’s New 52 journey. It tells two solid stories that contain action, excitement, worldbuilding, and plenty of beautiful artwork. It also helps continue the greater story of this series by revealing some information that readers have been waiting for. All in all, any fan of this Green Lantern saga should continue reading with this volume.

Story

Green Lantern Vol. 2: The Revenge of Black Hand, by Geoff Johns, is a fantastic continuation of the current Green Lantern saga. This volume starts with a fantastic arc, packed with excitement and a great level of worldbuilding. Then, it moves on to a creepier second arc, one that almost feels like a horror comic. Both of these stories are entertaining and both expand upon a specific threat facing the universe, thus building up anticipation for the next volume. Overall, this is a great comic book and a great way to continue this series.

(spoilers start here)

The first several chapters in The Revenge of Black Hand have Hal and Sinestro facing off against a powerful enemy, the Indigo Lantern Corps. These chapters are tense and exciting, especially since the heroes’ rings are at low power levels for nearly the entire arc. This forces some creative thinking from the heroes and leads to some wonderful twists, as Hal is forced to power his ring by cleverly tricking one of his enemies, and Sinesto is forced to emulate Hal’s tendency to defy the odds in battle. The entire arc is fun and exciting all the way through.

However, the real draw in this portion of the narrative is the worldbuilding that takes place. These chapters reveal that the members of the Indigo Lantern Corps are all criminals who are under the mind-controlling powers of the Indigo Rings. Specifically, the leader of this tribe is a murderer who killed Abin Sur’s child. All of this helps set the Indigo Tribe apart from the rest of the Lanterns and helps make DC’s cosmic side more interesting.

From there, the narrative moves on to a few chapters dealing with Black Hand. These chapters are as dark and as creepy as one would expect from a character who is completely obsessed with death. They start with a man raising his dead family from the grave and end with the heroes facing off against an army of zombies. It is a quick dip into horror that fits well into the overall saga of this series.

My only complaint with The Revenge of Black Hand is that the Black Hand arc ends up being a bit underwhelming. Black Hand was previously responsible for shaking the foundations of the DC Universe and almost defeating every one of its heroes. So, seeing him defeated in a few pages here is a slightly disappointing. The arc as a whole is still entertaining but this one small aspect stands out poorly.

The entirety of The Revenge of Black Hand also does a terrific job in building excitement for the future of this series. The first story arc tells readers that the Guardians of the Universe have a malicious plan to replace the Green Lantern Corps. The second arc tells readers that Hal Jordan will become a Black Lantern. Both of these prospects are unbelievable and leave the reader wondering how they will come about in the future.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The majority of the artwork in Revenge of Black Hand is great and continues the high quality visuals started in this comic’s first volume. Doug Mahnke’s work creates a ton of gorgeous scenes that perfectly reflect what is taking place in the story. The creativity expressed here helps make the worlds of this comic feel as realistic and lifelike as they should. Meanwhile, emotions come through clearly and help further emphasize what the characters are currently going through. All of this is further enhanced by a great attention to detail and some wonderful colors, mostly from Alex Sinclair.

The only downside is that the shift in the artwork in the volume’s final issue is a bit disorienting. The artwork in this final issue looks alright but shifting between art styles in the middle of the arc breaks the consistency of the visuals.

Continuity

Green Lantern Vol. 2: The Revenge of Black Hand continues the story from Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro (Review).

The story here continues in Green Lantern Vol. 3: The End and in Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The events of Blackest Night are mentioned a number of times throughout this collection. 
• Mogo was killed back in Green Lantern Corps #60, collected in War of the Green Lanterns.