Comic Book Review: Green Lantern #44

Plot: The mystery behind the missing body of Bruce Wayne continues. Meanwhile, Black Lantern Martian Manhunter rises and confronts The Flash and Green Lantern Hal Jordan with the purpose of ending their lives. Back near Oa, Scar reveals the reasons for attacking his fellow guardians, while Green Lantern John Stewart continues to face his past which comes back and haunt him.

My Thoughts: The story within this issue is kind of weak, mostly because we learn very little about what is going on. The bulk of the issue deals with Hal Jordan and the Flash duking it out with Martian Manhunter. This could have been Geoff Johns’ attempt at showing how very underused the Manhunter was in the DC universe. My favorite line was made by Manhunter while lifting a building,

“I’m as powerful as Superman. Why does everyone forget that?”

I also felt as if the story ended too quickly. (That will happen when you have more art than dialog.) In which case, I ended this issue feeling rather empty, as if it was too awkward of an ending and needed more. The story itself is written well, it just felt like it was more of a brawl rather than a story.

The art, of course, is phenomenal! Doug Mahnke draws Zombie Martian Manhunter as twisted and evil looking better than I ever could have imagined. His attention to detail is outstanding and could rival my favorite comic artist, Ed Benes.

Overall, this is not my favorite issue. It will probably being at the bottom of the pack for my top comics for the month of July. It’s still worth reading, but you shouldn’t expect to be dazzled or amazed as far as the story is concerned, nor is it vital to help understand the story of Blackest Night. The art is what makes this month’s issue so good.

3 out of 5 stars