Green Lantern #23.2
Written By: Jim Starlin Art By: Howard PorterComic veterans Jim Starlin and Howard Porter team up to craft a Sci-Fi extravaganza with Green Lantern #23.2. Playing like a half-origin/half-psycho analysis of Mongul’s ruthless persona, the issue is an unforgiving treat.
Starlin masters Mongul’s dialogue and captures the nuance of his holier-than-though air and eloquent speech. Starlin doesn’t bother trying to create pathos for the character, and instead paints an intelligent and fearsome ruler in Mongul by showing his take-over of a race that attempts to capture his planet, Warworld.
The whole narrative in the issue can be called into question though, considering it’s Mongul explaining to a ruler how he’s taking down his fleet. The need to tell his origin feels a little forced, but you just go with it because Starlin makes us believe that Mongul is the kind of egotistical villain that would bother to explore his childhood with an enemy.
The real showstopper of the issue is the actual takeover of the enemy fleet. Over the course of four pages, Porter creates grand visuals that show delectable outer space action. Porter creates a truly awe-inspiring cosmic threat in Warworld with the various aerial attacks and planetary explosions.
Green Lantern #23.2 is a strong standalone tale that wholly encapsulates the galactic menace that is Mongul, with its spot-on dialogue and stunning art.
