Hal Jordan And The GLC #32 Is A Gorgeous, But Unnecessary Metal Tie-In

Although Hal Jordan was heading back to space in the previous issue, this one sees him back on Earth to battle his Dark Multiverse Bat-Counterpart, the Dawnbreaker. In case you haven’t figured it out, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32 ties into Dark Nights: Metal, the current big event rocking the DC Universe. It is mainly just a fight between these two characters.

As with the recent Flash Metal tie-in issue, this one goes against the grain of the current storyline in this comic. Granted, the fight scene is insane and shows how sick and twisted the Dawnbreaker is within his own version of the Batcave. As with our world’s Bruce Wayne’s cave, it’s full of souvenirs of past victories including his very own giant coin and the bodies of his enemies.
Hal Jordan is often referred to as the greatest Green Lantern of all. We see some reasons why in this issue. He faces a foe unlike any he’s ever encountered. The Dawnbreaker sucks the light away from the ring on his finger, forcing Hal to think outside the box in his fight by having his ring strobe its energy. This could have been challenging to show in a comic. How do you show a strobe light in a static medium? The answer is to alternate dark panels with regular images. This is a great effect that works well to heighten the tension of the scene as it would if it were in a movie or TV.

This battle is brilliantly illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. The ring constructs are intricate and well-detailed on both sides. Colorist Jason Wright shades them differently with Hal’s being far lighter and livelier and the Dawnbreaker’s dark and shadowy, like negative versions. The main construct Hal produces is a giant robot, which normally might be something Kyle Rayner would create. In any case, it’s a monster, surrounding Hal and mimicking his movements.
Artist Liam Sharp illustrates the final pages of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32, tying it into the overall Metal storyline and preparing it for the final chapter of the “Bats Out Of Hell” arc with the next issue of Justice League. His style is a bit rougher than Van Sciver’s, but works well with the desolate landscape of the Dark Knights’ work. It drives home the horrific acts they’ve committed, destroying all hope.

Although this was a pretty cool fight scene, it doesn’t do much to move the overall storyline along. The battle is long and looks great, however it could have been done in a much smaller page count. It does nothing for the main Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps title either, aside from providing yet another reason to respect Hal Jordan. It’s a tie-in for the sake of having a tie-in and far from mandatory reading for Metal.
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32 is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.