Review: CONVERGENCE: GREEN LANTERN/PARALLAX #1

 

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CONVERGENCE: GREEN LANTERN/PARALLAX #1
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Ron Wagner, Paul Mounts
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: April 15, 2015

A new city, a new set of warriors as Convergence‘s second week takes readers back to a time when Kyle Rayner was the last Green Lantern and Parallax was causing all kinds of mayhem.

Tony Bedard paces this issue well, setting up the situation with Kyle and Hal very well, and I enjoyed the angle he took regarding Hal’s character. Cut off from the powers of Parallax while under the dome, Hal is not the Parallax (or Lantern) readers once knew, which is a really interesting dynamic in this comic. Kyle is naive, but that is where much of his courage comes from and Bedard writes him well. When the dome is removed, Bedard lets this story fly and it was a lot of fun to read. Hal, white templed and all, cutting loose on an enemy city is a wild ride and I applaud Bedard for setting this issue up the way he did. Piling the narrative up front allows Wagner to cut loose to close the issue out and gives this book a lot of momentum heading into the second issue. Readers who wanted more battles from this Convergence event last week can’t complain about this one as Parallax is not wasting any time making friends. Bedard writes Hal well and to see him unleashing the power of Parallax on non-Green Lanterns is certainly interesting.

Ron Wagner’s artwork has a 90s feel without the negative connotations that often brings. What I mean is that his artwork suits the time frame these characters are from, and these visuals make a lot of sense in the context of the era being discussed. He handles the pacing of the issue well, keeping things interesting in the first half with good layouts but when he gets to cut loose after the dome drops is when this issue hits its stride. Wagner delivers some great splash panels and his work with Parallax Hal looks absolutely iconic at times. Power emanates from the character and there is no doubting that this is not the Hal we’ve known from the past few years. Paul Mounts’ colour work suits the artwork very well, and this is a really solid issue from an artwork perspective.

Convergence: Green Lantern/Parallax #1 is another solid Convergence tie-in that has some fun moments and utilizes this “battling cities” situation well. Parallax cutting loose is a visual that is worth the price of admission and I’ll definitely be back for the second chapter.

The Verdict: 8.0/10

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