DC is closing out its second wave of Absolute books with one of my most anticipated entries, and while the bar was high, Absolute Green Lantern‘s big debut had no issues soaring right past it. Absolute Green Lantern is one of the boldest Absolute reinventions yet, shifting everything you think you know about the Green Lantern mythology while also bringing an element of terror and mystery to the lore that hasn’t been felt in quite some time, if ever. We have more questions than answers at the moment, but the questions themselves are compelling, and there’s a certain magic to knowing that absolutely anything could be waiting around the next corner.
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Absolute Green Lantern wastes no time in establishing a baseline of dread, though Al Ewing, Jahnoy Lindsay, and Lucas Gattoni also throw in a touch of the bizarre to the proceedings that can’t help but draw you in. The first splash page feels equal parts outrageous and ominous, and that tone is indicative of the issue overall, especially in the book’s second half as the spotlight shifts to Hal Jordan.
Speaking of Jordan, Ewing is taking big swings with Green Lantern’s most iconic character, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Ewing shakes up Jordan in a foundational way, setting up the character for a vastly different sort of journey than most are likely expecting. While darker elements of Jordan have famously been explored in the past, this feels vastly distinct from those stories, and yet themes of control and power are still being explored, just in very different ways.
Lindsay’s artwork is critical in creating that distinctness, especially in regards to Jordan. Every scene with Jordan is almost uncomfortably tense, with every eye shift and mannerism signaling that the situation is on the edge of falling apart. The same can be said for the bigger moments of contact between this invading force and Earth’s populace, though a special moment of praise needs to be given to Lindsay’s work on Abin Sur, whose new character design is simply out of this world.
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The only real drawback to the issue is also a bit of a double-edged sword. Much of the debut issue focuses on Jordan, both in the past and in the present, and it’s quite understandable. The series is building something very different with Jordan as a character and in his connection to this greater power, so it clearly needs a lot of time and real estate to work all that out. That said, the lead of this book actually seems to be Jo Mullein, but by comparison, Jo doesn’t get much time to be in that spotlight.
Going by that last page, that is likely to change in issue #2, with Jo seemingly taking a more prominent role. As with all Absolute books, things will probably balance out before you know it, so while it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of everything else going on, I would have loved to see just a bit more of her throughout the issue.
Absolute Green Lantern continues DC’s stellar track record and delivers a debut that shakes the Lantern mythology to its core, setting the foundation for even bigger and brighter things to come.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Published by DC Comics
On April 2, 2025
Written by Al Ewing
Art by Jahnoy Lindsay
Colors by Jahnoy Lindsay
Letters by Lucas Gattoni
What did you think of Absolute Green Lantern #1? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
