Adventure Comics #522

Lar Gand of Damax you have been found worthy by the power ring of Oa

 to become the Green Lantern of sector 2814. If you can’t make heads or tails of this then it’s possible that you missed out on last months issue of Adventure Comics where Dyogene quest for a new Green Lantern came to a conclusion with Mon-El (Lar Gand) accepting the charge and starting a new chapter in the 31 century Green Lantern Corps story, but will Mon-El be able to restart the Corps? Let’s find out.  

The issue opens with a science police ship passing through the dust of what used to be Titan, carrying a prisoner to Takron-Galtos when one of the crewmen detected a solar flare heading towards the ship. The Captain tells the man to stay on course as the solar flare this far from the sun, won’t affect the ship, but as the hull starts to breach from the heat (resulting with the crew activating their transuits) the crew knew that something was wrong. Then burning through the hull comes Kodam a.k.a. Sun Killer demanding for the release of the prisoner Saturn Queen. Meanwhile on the medical satellite ‘Medicus One’ officer Cusimano and Legionnaire Tellus are observing Dawnstars’ recovery (see last issue) when they hear of Sunkillers’ attack. Back on the prison ship Sunkiller is demanding for the guards to release Saturn Queen, due to him being physically unable to touch her, when he gets a little visit from the new Green Lantern of sector 2814, Mon-El.

 
Adventure comics #522 is a great start in the new 31 century Green Lantern story ( with 521 ending the first chapter of “who’d become the next Green Lantern” ) showcasing Mon-El in his new role to see if he’s a competent Green Lantern or not. When it comes down to stories involving the Legion or any of it’s members Paul Levitz is a veteran who made the Legion what it is today so there’s no complaints on the story at all. Levitz is able to work with any Legionnaire ( or however many ) with great knowledge of the characters and their abilities, not to mention associated characters. He’s also able to hook us into the storyline by throwing us a taster of what’s to come to peek our interests. Geraldo Borges pencilling is fantastic in this issue following on from his brilliant work from the last issue except changing the setting from an open earth bound one to a space setting. But what must really be brought up is Mon-Els’ Green

 Lantern costume, which is fantastic, was created by Borges so kudos ( and hopefully people might forget that you were the artist on the “Rise of Arsenal” mini series. ) The colouring is fantastic with Marlo Alquiza contradicting the blackness of space with bright blues, purples, yellows and greens which brings the artwork to life. Finally I must congratulate Scott Clark and David Beaty for the brilliant January cover depicting five legion beauties ( none of which appear here…. Well one…… in one panel only ) with a tactically placed Phantom Girl. Well done.

 
In conclusion I reward Adventure comics a 4.5/5. The issue is well written and well illustrated and continues an interesting plot point which emerged with the new legion series. For fans of the Legion I’d expect you to have already read this issue ( especially to find out if Mon-El will take the charge appointed to him in the last issue of Legion ). For new readers the issue is accessible, only showcasing 3 Legionnaires ( and one of them doesn’t speak ) and a basic plot of an attempted prison break. It’s mostly self contained ( only briefly mentioning what happened to Dawnstar last issue, and the guilty conscious of professor Li ) and therefore more accessible then the last issue ( which acted more as a bridge from the current Legion story to this one ). So if your curious about the world and time of the Legion give it a read. Adventure Comics# 522:-

4.5/5