The Good
We continue to see the team work together towards a common goal, even though they don't know one another and have never formally met. I think it was great to introduce this team and throw them into a mission together from the beginning. Having these characters collaborate was a great move by Robinson, and extending it into this issue is smart; it was fun to see the beginning of a team being formed.
Nicola Scott brings her 'A' game to this issue, delivering some really stunning pencils and beautiful panels that are action packed in a layout that is both detailed and incredibly easy to follow along. I think that Nicola really managed to capture the tone of the scene where Alan Scott falls into "the Grey" as he's thinking of Sam. The way she drew those panels really captured the moment and the dark eeriness of the scene as well as the shifting emotions that Robinson was trying to convey. It was definitely really well done.
I really loved the way Scott was supposed to be this really strong character, but still succumbed to this illusion of the man he loved and lost. I think seeing this play out was really important because so little time was spent on Scott's love of Sam. It will be interesting to see if Robinson calls back to memories of Sam when he continues to tell Scott's story.
The Bad
There were some great moments in this issue, but collectively I felt it was one of Robinson's weakest thus far. My biggest problem was the way that Grundy lost this fight. Here is this being that is so incredibly powerful and is wreaking havoc on Washington DC, and Alan Scott easily scoops him up and brings him into outer space without any problems. Now, Scott's powers fluctuate a lot in this issue. He begins to be pulled into the Grey and becomes weaker, and then breaks away from that, and fights Grundy. Okay, I could almost get behind that. The problem is, however, that Scott's focus isn't solely on Grundy; he manages to divert two bombs headed for Washington, D.C. as well. During this scene, Grundy states that he can feel Green Lantern growing weaker, yet Scott still pushes forward. It's just hard to believe that three characters, collectively, (Flash, Hawkgirl and The Atom) couldn't take care of Grundy, but that Green Lantern could do it with one hand literally behind his back and as he's flying out into space. This scene doesn't give the reader the impression that Green Lantern is stronger than Grundy, but that the Atom, Flash and Hawkgirl are all really weak.
The Verdict
This is an interesting issue. While there are certainly some great parts of this issue and interesting scenes (Sam and Alan Scott, specifically), it is still somewhat hard to believe the story that Robinson is trying to sell us. Grundy is supposed to be really powerful and really hard to beat, but Alan Scott manages to do it one-handed. This battle really left a lot to be desired. The dialogue was lacking substance and the scene made it seem as though the other characters in this title were simply incapable and weak -- completely unnecessary to the issue. There was also a lot of build-up in this issue, just to have a really awkward, abrupt end. That doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the next issue, however, because I definitely am. This series has been great so far, even though I wasn't a huge fan of this comic. New readers can pick this up and read pretty easily, Robinson manages to write a new-reader friendly issue.