The [Mach] Tortoise And the [Guy With] Hair
The Good: The cover has Green Lantern in a nice iconic Green Lantern kind of pose, a general background of space being the 4th different kind of background in a row for the DC One Million Covers, still a neat use of the 90's era capabilities of 3D rendering to reflect the future we can't currently comprehend, and the same space station seen in the time travel scene from DC One Million #1, which piques my interest.
The almost cartoony artwork is pretty good, and it reminds me a bit of Yanick Paquette with the odd way the shadows are used. They have a lot of full patches, but they're more subtle and not overwhelming.
With no Green Lanterns beyond the 30th Century, Future Starman is the Justice Leagion Alpha representative for Green Lantern, and he has a space station linked to Solaris instead of a planet like the rest. This sews some interesting bits of plot to set up further threads in the crossover. Starman has the home with the least and most significance. On one hand, he occupies something much smaller than a planet, but on the other hand its tied inexoribly to the Justice Leagion's most dangerous foe.
Once again, we get a good show of the beyond the beyond technology. The colleseum full of people who aren't there, with handheld devices showing a close up in addition to having holo-seats; it's something totally wild. It's not super unique, but the stacking of holo technology is pretty different.
Kyle's narration is one that's very smooth and fun to read.
I really like the effort made in this story to give the Justice League genunine challenges that aren't lethal. Green Lantern's race isn't just a race, it's a battle of wills and a battle of wits. Each character uses light contruct powers to a degree, and the battle is to determine who can use their powers in the right way. It's a battle disgused as a race, a battle that's not to the death, it's just a battle to see who can gain the advantage, with a quick-thinking foe. Plus they go through all sorts of interesting locations.
Once again, Solaris doesn't quite go for the obvious tactics when sabbotaging the Justice League. He doesn't cause the games to get deadly, he plays oddly by the rules. But he doesn't want to spin the public against Green Lantern, he has a deeper hidden agenda weaved into his plans for the Emerald Warrior.
Pretty great plot twist, paced oddly in the story, but it actually kind of worked, it's different.
Solaris is once again seen as a massive foe. We don't just get told Solaris is strong, he blasts away Green Lantern with a single blow, '[He] was nothing to [him.]' And the pacing in that final scene goes fro mchaos into the haunting beauty of the stillness of space, which transitions gently into a moment of odd hope.
The Bad: An aside referencing 'recent' events in that Green Lantern series comes across as utterly pointless. All it really does is acknowledge what recently happened, but there's no need for it storywise. Nothing in the issue has any reall tie to the events he references. It just makes this story less able to stand outside the main series.
I didn't exactly feel that much tension from the measures Solaris enacted, Green Lantern kind of breezed through it, and worked out a bit more easily due to his powers. You'd think Solaris would've palnned ahead better for this.
In Conclusion: 4/5
Green Lantern forms an interesting contrast with Action Comics, and a totally different one than Batman: Shadow of the Bat; it takes the same 'Solaris screws up the contest' plot, but paces itself in a completely opposite way. It's a fun issue that sets up some key plot points for DC One Million, so if you're reading this crossover, this is an issue that shouldn't be missed for reasons beyond pacing. It's a vital issue in the story, and frankly it's a pretty darn good read anyways.
