Visually, this issue is a slight downgrade from the Rebirth special, but that's to be expected given that Rafa Sandoval is taking over from Ethan Van Sciver. Perhaps Sandoval's pages don't boast the same intricate levels of detail as Van Sciver's, but Sandoval is quickly and easily settles into the Green Lantern universe. He delivers plenty of exciting action sequences and bold shots of Lanterns in action. He expertly juggles the hopeful underdog tone of Hal's scenes with the sinister back-stabbery of the Sinestro Corps material. The worst that can be said about Sandoval's art is that he has problems rendering long hair. Some female characters look as if they have giant, amorphous blobs attached to their heads.
The result of all of this is that the series succeeds both as a solo vehicle and an ensemble book. It stacks the deck against Hal and his fellow Lanterns in a big way, but it also sets the stage for them to emerge triumphant. This is the Green Lantern book we've needed for a long time - one that can tell epic stories without feeding into the constant crossover cycle, and one that can properly build on the foundation left by Geoff Johns. The fact that so much about this book feels like a return to 2013 shows that DC is willing to fix what went wrong after Johns ended his run.
