Written By: Robert Venditti
Art By: Rafa Sandoval & Jordi Tarragona
Published By: DC Comics
Hal Jordan continues building tension toward a fight with Zod, with a classic misleading cover that hints at conflict readers will not find in this issue. However, that’s not to say issue #39 isn’t interesting.
What keeps me reading is the look at Zod, still villainous and calculating but also a character with increasing amounts of depth. He has Hal locked up as his prisoner and anticipates retaliation from the Corps, yet he claims to be interested more in the preservation of Kryptonian culture and life than ruling as a harsh dictator.
These words feel hollow, but readers are asked to wonder just how sincere this new angle from Zod truly is. As a father and a survivor of an extinct species, it isn’t too difficult to see his hope for a future, and this is a story beat that I hope doesn’t fall too short.
Of course, Hal is only half of the story in The Green Lantern Corps, and this is where the issue begins to fall flat for me. John relays the news of Zod’s escape to the Guardians, who then fall into the typical plot of bureaucracy getting in the way of heroic bad-guy-punching. Much as John grows frustrated with this B-plot, I found myself eager to see Zod maybe just take over the universe and put the story to an end.
I’m being a bit harsh, but after all this buildup I’ve become very hopeful that issue #40 pays off in a big way. Zod and his family have demonstrated power, but there is just so much exposition and claim to his strength that I’m really just hungry for actual conflict.