Short Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #20

Has no one besides Rip ever dealt with time travel in this series ? Because no one else seems to know the rules. Or they know but don't care. I'm not sure.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I got to get this rant out of the way first so bear with me. Previously John doesn't want Rip to hold on to the ring from the future despite it being calibrated for him and having information no one in the present should have. It's been said by Soranik that no one should risk knowing too much about the future. Yet the second John realizes people could die he pulls a Hal to aggressively demand Rip give more information. Guess what John? By demanding answers you risk the chance of making things worse by changing the timeline. You either trust Rip or you don't. If you don't why are you bothering to ask? You have a ring that could tell you, assuming the future John didn't have enough sense to lock it off for anyone not Rip Hunter.

This isn't just a bias on my part for being a Rip fan, I usually adore most of the GLs but their acting like nonsensical asses in this. The worst Rip's done in this arc was get a little snarky for future John limiting ring access and attacking John when he was disoriented. The latter of which was stated by their best doctor which confirms he wasn't in his right mind when he did it. Why are they roughly grabbing him and threatening him? Yes they care about each other fellow Corps members but their treating Rip like a villain when all he's done is try to help. You'd think ring access alone--no matter how limited it is--would be enough for them.

I'm a little confused on the intention of this arc in terms of this behavior. Yes it shows the GLs worry about their own. But Rip sounded like he knows and respects John Stewart. So you'd think this being their first meeting (from John's POV) that this would be building on that. But no, so far Rip has been treated like a hostile. It's revealed that this is all in fact Hal's fault which seems to surprise no one and naturally no one shows the same hostility towards him. Guy turns up to kick ass after Rip leaves with Hal only to discovery there's not much of a plan to work with.

If my theory from last issue holds true, which the dialogue with Sarko seem to strongly support, the blame can be placed on Kyle too. I do love how Sarko mocks the idea of Hal being the greatest GL and states how abandoning the gauntlet was the one wise thing he's ever done. Then adding that it was still foolhardy. These statements say a lot about both characters.

Time travel stories can be a lot of fun. I will say the art continuity was aggravating since Rip apparently grew a beard between issues. When I first saw him I was confused and wondered if Guy regrew his beard before I noticed the outfit.




Say What?: Rip Hunter is referred to as a "nuisance tourist"?  That unplays him so much it's hilarious. That's like calling the GLs grating cosplayers. I kind of want Sarko to survive just to see him and future Damian insult each other. He would be a cool villain for Rip.