The Green Lantern Season Two #9 Annotations

Page 1 - Planet Kranaltine: Throneworld of the Crown Imperium and Headquarters of the Superwatch. In Pre-Flashpoint continuity, Kranaltine is ruled by Prince Gavyn, one of the many Starmen.

We first saw this planet back in issue #9 of Season One, and now we are in the midst of Hyperman's Trial for the murder of Lantern Vray. Jordan was ordered to stakeout Earth for the perpetrator, and engaged the Hyperfamily back in Issue #5.

Hyperwoman had previously enlisted Powerlord back in Issue #3, where she acquired the Eterniglass in order to trap Jordan in a time-point so that they could kill him.

The Hyper-family first appeared in a Silver Age Superboy story (Superboy #144): they are a bunch of weirdo reverse Kryptonians who gaslighted silver age Superboy to use him as a guinea pig in their experiments. They escaped from their dying homeworld and settled on Trombus, a planet orbiting a orange sun (which gave them super-powers).

It's revealed in Issue #5 that Hyperman has killed Vray in order to satisfy his sadistic urges as a result of emerald wavelength poisoning.

Page 2 - Trial of Hyperman!

Hal attempts to debunk Hyperman's facade of drugged viciousness while recapping the events of Issue #5.

Sharp returns to the new "painted style" he's been using this season. I, of course, am a huge fan.

Page 3 - "Sentients of the jury..."

The defense brings up Hal's murder of Volgar Zo, the Dhorian planet trader he killed back in Season One #3. If you'll recall, Hal did this in order to be dismissed from the Corps in an ultra-sting infiltration of the Blackstars.

Hyperman looks hilarious to Hal's lack of amusement.

Page 4/5 - We get more info on the Wedding of Hyperboy and Princess Illistra: arranged marriages and trade deals included.

Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the "Southern Fish", and one of the brightest stars in the sky.

Hyperwoman went AWOL back in Issue #5 after claiming that "something is happening on Throneworld and that she is the only one who can stop it."

Page 6/7 - Hal catches Trilla Tru up to speed on the Ultrawar and his encounter with the New Guardians.

Though Hal rejected his position as the Limbo Lantern, it seems as if the experience inclined him to realize that he needs to stay close to those most important to him. Hal mentions that he has been steered to reunite with a number of his past exes; this was evident in the page back in Issue #7 with the past loves each embodying a light of the emotional spectrum.

This season alone, Hal met with:

•  Eve Doremus in #2
• Jill Pearlman in #3
• Olivia Reynolds in #4
• Nurse Olaqua in #6
• Thaal Sinestro in #8 (Anti-Matter universe)
• Carol Ferris in this issue

It definitely feels like this Season is ramping up to something lovely.

 Vegan as in the planet/star system Vega, not the diet.

Page 8 - The paneling layout is excellent on this page.

A big criticism of Morrison's run early on was his lack of continuity from Vendetti's Hal n' Pals ending, where Hal and Carol were reunited on the final page. The first issue immediately opened with Hal banging Eve outside during a erotic comet shower.

Page 9 - Wonderful cover recreation (definitely homaging Silver Age shock/twist covers)

Proposing with a Power Ring; always a ladies man eh Hal?

As for two universes, that would be Earth-0 and...

Page 10 - The return of Earth-11!

We last saw Star Sapphire Carol Jordan in Issue #11 of course of Season One. Earth-11 if you'll recall is the so called gender swapped Earth, though we learn later that that isn't all to it. Boom Cube is new (Boom Tube + Transmatter Cube?).

The style shifts on this page are beautiful.

Page 11 - The Golden Destroyer descends on the Multiverse!

Zundernell was revealed earlier this season to belong to the race of Golden Giants who inhabit the artificial toy world, but was abandoned by his people. In Issue #7, we saw him get transported away from imprisonment on UUGO while proclaiming that the Multi-Crisis has begun and the Nomad Empire is returning.

This page presents us with Zundernell in a new form as the cosmic weapon Golden Destroyer. As evident by Carol's dialogue on page 9, it seems like he is attempting to locate her specifically or alternate counterparts in general.

This page presents what looks like Zundernell scanning the Multiverse for possible incursions that could propel the Ultrawar. Sharp's cobalt Bleed returns from last season's issue 10.

Page 12 - Coming of the Incel Lantern!

Carol gives Vendetti fans their post Hal&Pals epilogue, explaining that he dipped on her after a little while, pretty in character for Jordan if you ask me.

Reminder that this is Hal Ferris of Earth 11. 

Page 13 - Male power-fantasy ring AI is very reminiscent of Earth 3's Volthoom Power Ring, except more pathetic than abusive.

Page 14 - "Well, here I am, sports fans!"

Morrison has always been savage with the commentary, not even the nice guys are safe!

Page 15 - Implied that E-11 Hal went across the Multiverse looking for his Sapphire.

Panel layout is great as always.

Page 16 - The Secret History of Earth 11!

Not a gender swapped Earth, but a feminist one! Incel Guardians = Incel Lanterns, with the Star Sapphires as the dominant police force in the universe.

Page 17 - Our real "Wedding of the Trillenium" would have come about if Hal had proceeded with his proposal to Carol.

E-11 Carol explains that if they had kissed, Zundernell would have tracked the resulting "Orgone Flash" and annihilated both of them. Orgone is a pseudoscientific concept variously described as an esoteric energy or hypothetical universal life force; people use it to protect from EMF's or whatnot.

Page 18 - A little iffy on this page.

The debris seems to imply that the Earth 11 Justice Guild built a Lunar Watchtower (similar to Morrison's JLA run) and it was destroyed by the Golden Destroyer.

Page 19 - Marsha Manhunter, that's great.

"All powerful Living Weapon from the Dawn of Time..." We saw a great deal of abandoned Monitor tech left on Earth 15 back in Season One #11, with Zundernell self teaching while marooned. Golden Destroyer could have been among the rest.

With what we've been told, Carol's plan goes a little like this:

• Trick Zundernell into thinking E-0 Carol is E-11 Carol
• Occupy E-0 Carol with E-11 Hal
• Prevent E-0 Hal from engaging with E-0 Carol in order to avoid Orgone Flash
• Bring E-0 Hal to E-11
• Draw Golden Destroyer attention away from E-0 Carol and E-11 Hal by kissing E-0 Hal

And with a kiss, the Destroyer finds his target...

Page 20 - Batwoman, Miss Terrific, and a female Green Arrow analogue.

Incel Hal gets dropped in a cross dimensional backhand.

Page 21 - E-0 Sapphire arrives, declaring war on Earth 11!

Miss Terrific confirms that what caused damage to the moon was...

Page 22 - Zundernell, Golden Destroyer!

Zundernell reveals his true motive to capture Star Sapphire, whom he describes as "the heart of all".

Nomad Empire mentioned again, claiming the need to "repossess what was once theirs". Could this be a callback to the Golden Giants from #4; Zundernell enacting their final revenge?

 Carol's hubris comes in the form of lack of consideration; Lantern for Lantern, Sapphire for Sapphire.

As the Wedding of Hyperboy and Princess Illistra enthralls the denizens of Kranaltine, the true Union of the Trillenium shocks the Multiverse as Will and Love remain in constant synchrony across endless worlds.

LOVESTRUCK LANTERNS: The Many Flames of Hal Jordan

 

WHAT IS THE ULTRAWAR: Cataclysm for the Corps in Morrison's The Green Lantern

 

The Green Lantern Season Two #8 Annotations

Page 1- So this issue is presented in reverse chronology (similar to Morrison's Pax Americana) and is focused on the Anti-Matter counterpart to Hal Jordan known as Weaponeer 666. The backwards narrative really fits in with the whole reverso-verse/anti-world environment we are presented. The whole "begin at the end" places emphasis on the narrative style as well.

Here we begin in the present with 666 being tortured by his superiors, the Qwa-Masters, in an attempt to discover why he destroyed the "Lightning Forge". Remember to keep the pain/punishment mention in mind as we go through this issue.

Starting this season, Sharp has began experimenting with more painted/photo-realistic art to much criticism. It suits this issue especially well due to the sci-fi horror "gigeresque" look that Sharp implements, though I've enjoyed this new technique throughout the entire series.

Page 2- One Hour Ago: Here we have 666 holding what appears to be a dead lover (who will be revealed later on) as he his confronted by the Anti-Matter Trilla-Tru, who calls back to her decapitation by a hulked out Crassus Qwipe 6 in Issue 6. The implication is 666 has screwed up beyond repair, with our pain motif triumphant over the ravaged corpse of love.

Page 3- Trilla seems livid, revealing both her intention to replace 666 for his insubordination as well as her reluctance to stop 666's lover from running into the explosion at the Lightning Forge.

Page 4- One Hour & Ten Minutes Ago: In a great contrast to the Weaponeers dialogue in the positive universe being backwards, now we have Hal and the other Lantern's speech reversed, only natural of course. Morrison's use of the Anti-Verse and its inverted universal order can be seen back in "JLA: Earth 2" where the League discovers that they can only win if they lose.

Hal leaves his counterpart with a realization and a warning: though he and the other Lanterns could eradicate the Weaponeers at any moment, they choose not to.

The Lightning Forge appears to be where the Weaponeer Qwa-Bolts are manufactured, harkening back to Qwardian/Weaponeer mythology of the Thunderers. 

Page 5- It appears that 666's intention was to have Jordan destroy the Forge, but our Emerald Knight outsmarted him, leading to him having to do the job himself at the cost of his lover. 

Page 6- One Hour & 18 Minutes Ago: Outside view of the Lightning Forge, with the Qwa-Master's going boom-boom in their pants.

Hal's mine projectile constructs are great.

Page 7- A devastated Trilla-tru arises (we'll see what happens to her soon) while 666 apparently informs Jordon of his motives?

Our mysterious lover is revealed as... Sinestro? The Anti-Matter Sinestro first appeared in issue 8 of last season, tasked with hunting down the Qwa-Man/666 for the Sector Dictators for bounty. Now he's apparently Anti-Matter Jordan's lover, in a somewhat understandable reversal of the norm?

Page 8- One Hour & 33 Minutes Ago: By godevil's name this panel economy is brilliant!

We get some great Qwardian geography in this series. I believe "Qwar-deen" was first mentioned last issue, but Sharp's pencils just bring the concept to life.

Page 9- Weaponeer counterparts for Maxim Tox and I believe a cross between John Stewart and Xax against a squadron of four Lanterns: Trilla-Tru, Jordan, Maxim Tox, and Volk.

The Stewart counterpart is referred to as "Qwa-Trawets" in more fun reverse terminology.

Page 10- Qwa-Trawets looks like he gets liquified by Volk's blast just as another counterpart appears. Instead of a volcano head, Volk's analogue is just a flaming beast.

Page 11- Trilla-Tru's roided Xudarian constructs give me life.

Page 12/13- Rematch between opposites, with Trilla-Tru facing off and ultimately defeating her dark twin in classic Lantern fashion. The mention of mutual annihilation via positive/antimatter collision has been brought up a number of times in this series, though the only discrepancy I can find in Morrison's work is from Earth 2; though if this rule was applied, we couldn't have had that story.

Page 16- Two Hours & 18 Minutes Ago: The long awaited return of the Anti-Matter Crime Syndicate!

Superwoman, Ultraman, and Kyle Rayner Power Ring analogues presenting tributes of both human sacrifices and what appear to be various power batteries. I don't believe the emotional spectrum exists in the Anti-Matter universe but I could be wrong.

We get a little bit of lore regarding the Anti-Verse, with Earth and the Syndicate's power in fact being sustained on Weaponeer technology. In a great bit of inversion, where the Lanterns are tasked with protecting/serving their sectors, the Weaponeer's are served by the planets under their control.

Page 17- We're greeted with the Borderman/Gamma Monster, one of whom we saw decimating the Superwatch on the Anti-Matter Mining Colony. Borderman resembles the Anti-Matter Man, a character form the Silver Age who battle the Justice League.

We also get a repeat scene from page 9 with a perspective change.

Page 18- Three Hours & 18 Minutes Ago: Post-bath coitus between Sinestro and 666 I presume?

A little background is given between the two, with the Jordan v Sinestro dynamic turned topsy turvy in this reverso-verse. 

Looking back now on Sinestro's motive during Season One and the new info on his wanted-ness by the Weaponeer's, I believe that he in fact lied about being paid to bring back 666. Sinestro could have possibly gone after his lover, who had at that point been captured by the Blackstars and smuggled through a myriad of worlds, and was transported back by the Borderman and the end of Issue 12.

I would just like to mention that Sinestro stated that he was able to defeat 666 at full power a couple of times due to his "Achilles Heel". Well, now we know what he meant by that...

We also finally get the explanation for 666's pain fascination, with the Weaponeer creed revolving around power = pain.

Page 19- Never did I think a relationship between Sinestro and Hal would be one of the most heartbreaking things to read.

"But this- losing you would hurt more than I could bear." Foreshadowing, or in this case merely reveal, 666's intention to have Sinestro die as to strengthen him. Twisted am I right?

It also makes a lot more sense why Qwa-Man/666 only got more powerful while he was weakened during his fight with the Lanterns on Weirwimm last season. More pain more gain.

Page 20- 43 Hours & 18 Minutes Ago: Taking place before Issue 6 of this season, the Weaponeers decide to go on a Lantern-Hunt in the Plus Matter Universe; this in fact is part of 666's plan to get Jordan to invade Qward and take down the Weaponeers.

Final revelation for 666's motives: everything to take down the Qwa-Masters.

Page 21- This makes 666 somewhat sympathetic in a macabre way, what with his sacrifice of his true love to aid in eliminating his overlords. Its not explicitly stated if Sinestro wanted to die to help 666 by running into the explosion, or if he just was a casualty, but nonetheless he got what he wanted.

Once again great art by Sharp.

Page 22- "It begins..."

The true War with the Anti-World is not between the Lanterns and the Weaponeers, but between 666 and the Qwa-Masters.

"HATE DEATH PAIN KILL!"