Flashpoint: Abin Sur, the Green Lantern

Adam Schlagman and Felipe Massafera

"Emerald Isolation:" Heralded as one of the most valiant Green Lanterns in the universe, Abin Sur died, sending his ring to Hal Jordan. Now, in the wake of Flashpoint, Abin Sur never died and continues to be the sole protector of Sector 2814.Summary: The issue opens up with a vision of Abin's childhood, where his sister teaches him the value of all life, even bugs. Jumping forward to now, Abin is fighting Manhunter robots who are out to destroy all emotions. After dispatching the robots and rescuing the defenseless populace, Sinestro shows up asking for help. He wants to form a squandron to take on the Black Lanterns who seem to still be trying to send the universe into emotionless death. Sinestro seems unchanged by the reality altering effects of Flashpoint as he is still rallying against the Guardians and willing to use force to establish his will. We then find out that Nekron killed Kilowog and that all the dead Lanterns are returning as Black Lanterns (Yeah, half the plot is the setup to Blackest Night... which has been over for more than a year). Abin turns him down and Sinestro insults his quest to protect life, saying that he can no longer see the greater threats in the universe. We cut to the Guardians who are sitting around discussing the threats of both the Manhunters and the Black Lanterns, but are more concerned about the war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman on Earth. They ask Abin to report to Oa for his mission. (Ok, here's an aside that is completely unrelated to anything here: Every issue I've read in the last two days has had this Super 8 comic inside that is absolutely pointless. If anyone at DC is reading this... stop it. It only pisses readers off.) Cut to Oa, where Abin is told to stop the war as it is tearing the Earth apart. Inside the Earth is the hidden Entity of Life that must not be harmed. Abin must find and rescue it, even if that means destroying Earth. While flying to Earth (Hang on... GL's use their rings to fly... they don't need ships. So I don't get why Abin has always been known for a spaceship), Abin is hit with a purple... or violet... beam of light, and he has a crash landing in Coast City, home of Hal Jordan. We cut to Sinestro on a red planet covered in blood, striking up a conversation with the captive Atrocitis, the leader of the Red Lanterns. Its revealed that Atrocitis is the one who caused the Blackest Night by murdering Black Hand. Sinestro asks Atrocitis about the prophecy of the Flashpoint. Bum bum BUUUM... Yeah, not really climactic at all.

High Points: The art is pretty seamless in the issue. I like this characterization of Abin Sur here because, much like Flashpoint Batman, we have a character who is never known or delved into beyond their deaths. However, unlike Batman, we really don't know why Abin Sur never crashed and died. This issue is so beautiful and manages to strike a few chords with DC readers with the references, so why doesn't it "work?"

Low Points: The dialogue, pure and simple. The writing here is just weak, and characters like Sinestro and Atrocitis just chew scenery. Its more focused on making these two look like badasses than to put some real life into the character of Abin Sur.

Verdict: B+. Overall, I think this story could go in some interesting directions, and given his appearance in Flashpoint #1, this may be required reading. So I suggest reading it, or at the very least looking at it. James is out this week... so we go to our interim correspondant reading it now. What are your thoughts, Norm?

Deep thinker, that guy...