Surviving the crash may not have been the best thing for Abin Sur.
What They Say:
FLASH QUESTION: Whose side is Sinestro on?
The Review:
The taste of the first issue of this miniseries still doesn’t sit well with me as we saw some pretty bad writing in places and a lot of awkward material that tries to tie the movie visuals to the comics more while showing a different kind of relationship issue within some of the Corps. Having Abin crash at the end of the issue and having Hal Jordan there seemed to show us where we’d be going with this issue, but it’s definitely appropriate that Cyborg and the military show up to nab him and shuffle Jordan off elsewhere. Considering the state of the world, having the government very on the job about anything foreign coming into the world makes a lot of sense. And they’re smartly not treating Abin as a hostile but rather trying to get him some medical attention and then trying to enlist his help once they can tell him about what’s going on and once they get a better handle on him as well.
A lot of material is skipped over for this to happen as it essentially goes from Abin Sur trying to bust out of the healing tube he’s in to suddenly standing alongside the president, Cyborg and a few others announcing him as their newest ally. Considering Abin’s role as an intergalactic cop and diplomat, it makes sense that he’d take things here seriously, but it very much goes against the orders he got from the Guardians to retrieve the Entity. But what we know of Abin really does paint him in this way in that he’d do the right thing first, though one would expect he’d find more of a balance in trying to do so with his assigned mission. Still, having his larger and main mission as a Green Lantern take precedence isn’t bad. It’s just executed badly and even the artwork is rough there as it looks like Abin is completely uncomfortable with what’s going on.
One of the underlying plots of the mini involves Abin’s sister and Sinestro’s interest in her and her death, but it goes in a dark fashion here as Sinestro comes to Earth to basically kill Abin, his supposed best friend. Learning what he has from Atrocitus, the best person in the universe to listen to for the truth of course, he’s under the idea that if he can set the right things in motion with The Flash, he can create the world/galaxy that he envisions which will in turn bring not only Abin’s sister back, but Abin as well. It is, in a way, a decent plan. Let me kill you so I can bring you back into a more peaceful and content universe, but it’s the by any means necessary aspect that leaves a bad taste, even if it does fit in a way with Sinestro. While it’s a bit off, it does lead the two to a fight that helps to set things down a familiar path that will show in the next issue.
Digital Notes:
This Comixology edition of Flashpoint: Abin Sur – The Green Lantern contains the main cover as seen with the print edition with no variants or other extras included.
In Summary:
While not restoring my faith in the series, this issue essentially sucks just a little bit less in how its executed. Large and important sections are dropped and that skimming of events weakens the narrative overall. Abin still isn’t a likeable character and his approach to his main mission and his assigned one to find the Entity could be handled a lot better, both on his end and by the Guardian’s themselves. With some less than well done artwork in a few places and a jumpy plot, it’s the concepts that have to hold you enough to enjoy it. It doesn’t quite achieve that either though simply because it does push things towards the familiar again and because the characters just haven’t come across well enough to make it interesting. It’s all a little too pat and easy, especially when Sinestro starts talking about a prophecy called Flashpoint.
Grade: C
