Mysterious Black Box

Green Lantern: The Animated Series #0 (DC, January 2012, $2.99)
"True Colors" Written by: Art Baltazar and Franco, Illustrated by: Dario Brizuela, Colored by: Gabe Eltaeb, Lettered by Saida Temofonte, Edited by: Kristy Quinn.

Drawn in the style of the 2012-2013 cartoon aired on the Cartoon Network, this comic book is a TV tie-in and erstwhile gateway for younger readers. Hal Jordan and Kilowog find a ring, but it's a red ring—and draws the attention of Red Lantern enemies.



Kilowog captured, Jordan finds the energy source, a quantum refractor. He then finds Kilowog, in chains. He rescues his friend and opens the mysterious black box to find that it holds a creature that feeds on ions and atoms. The creature released, all is well in the end.

The issue's story is about as long as a cartoon episode, and the pace is similar—but the comic doesn't totally read like TV. Of special interest is the "Draw Your Own Hal Jordan, Green Lantern!" page—which goes from shape-based character design to overly 3-D rendered animation. Fans of the cartoon might see it in the comic—and fans of the comic might turn to the cartoon, which aired weekly. Personally, I'd rather watch the Justice League cartoons.



Availability: This issue was collected in Green Lantern: The Animated Series. The cartoon is available on Blu-Ray: Green Lantern: The Animated Series.