Review: Green Lantern #23.2: Mongul

DC Comics’ Villains month continues with Jim Starlin and Howard Porter’s Green Lantern #23.2: Mongul, and it’s the best Villains Month issue I’ve read to date. The issue contains everything you would expect: great art and an enticing story. As the issue is a one-shot it succeeds in capturing the reader’s attention as well as offering enough to leave the reader wanting for more. The issue doesn’t just offer an origin story, but also a tease of what can come and hopefully what is to come, and that is a meeting between the Green Lanterns and none other than the villain known as Mongul.  Essentially the issue plays out as if it’s a teaser trailer for an epic Mongul Vs. Green Lantern movie as the villain is built up throughout the issue, and rather well done at that.

Mongul comes off as one ruthless B.A. SOB, and it’s perfect. The issue sees the ruler of Warworld invade a foreign territory where we witness and are introduced to this arrogant evil despot retelling a tale from his childhood as he deals with the admiral of the soon-to-be forgotten world. Starlin uses the admiral to introduce the reader to Mongul, his intentions, his characteristics, and his power. It’s not important who the admiral is, but how Mongul reacts and perceives the admiral is where the story truly lies. 

Similar to Starlin, artist Howard Porter also comes through quite spectacularly for the reader. All the pages and panels are heavily detailed, the art is crisp, and Porter uses a gritty photo-reastic style that coupled with Hi-Fi’s colors, comes off as a perfect fit for a cosmic comic book. 

Green Lantern #23.2: Mongul is an example of how Villains Month should be done. Starlin and Porter make for a great cosmic duo, and we can only hope that DC realizes this as well.

Great issue.