Rating: 3.5/5 – The dead shall rise…
Black Hand is the starring Villain in Green Lantern 23.3, another Villains month tie in. Although he was introduced way back in the original Green Lantern series, this villain is much different than he was when he first appeared. This issue focuses on the creepier aspects of Black Hand as he uses his power throughout the issue to raise the dead, including a character that has very close ties to Hal Jordan.
Many of the Villains Month titles have been either diving into the character’s origins, or setting them up for future storylines. In this issue, writer Charles Soule focuses on the latter. Black Hand reappears without much clarity as to where he is. The majority of the issue is him trying to remember just what it is he’s supposed to do, which doesn’t become clear until the very end. For that reason, at times the issue felt a bit slow. It was heavy on the internal monologue, and much like Black Hand, you were confused as to the why for most of the issue. The conclusion though sets up an intriguing storyline, but I’m just not sure when that will happen.
The art style of Alberto Ponticelli fits this issue well. He has a dark and scratchy line that fits the risen dead. I think he could do a bit better job on the eyes though. It’s makes me feel bad to be critiquing something so minor, but no matter the character being drawn, there was always something off about the eyes. Black Hand himself goes from blue eyes in the beginning, to black, to no pupils, etc…I know this makes me sound so nerdy, but It bothered me.
Overall though I enjoyed the issue. I’m a huge fan of this character since Johns re-invented him, and I’m curious as to when and where he’ll show up next. And as I did get the lenticular cover, I will say that to me it was one of the better ones. There seems to be some great depth to the cover with the three different layers. And as a final note, I’ve really enjoyed the majority of the lenticular covers that DC has put out. Hopefully this becomes a yearly tradition as they’ve really been a whole lot of fun.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas – shawn@comicspectrum.com
https://comicspectrum.com/ Covering the full spectrum of comics culture
Follow ComicSpectrum:
ComicSpectrum Comic Reviews 
I liked this a lot more than Shawn….It was a 5/5 for me, but then again, I enjoyed the internal monologue parts as Black Hand was trying to figure out what was going on. For me that was characterization that added to the issue.