Cliché ending

Welcome back friends, since it’s been a while since I last spoke about The Green Lantern, I decided it was about time to bring them back. In my last post I elaborated on the relationship between hero Hal Jordan and the villain Sinestro. Sinestro was once considered the greatest green lantern in the corps but was dishonorably discharged after he gave in to his desires and took advantage of his power. Once discharged, Sinestro swore revenge on the Corps and became a longtime nemesis of Hal.

Sticking to Hal Jordan, I decided to elaborate on his relationship with another villain, The Puppeteer (Green Lantern: volume 2 #1, the planet of doomed men). The Puppeteer, also known as Jordan Weir, was a scientist who created the "Hypno-ray". With this invention Weir had the power to force victims to follow his commands; hence the title "The Puppeteer".Commanding other criminals to do his evils for him and causing absolute chaos, Hal come to the rescue when Weir manages to take control of him as well, eventually Hal defeats The Puppeteer but not for good since he returns in future comics

In this cover picture of the comic, you are able to see The Puppeteer’s puppet in the center of the image on a much larger scale than Hal. According to Molly Bang in Picture This, “the center of the page is the most effective” (62). This scene adds excitement to the comic because the picture depicts The Puppeteer as in control and having power over Hal. Rather than thinking of the comic as “the hero always wins”, you are able to see where Hal is being challenged. With Hal flying toward the bottom corner of the image he is seen as more vulnerable showing he’s threatened and constrained. Knowing that The Puppeteer has the advantage in this battle, I find myself drawn to his character secretly routing him on. Throughout the comic I found myself more interested in their relationship being equal that I forgot all about the cliché: Good always defeats evil.

This alluring image kept my attention throughout the comic causing me to question if maybe, just this once, the villain could actually win. Unlike other comics with flat villains that serve no purpose other than to add another name to the long list of villains defeated, The Puppeteer pushed Hal to great lengths and tested his powers.