Review
By James Harvey

To call this “The Best of Green Lantern” is a bit of a misdirection. Despite the quality of episodes included here, to call it that is a bit...subjective. In my opinion, there are some better Green Lantern-focused cartoons that could be plunked on here. Everyone has their own opinion and chances are the “best” episodes included here aren’t going to be the favorites of everyone who picks this up. What you do get from this release is a nice selection of Green Lantern adventures that range from average to fantastic! Plus, you get a fair shake of Green Lanterns, too.

This release is definitely a primer not only for the recent Green Lantern theatrical film but for the CGI Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Nearly every episode included on this release provides plenty of background details on the Green Lantern Corp and those who wield the ring. That fact that three different people wear the ring in these included episodes could cause for some slight confusion for those new to the mythos, but I imagine those picking up this release should be able to pick up on the differences between the episodes included here (or just don’t care).

And what are the episodes? This release included Justice League “In Blackest Night, Parts One and Two,” Superman: The Animated Series “In Brightest Day,” The Batman “Ring Toss,” and Batman: The Brave and The Bold “The Eye of Despero.”

To quickly comment on the episodes, The Batman “Ring Toss” is easily the weakest, but by no means is it actually a weak episode. It’s average and enjoyable, but nothing really special. A fine way to kill twenty minutes, nothing more. Though I will say the design of Hal Jordan/Green Lantern is pretty excellent here. The best is, without question, Superman: The Animated Series “In Brightest Day.” Fun, light, and full of adventure, this episode brilliantly melds the origins of Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner (who joined the Corps during the 1990s) into one without skipping a beat. Rayner finds himself bestowed the ring after its previous wearer crashes on Earth, with the evil Sinestro close behind. It’s a fun rock ‘em, sock ‘em episode that manages to squeeze Green Lantern’s origin into a twenty-minute block without feeling short. Superman even gets a good showing as he helps the Emerald Knight defeat the evil Sinestro!

The other three episodes here, the two part Justice League “In Blackest Night” and Batman: The Brave and The Bold “The Eye of Despero” are also good takes on the Green Lantern lore, though the patience of some viewers may be tested with the slow burn of the two-part Justice League yarn as opposed to the other fast-paced episodes included here.

If you want a nice bundle of Green Lantern-centric cartoons episodes, this is a great place to start. There’s a good chance you already have these episodes as part of other DVD collections, but having over 100 minutes of this Green Lantern content all in one place is pretty convenient. Plus, all the episodes here are all enjoyable, some more than others, and offer a wide variety of both story-telling and Green Lanterns. It’s a good way to get another healthy dose of Green Lantern adventures after the recent theatrical film or the CGI-animated series. Definitely worth a rental for older fans, a keeper if you don’t already own these episodes, and parents can safely add this to their kids’ viewing rotation.

[ Back to Releases ]