The two-part opener of Green Lantern: The Animated Series throws us right into the action rather than waste time with an origin episode. After averting a little danger on Earth, and accidentally crashing a billion dollar jet, Hal Jordan (Josh Keaton) is summoned to the Green Lantern homeworld of Oa for disciplinary matters given his last assignment in which he headbutted a respected ambassador.
While getting berated by the Guardians of the Universe, Jordan learns one of the Green Lanterns in the farthest reaches of space has died. Borrowing a faster-than-light prototype space craft Jordan and Kilowog (Kevin Michael Richardson) journey to the edge of the known universe for some answers. There they discover a Lantern (Kurtwood Smith) fighting against two mysterious Red Lanterns who appear driven by rage.
In the process of saving the Lantern Hal and Kilowog accidentally put his homeworld in danger and become marooned in deep space when the ship is damaged. Now lightyears from the nearest reinforcements, Hal and Kilowog will have to deal with the Red Lantern Corps all on their own.
The two-part opener is a good primer for those unfamiliar with the characters as well as a indication for longtime fans what aspects of the character the show is going to keep. We're introduced to the Hal/Carol (Jennifer Hale) relationship as well as told pretty early this version of Hal is the cocky pilot who has trouble playing by the book and would much rather fly by the seat of his pants. Yep, Hal is still a jerk. And that suits me just fine.
The look of the show is a little too CGI for my tastes (I'm sorry, it looks a little cheap to me), but the designs of most of the characters come off pretty well even if some of the characters seem bloated. My first thought when looking at Hal Jordan shouldn't be how much he resembles Mr. Incredible. Of all the character designs Atrocitus is most awkward, and far less intimidating than his look in the comics.
For a two-part pilot episode "Beware My Power" worked better than I was expecting. I don't know how long I want to see Kilowog and Hal lost in space fighting nothing but Red Lanterns, but I'm willing to hang around for awhile to see what happens (especially if Dex-Starr shows up soon).
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