First off, a run-down of who did what in this book.
Larry Niven = story
John Byrne = script & art
Matt Webb = colours

When I was nine, I ordered Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale through a DC Comics catalogue. My brother (who was largely responsible for my reading tastes) had a friend who could produce comic books like magic. Since my only methods of finding comics were desperately searching back issues in cafes or hoping for something at a stationery store, the catalogue he showed me was like a dream come true. After I had him order this book for me, I awaited its arrival with keen anticipation for three weeks.

When I got it, I was all excited. After reading it, I felt cheated. I was disappointed. I loaned the book to my cousin and promptly forgot about it for eleven years, until a bit of cleaning about the house recovered it, and guilt forced my cousin to return it to me. I read it again, and I found it wasn't so bad after all. In fact, I rather like it now.

Okay, let's get down to the basic story.

Billions of years ago, the people of the planet Malthus had already developed incredible powers. Immortal and vastly intelligent, they conquered every secret of science that they tried their hands at. But there was one secret they denied themselves - the secret of their own origins. But the brilliant scientist Krona, scornful of the legends that spoke of the destruction that would come about if ever this secret was laid bare, built a machine that allowed him to gaze back into time. Further and further back he gazed, until he beheld the secret of the beginnings of his race. And then all hell broke loose. His machine exploded. Krona, being immortal, survived. But his actions had caused evil to be released into the universe. This would lead to the formation of the Guardians of the Universe by powerful, wise and good Malthusians, and the creation of the Green Lantern Corps, whose purpose was to combat the evil that Krona had caused.

Or so the story goes.

Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Earth, has always believed it. But when the Guardian Ganthet shows up on his doorstep talking about the salvation of an entire race of misplaced Guardians, Hal realizes that the truth behind the Guardians is something he could never have imagined. And now a renegade Guardian is attempting to repeat Krona's experiment, and Ganthet and Hal, along with the leprechaun Percival, must stop him before the universe itself is destroyed. Of course, they'll have to stop his wife and two children as well - all of whom wield the incredible power of the Guardians.

Larry Niven is a big name in science fiction, what with his Ringworld series and other works. He's a master of "hard" sci-fi, and it shows in this book. He plays around with the nature of the light that comes from a Green Lantern's ring, the reason the recovery of the origin of the Guardians caused universe-scale problems, and drags in entropy and leprechauns for good measure. His plot is both entertaining and unusually plausible for a comic book story. He really taps the sci-fi aspect of the Green Lantern concept, to which is probably better-suited than it is to the traditional superheroic aspect. Good stuff.

John Byrne is one of the greats of the comics industry. An accomplished writer and author, the pencilling and inking he did on this book is very, very good indeed. Hal Jordan looks heroic, but not impossibly so. The characters have expressive faces, and even their stances convey something about their moods and personalities. Byrne also handles dialogue, of which there's a lot in this book, as characters explain the secrets and mysteries surrounding the Guardians. It gets the job done, I guess.

Colourists are pretty much ignored by fans, but colour is an integral part of the comic book experience - even the absence of colour can be made to mean something, to enhance a story. And in a story featuring green-garbed characters wielding green energy, you'd think that grassy colour would be overwhelming. But Matt Webb's colours are perfect in Ganthet's Tale. Green is used practically every panel, but the use of different shades and excellent application of other colours means readers hardly notice it. His colours really do enhance the art significantly.

My only real complaint about this book is that that there's very little room for characterization. There's definitely character development, and that for all the characters in the book. And Ganthet, who would go on to become a big part of the DC Universe, is perfect. But the Green Lantern of Earth, the superhero who was then the star of the GL series, is only a bit player in this story. The history of the character, the heroic nature of the Green Lantern Corps, these are things that are never dealt with in the story. Ganthet's Tale basically assumes you know these things already (though it's not really necessary for enjoyment of the story).

Ultimately, this is a comic book that looks better than it reads (and by that I don't mean to imply that the book can see or is literate, though you never know). But the story is entertaining, and if that's enough for you, or if you're a fan of the Green Lantern concept, you'll enjoy reading this.

Recommended: Yes