The newest Green Lantern tie-in to Villains Month and Forever Evil was downright creepy. In a great way. Writer Charles Soule has really tapped into the primal fear behind the inspiration of two of the greatest underrated villains of the DC Universe this week, both with Swamp Thing's Arcane and Green Lantern's Black Hand. (He also did a pretty good job with A-list Superman villain, Lex Luthor, for those keeping score.) Joined by artist Alberto Ponticelli, Soule proves once again that he knows evil. And death. And lots and lots of chaos. Read Full Review

If you've been keeping up with our “Villains Month Weekly Round-Ups,” many of this month's DC books fall back on exposition heavy origins to pad out their contents. These issues are almost invariably the least interesting. “Black Hand” is one of the minority that breaks this trend, moving the featured character forward rather than focusing on the past. Another flaw I've noticed with the Villains books is that they rarely advise the reader where to follow this character next. “Black Hand” is one of these offenders, but only technically. It's obvious that Hand will be back to plague the Lanterns, Hal Jordan in particular, sometime after next month's climactic ‘Lights Out' crossover. If this one shot is any indication, whether it's in the main book, or in Soule's own “Red Lanterns,” its going to be worth checking out. Read Full Review

Green Lantern #23.3 is a really good issue.  We get Black Hand's latest origin story set in the backdrop of Forever Evil.  Then we get a twist that is sure to set up a great confrontation with Hal Jordan that I can't wait to see. Read Full Review

At the end of the day I'm more of a story guy and for me this issue was great despite some misgivings with the art. I'm glad to see that Villains Month is spending the time to expound upon the Green Lantern rogues gallery and the Black Hand issue offers up plenty of the familiar trappings we're used to with Black Hand while providing something new about them that makes their future meetings with our heroes something to look forward to. Four out of five lanterns. Read Full Review

Add in some clever writing -- the way Black Hand takes down the police officer with glasses is truly inventive and thinking outside the box -- and you end up with a shockingly good comic. Soule is rapidly turning into DC Comics's new secret weapon, another reliable writer that's turning out strong comic after strong comic. In that trend, "Green Lantern" #23.3 is no exception. Even if you're also sick of Black Hand, this one's a winner. Read Full Review

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. Read Full Review

Very enjoyable read, especially if you know the basics of the lantern universe. Black Hand is a cool villain, though doesn't really tie into Forever Evil too much. Read Full Review

Artist Alberto Ponticelli does a fine job rendering the gaunt figure of Black Hand and the undead creatures that do his bidding, from humans corpses all the way down to tiny cockroaches. While most of his character work is well-done, there's an issue with how he draws eyeballs. They are often misshapen and the whites of the eyes are far too large, giving them an unintended goofiness. There are also instances where his pencils are over-inked to the point where you might mistake Black Hand for Batman. Read Full Review

Fans of Green Lantern and Black Hand, especially, will find a straightforward story they will enjoy in these pages. The event at the very end of the book will have an impact on Hal Jordan going forward, but for the most part Green Lantern #23.3: Black Hand is a showcase of what the character can do and little else. Read Full Review

The cover is good, but that's the best part of this book. If you're new to Black Hand you might like this more than I did. If you're familiar with this character, just walk past this. Read Full Review

Black Hand is an intriguing foe for Hal Jordan. Charles Soule has brought him back for Villains Month and has added a pretty interesting twist. This Villains Month story gives a taste of who he was and where he's at now but his return felt a little too soon. It's hard to say where he'll appear next since the Green Lantern titles appear to be crammed with events unless we'll be seeing Black Hand face off against other characters. Being that we're now over half way through Villains Month, this story feels like it would have been better placed at a later date. Soule adds a nice twist to the character and it deserves to be investigated further. It's just unfortunate that the feeling of villains overload is placing a damper on this issue. Read Full Review

If Black Hand did more than suffer like an amnesiac, the comic would be better because when the story gets going, things start getting interesting. Green Latnern: Black Hand is much more than an origin story, and Soule, in this sense, delivers a decent, if uneven one-shot that does its main villain justice. Read Full Review

While the story from Charles Soule is unremarkable, the art from Alberto Ponticelli is very well done. Ponticelli's slightly surreal pencils add a subtle horror book touch to GL #23.3. While not as directly horror oriented as Creepy, Ponticelli definitely calls on those textures to create the art. Shading, odd color choices for skin, all the details and cityscapes have a certain "rot" to them. It's all very effective. As good as the art is, it can't save another unnecessary story from Villains Month. Read Full Review

A credible read, but one that doesn't leave you with much once you set it down. Read Full Review

The 3-D cover on this issue is very good in my opinion. I have found myself really enjoying them after initially thinking I would hate them. The final scene is worth the price alone if you are a Green Lantern fan. I feel that more could have been done with this issue. Read Full Review

Overall this issue was an interesting read and if you are curious about Black Hand it should be a buy. It does it's job on telling you his power set and where he comes from without unneeded baggage. However if you are familiar with Black Hand then this issue is something you can skip. Read Full Review

Black Hand is another one of those characters who benefited greatly from Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern. He went from a nobody to a truly terrifying and powerful villain. Well he's back after his latest thwomping, and he's off to a weak start. Black Hand #1 is one of those short and sweet villain showcases, pretty much just telling a Black Hand story, with a little connection to Forever Evil. If you love the character, this issue would probably be right up your alley. Read Full Review

Villains month so far for me has been completely pointless expect for Forever Evil. Black Hand cannot be considered a major villain by any stretch of the imagination so I do not know why he was picked for a spot light issue. The artist is not someone that I have come across before as far as I know, the art is passable but nothing spectacular, there are a lot of artists around that could have done a better job. The writing is OK but I was expecting better from Soule who DC seem to have high hopes for considering they have given him a Green Lantern title and the upcoming Superman/Wonder Woman title. I have been enjoying the Green Lantern titles for a few years now and hope that this book has just been a poor one off and the book returns to its high standard as one of the best new 52 titles. Read Full Review

This issue is just ok. There's nothing exciting or important that happens. The only interesting scene is when Black Hand raises Hal Jordan's father - Martin. Besides that, it's a flat, boring issue with mediocre art at best.