Kevin Nowlan in Tales of the Green Lantern corps #3

Kevin Nowlan's 

A Sense of Obligation 

a true classic of the comic medium!

The time was 1987. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen was coming out. I tried to get everything by Alan Moore because almost everything that he wrote was amazing. I'm sure I got The Tales of the Green Lantern Annual #3 because of his 6 page "In Blackest Night" short in it. But this issue also contained another amazing story in it, "A Sense of Obligation" written by Richard Bruning and illustrated by Kevin Nowlan. I know I've seen work by Kevin Nowlan before on various covers of Defenders or in such titles as Dr. Strange #57, in a back up piece to Dalgoda called "Grimwood's Daughter" and the amazing the Outsiders annual #1 but this piece was special. In this piece he outdid himself. Not only did he do an amazing job penciling this issue, he did a near perfect job of inking as well as doing one of the most remarkable coloring jobs I have ever seen!

At the time Nowlan created this, his color scheme of aquamarine blues and greens and ocher was completely unique and revolutionary. Nowadays, in this age of computer coloring you see many different color schemes being used but in the 80's absolutely original. 

There is a subtlety to Nowlan's artwork that is awesome to behold. The purple sky and grey earth is so striking in 5 panel. 

Nowlan's inking is so incredibly slick here, it makes you wonder what size he was working at to get such wonderful detail and make it look so slick. 

The story here is not remarkable but the artwork is so stunning that it actually elevates the story from a average story to a classic level, one that should be cherished and held up with the best of the medium.

Kevin Nowlan has done great works since in such comics as the amazing Secret Origins #39 featuring the Man-Bat, and Batman Black and White #4 but this issue of Green Lantern had something special, something perfect.