One of my favorite movies of the 1980s is Inner Space. It was the first time I was introduced to both Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid. I was well aware of who Martin Short was, thanks to his hilarious Saturday morning show, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley and before that when he created the same character on SCTV. The movie was one of Joe Dante’s most mainstream forays and definitely one of his funniest efforts to this day.

The movie starred Quaid as a military pilot who volunteers for a miniaturization experiment. Through a series of events gets into Short’s character which leads to him hearing Quaid all the time. He eventually seeks out Quaid’s girlfriend, Ryan’s character, to uncover the plot to steal the technology. As the best part of the movie was the many funny conversations between Quaid and Short. In a twisted version of that movie, we find John and Hal fighting it out in a mind war in the fifth issue of Green Lantern Mosaic.

We find Hal visiting John and Rose. His main purpose for coming to Mosaic is to bring Rose back with him, something that doesn’t sit well with either men. Hal uses his considerable skills to overpower John and probe his mind and brings up many of his regrets, from the lives he lost. Just when Hal thinks he’s got John down and out, he purports a gambit of his various personas, one that outmatches Hal. By issue’s end, John has beaten Hal, knowing that there is more to a fight than victory.

Overall, this issue exemplifies why years after its publication, people love this book. The story by Gerard Jones is introspective, intelligent, and expertly plotted. The art by the creative team deserves to be in any museum. Altogether, an issue that will have comic book fans want to see more introspective issues like these.

Story: Gerard Jones
Art: Albert De Guzman, Dan Panosian, Steve Mattson, and Cully Hamner
Story: 10 Art: 9.7 Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy