Green Lanterns #3 Review

To keep our content current, we’re skipping ahead a bit with Green Lanterns and jumping in to issue three. However, first, we need to recap what’s happened so far. The two newest earth Green Lanterns, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, have been forced together as partners by the biggest jackass in DC Comics, Hal Jordan. The two aren’t exactly pleased with their new situation, but right now that’s the least of their worries as Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns have targeted earth and are planning to set off something called the Red Dawn. Even though it doesn’t involve the Russians invading, the Red Dawn is certainly bad news for humanity as it appears to be causing ordinary humans to turn into rage zombies and attack everything in sight.

After a brief narration from our heroes, we open with Atrocitus, Bleez and Dex-Star landing on Earth. After assigning Bleez the task of eliminating the new Green Lanterns, Atrocitus spots a farmer and his son pointing a shotgun at the monsters that just ruined their crops with their fiery landing. Atrocitus, rather than being insulted by the insolence of these humans, is instead reassured by the fact that rage is everywhere on this planet.

Back with our heroes, Bleez catches up with them. The two clearly are fighting as best they can, but as two relative rookies going up against a powerful Red Lantern second in strength only to Atrocitus himself, they’re simply outclassed. At Simon’s home in Dearborn Michigan, Simon’s sister and brother-in-law come home to find someone has broken into their house. That someone turns out to be one of Guardians of the Universe, the small blue guys who started the Green Lantern Corps to begin with, who needs to speak with a Green Lantern immediately, and he prays that it’s Hal Jordan (There’s a Geoff Johns joke in there somewhere). The old guardian here is apparently out of the loop as he also refers to John Stewart as “the new guy” but still, his presence is enough to warrant Simon’s family to want to call him, as soon as possible.

Speaking of Simon, he’s not fairing too well as Bleez tries to infect him with rage. While Simon, who grew up Muslim in a post-9/11 America, has plenty to be angry about, he ultimately finds that he’s not only able to resist but once again call upon his healing ability that seems unique to him and use it on Bleez. After a blinding green light, both Bleez and Simon collapse. When the dust clears, we see that Bleez is no longer infected by the Red Ring and we see her true form for the first time, that of a blue skinned angel-like being. With her thoughts clear for the first time in god knows how long, Bleez is overcome with guilt over the evil she’s committed as a Red Lantern. She initially joined Atrocitus because she believed that through the power of rage she could bring justice to the universe but all she accomplished was the perpetuation of injustice. Overcome by her feeling of guilt, Bleez tries to commit suicide but Simon stops her. While Bleez believes she is beyond redemption but Simon talks her down. While her head is still clear, she tells Simon about the Hell Tower, the device that’s causing the human population to become infected. However, after Jessica attacks, Bleez reverts to her Red Lantern self and flies off. Simon and Jessica fly off towards the hell tower, bickering all along the way, and our comic ends with the two approaching the tower and Jessica succumbing to the infection.

What Works:

Simon Baz is a great character and always has been. There’s a lot about him that makes him stand out compared to other lanterns. The mask gives him a distinct look, the fact that he uses a gun makes him a pragmatist and his healing ability gives him something that the other lanterns do not without making him overpowered. Top it all off with his fascinating and well written backstory, and he’s a perfect protagonist for this series. His scene with Bleez was pretty solid and it was actually nice to see her given a little more depth, even if it was brief.

What Doesn’t:

While I can rarely find a bad thing to say about Simon Baz, that is unfortunately not the case for Jessica Cruz. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I’m not picking on Jessica because, of the six Earth-based Green Lanterns, she is the only female. There have been several great female Green Lantern characters over the years. Katma Tui, Jade, Boodikka, the list goes on and on. No, my issue with Jessica isn’t that she’s female, it’s that she’s just not a well-written character and feels like dead weight in this story. All she’s done in three issues is complain about Simon and whine that she’s not good enough to be a Green Lantern. If this book were hers and hers alone, such things would be acceptable and possibly even welcome, but as is, she’s just sort of in the way. Thus far, it’s been Simon who’s been getting all the great character moments and Simon who’s been doing most of the work. While I stand by my statement of two Green Lanterns sharing a single battery is a good one, I don’t think that that dynamic has been used properly thus far. Overall: 3.5/5 I still enjoy this title and want to see where it goes, but I think it needs to take better advantage of Jessica so that she doesn’t feel like an irritating supporting character in Simon’s book.