As most visitors
to Flodo’s Page will no doubt be aware September was “zero month” in the DC
universe. After a year of getting to
know our heroes DC decided that it was high time to drop a few origin stories
in our laps. Where Green Lantern differed to most of the rest of these books is that
we didn’t get the origin to either of the characters we have been following in
the title over the previous 12 months, Hal Jordan and Thal Sinestro. Instead we were introduced to Simon Baz, a
brand new character gracing our pages and taking up the Green Lantern mantel
for the very first time.
It was an
audacious move by the publisher and one not without controversy. Images of this cowl attired lantern wielding
a semi-automatic pistol have been splashed across the comic book back pages and
blog sites for months. Opinion has been
firmly split, albeit between the’ I’m not too sure yet’ crowd and the ‘this is
a complete bloody travesty, I’m cancelling my pull-list and switching to
Marvel’ crowd. If twitter were to be
believed this creation, one that is clearly close to writer Geoff Johns' heart
in that it was reputedly modelled after his own experiences, was never going to
get a fair hearing.
As a
result I held off on posting a review for GL #0 when it was released last
month. I wanted to be sure how I felt
about Baz and his introduction into the Green Lantern universe. I took a chance that his origin was too long
to share completely in 20 pages and held off publishing my conclusions until
after the release this following month of Green
Lantern #13. And in that regard I
was not disappointed. For me then, GL#0
and GL#13 read together as one complete double issue prologue in preparation
for the main event – the trials and tribulations of Green Lantern Baz of sector
2814.
Johns had
no intention of steering away from the controversy that preceded this book
beginning as he does with images of an Arabic-American family watching television
with looks of horror and tears streaming down their faces. Reflected in the eyes of their eldest child
are the burning twin towers of the World Trade Centre attack. As a result of that tragedy the boy
spends the next 10 years of his life
being abused and victimised by a culture who treat all Muslims as potential
terrorists. Personally, I found these
two pages very moving. Doug Manke’s
pencils capture the adversity Baz and his family face in a very impactful manner. But at the same time the geek in me
recognises that 9/11 did not happen in the DC universe, at least not prior to
the reboot as the New 52.
We fast
forward to the present day were Simon is caught up in a police chase when he is
startled by the realisation that the stolen van he’s driving contains a massive
time bomb. The digital display confirms
that it is live and slowly ticking down to zero. Showing little regard for his own safety the
former automotive engineer takes immediate evasion action and drives the bomb
into the grounds of an abandoned factory and just manages to throw himself from
the moving vehicle before it detonates. This
is bravery indeed but if he hadn’t it might have been a very short book…
The action
switches to a prison in Guantanamo where our hero has understandably been
detained for committing acts of terrorism against the United States. The security services best interrogators
can’t get Baz to admit that he is complicit in the bomb plot. The tension is ramped up when he is hooded
and escorted to a room contained a table fitted out with arm and leg
restraints. The implication is torture
and even the US agents can’t agree on the moral proclivities of the line of
questioning they are about to pursue.
There is a great panel in this sequence showing the terrified prisoner’s
face from under hood. Manke provides us
with enough stylized light with to see the fear in his eyes and sweat beading
on his forehead. With the instincts of a cornered animal he
punches wildly in the dark to make a futile break for freedom.
Just as
all seems lost a Green Lantern ring comes crashing through the prison walls and
attaches itself to Simon’s finger. But
something is wrong. The ring has an
error in its programming. Instead of
transforming him into a Lantern as expected, the ring electrocutes him. Lightning crackles and stabs at him causing
him to scream out in pain. I don’t know
if this is a deliberate choice by the colourists, Avina and Sinclair, but in
comparison to other GL books the green light given off by the ring here is
unpleasant and sickly.
Baz is launched
with a boom through the ceiling of the interrogation cell. And make no mistake about it. This was not the exit of a silver-age lantern
gliding effortlessly like a ghost through solid wall. This departure leaves a gaping hole and a
trail of destruction in its wake. News
of his escape is immediately passed to Amanda Waller and does not go unnoticed
by the Justice League. In a teaser panel
we briefly glimpse the transformed Third Army slave introduced in Green Lantern
Annual before our attention is brought back to an unconscious Simon Baz lying
prostrate in a field. Green energy wisps
and smokes around him like the aftermath of an explosion. He is unaware that his new ring is trying to
alert him to a mysterious waiting message.
Elsewhere,
in a one page epilogue, Hal Jordan and Sinestro apparently survived their
ordeals of the previous issue and are trapped by an unearthly black energy.
As Green Lantern #13 opens we are back with
Amanda Waller, this time briefing the US president on the identities of earth’s
Green Lanterns and, of course, the recent activity of Simon Baz. The president
demands that she call in the Justice League to pursue the escaped terror suspect. Meanwhile the man in question continues to
lie unconscious somewhere on the southern coast of Florida while the ring
recalibrates itself to him, making the reader aware of an incident in his past
that involved street racing. He wakes
suddenly to find himself floating a foot or two above the ground in a GL
uniform. The message telegraphed at the
end of the previous issue begins to play.
The
message itself is conveyed via a great piece of artwork. The vibrant greens of Alex Sinclair’s colourings
are back at their best in the rendering of a contorted morphing of Hal and Sinestro into
a light construct that is reminiscent of Pablo Picasso on LSD. The words attached are a mesh of the two
previous ring wielder’s final thoughts before their sudden disappearance in
a battle with Black Hand and the Guardians of the Universe. Despite this, the message could not be
clearer. Get help, and stay the hell
away from Oa!
A tattoo
quoting the word ‘courage’ in Arabic glows green on Simon’s arm as he flies
into the heavens, one step ahead of the authorities who are hot on his tail. The newest lantern’s use of the green energy
is bold. He doesn’t just ‘take off’ or
‘land’. A more accurate description is
that he ‘launches’ himself into the air and when he returns to terra-firma it is
with all the force of a meteorite carving out craters from the ground beneath
him.
In this issue Geoff Johns sets out to give us
a deeper exploration of the lead character’s background. Away from the action, scenes with his father
and sister show the problems his predicament has heaped upon his family. His sister, Sira, is sacked from her job
amidst fears for her colleagues’ safety.
It transpires Simon had already brought hardship down on those closest
to him when his brother-in-law was left comatose in an illegal car race between
the two. He is desperate to lift the
shame he has brought to their doors and wants to use his sister’s contacts to
help identify the person he believes is responsible for setting him up. Despite all that has passed between them in
recent years his sister clearly loves him and remembers times when he fought to
protect her from the torments of bigoted troublemakers.
Elsewhere
the Guardians Third Army expands relentlessly, adding a transformed truck
driver and hitchhiker to their numbers.
Under the Guardians instruction their primary pursuit is to track and
assimilate Green Lantern ring slingers.
Like all the best horror movies the mouthless aberrations seem
unstoppable. In one panel they appear to
reach out through the fourth wall to grab at us readers and drag us into the
page, another unwilling victim of their ghoulish nightmare.
Back in
his hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, Simon wills a full head mask to cover his
features from a prying security camera.
In my opinion, this latest GL costume is pretty poor. There is barely any green on it. The back appears to be a black one piece
leotard that would be more suited to a winter Olympian. Where the green does appear on the chest,
shoulders and boots, it glows in a way that just doesn’t sit right. It is, perhaps, most similar to John
Stewart’s uniform but it has none of the tangibility of his new look metallic
shoulder pads. The mask is worst of all
- it looks like a bad imitation of Mr Terrific’s facial T-plate.
Suddenly,
a blue red blur knocks Baz from his rooftop perch. Before he can draw breath a heroic voice
informs him he is in a lot of trouble, “like Justice League trouble”. In the final poster-worthy splash page the
entire league led by Superman bear down on him.
Manke draws a mighty cool JL, better in my assessment than the work Jim
Lee does in the League’s own title. But
for the record the yellow glowing lines on Flash’s costume look just as
terrible as the Green ones on Baz’s, and he doesn’t even have the excuse of
being new to the super-hero business!
