Green Lanterns has been an immensely entertaining ride so far, but issue #44 looks to get a bit more personal.
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Light spoilers incoming for Green Lanterns #44, so if you haven’t read the issue yet you’ve been warned.
Part of the reason the pairing of Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz works is their opposite approaches to pain and trauma. While it caused friction in the beginning, they’ve since learned to lean on each other to overcome many of those entrenched habits. Writer Tim Seeley puts Cruz back in the spotlight for this latest story but makes it clear this isn’t just a retread of her well-known struggles with anxiety and fear.
Instead, Seeley explores the trauma and heartache that informs much of that fear and anxiety, allowing the reader to not just empathize with Cruz but understand where those struggles come from in the first place. Fans won’t just find themselves endeared to Cruz though, as her partner Baz gets a chance to go under the examining spotlight too, along with an out-of-nowhere character that proves you don’t have to be human to show human traits and emotions.
Like Cruz, Baz and Mr. Gage are all trying to outrun something. Whether it’s a traumatic event, a broken relationship, or a moment in time that changed your life forever, all of these characters are just trying to make up ground in their own lives and psyches, and that’s the perfect setup for a villain like Singularity Jain.
Jain is the perfect foil here, someone who literally capitalizes (and disturbingly feasts) on one’s loss and pain. The best villains are ones who make valid points and compelling offers, and Jain is able to do both in spades. So much so that you can’t even really blame someone for taking her up on her offers, and those last few pages certainly put that did she or didn’t she hook to good use.
On the art side of things, illustrator Ronan Cliquet and colorist Hi-Fi put together a gorgeous world full of radiant greens, purples, and blues, an impressive feat given how often it seems to be raining in this issue. Things never become too dreary though, despite the heavy rain clouds, and the duo certainly know how to make a Green Lantern shine, no matter what surroundings they happen to be in.
The action scenes get all the attention, but this duo excels at expression work also. The first few pages keep your attention despite no ring-slinging at all, a testament to when writers and artists are perfectly in sync.
Other than bringing me uncomfortably close to a mosquito in the first few pages, there aren’t any real negatives to be found here. Green Lanterns has heart, action, and character work with lovely visuals to match. The team has set up another fun mystery in the cosmos with that perfect personal touch, and we can’t wait to see what happens next.
Published by: DC Comics
On April 4, 2018
Written by: Tim Seeley
Drawn by: Ronan Cliquet
