Green Lantern Annual 2021: Beware Your Fears Made Into Light!

Since her introduction, Jessica Cruz has been building a steady following of very loyal fans. Depictions of her anxiety and the focus on her ability to “overcome great fear” have deeply endeared her to large pockets of fandom. Being the only female Earth Lantern amidst an ever growing boys club didn’t hurt the character’s prospects for success either (although now she’s not along in that thanks to Jo and Teen Lantern). All of that is to build up to this: when I saw the solicit for this issue, I was concerned. Could fans handle such a drastic change of allegiance? What could there be to gain by having Jessica join the Sinestro Corps?

It turns out, quite a bit. This issue isn’t another “What if?” knock-off or a one-off gag to see what might have been. There is clearly a lot thought and care put into this story by the creatives involved. At each step of the narrative, the logic simply makes sense. In fact, it makes so much sense that I’m left wondering why nobody thought of this turn for the character sooner? The story structure makes these 40 pages fly by with an excellent mix of action and introspecition. Sharp, clean art and the usual stunning colors from HI-FI make this book a justifiable annual in an era where many are not.

If there is a knock on the book, it’s that it can be confusing to new readers or those not reading the main GL book right now. The events of this issue are very depenedant on the loss of the Power Battery on Oa, so without knowledge of that event, things are somewhat jarring (I’ll freely admit that I found it jarring as I’ve stopped reading the main book as well). Still, the sheer audicity to tell such a story will compell many readers to get over their confusion and enjoy the story for it’s excellent character work and beautful art.