Green Lanterns #33
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Eduardo Pansica
Cover Artist: Riccardo Federici and Tomeu Morey
Colorist: Alex Sollazzo
Publisher: DC Comics
Green Lanterns is the story of the two newest members of the Green Lantern Corps, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. They are inexperienced, and feeling their way through the position as dual protectors of Space Sector 2814. These are the stories of their adventures in Space.This Story Arc is called Work Release.
What You Need to Know:
In the last installment of the Green Lanterns, Simon reconnected with an old friend and Jessica struggled with the Social aspects of dating with extreme anxiety. While they had been doing an admirable job protecting the Earth itself, Jon Stewart challenged them to get out of their comfort zone and venture out into Space.
What You’ll Find Out:
The Green lanterns are balancing their regular lives and the duties of being intergalactic Space Police. Jessica is attending a therapy session and Simon is tinkering with an old engine in the Garage when each is challenged by a respected authority figure to get their act together. In this respect, they are each in charge of some immensely powerful Rings, yet cannot get their mundane lives to create an upward momentum. Truly these are the Millennials of the Green Lantern Corps.
What Just Happened?
After a trip to the Planet’s Core via a Lava flow, Simon and Jessica meet with the Leader of the Molites.
The way this story is told splits in between the regular everyday lives of Simon and Jessica, and their Space adventure to the Planet Mol. In their sector, the Planet Mol is slowly being crushed by a Gravity Field. Not by a Villainous plot or evil mastermind, but by the Star that is expanding into a Supernova in close proximity to the planet. This is a natural occurrence, and the subterranean people of Mol, the Molites, are completely unaware of this phenomenon. Learning of the planets impending doom, the spiritual leader the Podfather tells them”My People are Deeply in debt to this world we inhabit. It is our God. It is our Father. Its stone has sheltered us. Its water and Algae have sustained us.Its Metals protected our Soft Flesh. Who are we to demand more? If it is the will of the Core above, then by Akedin of the Burning Vein, We Perish”. Followed by a chorus in unison of “We Perish!”, from the throng of the Molites.
This is a quandary worthy of the Prime Directive from Star Trek and the United Federation of Planets (Gee I sound Like a Peter David Comic). How can These two Lanterns save a group of people who are resolute in their beliefs that they should die if that’s the natural order of things for their planet, and balance their duty to protect the inhabitants of Space sector 2814? Well at very least the rings cite the Green Lantern Regulation 8912 which Expressly Forbids the Violation of Indigenous Beliefs in service of a Rescue.
Adding to the drama of this situation is the entrance of the Brinkmanship, a transport vessel from planet Ungaran ( Abin Sur’s Homeworld). They state that they owe a great debt to the Green Lantern Corp and will be happy to transport the Molites to Ungarda to provide them Asylum. In an effort to help the Lanterns, the Brinkmanship moves closer to the planet; however, they are caught in a gravity distortion and energy flare. The Captain did not heed her daughter’s warning and claimed that the ship was the pinnacle of the Ungaran Technology. On their approach, the ship is struck, and the shields fail.
Back in the Deep crust of the Planet Mol, Green Lantern Baz and Cruz are refusing to let the planet take the Molites. They Construct a Giant Spider and weave a web to control falling debris. We see just how far they can push their own willpower, as Jessica is pushed to the limits of both her power and exhaustion. She is lifting 1/8 of the entire Mass of the Planet! Or as Simon Tells her Forty Sextillion Thanksgiving Turkeys! Jessica Cruz will not deter, and she is absolutely determined to save the people of Mol.
Simon investigates the Brinkmanship after the explosion. He scans for life signs and enters through a gaping Hull rupture. He finds the bridge with the Captain holding her daughter, a famous pop singer, who while very near death is whispering the lyrics to her song about the Green Lanterns, an ironic choice to be sure. Her mother cradles her daughter whom will most likely not live to see the next sunrise.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thought: This book has a lot to say about Will and the people who use it. It started out as a lighter tone with Simon and Jessica happily flying through space, to get away from their terrestrial troubles, and the day to day grind. It dives into the aspects of modern responsibility with them being told to get jobs and do their work around their homes, to establish that they are immature and unfocused in their lives as just regular people. I feel that the writer does a good job of establishing these points.
It’ funny, because I can see something like this with a Hal Jordan, Abin Sur, Sinestro or even Guy Gardner being a completely lesser note in the Book of Oa, and it going completely different, but we have two less experienced and uncertain Green Lanterns at the center of this tale.
I feel that their accentuation of their Will, and that they could not exert that over the Molites or seek to go against their wishes speaks to these particular characters very well. Simon, who is strong in his religious beliefs, and Jessica whom is strong in her Compassionate nature developed a creative way to combat an unwinnable circumstance. Jessica will not go out without a fight, even if that means fighting the very planet itself.
I do feel that the splitting of the stories between the Earth lives and the Space missions gets to be a tad tedious, but I understand the direction of the character’s development and will wait patiently for the payoff. I enjoyed this issue, the Cover art is amazing, and the use of color, detail and the pencil work are a strong reason to pick up this book.