GREEN LANTERN 13
GREEN LANTERN #13 Review by Jamie Dunst
Geoff Johns: Writer; Doug Mahnke: Penciller; Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, Tom Nyugen, Keith Champagne & Mark Dering: Inkers; Alex Sinclair w/ Tony Avina: Colorist; Steve Wands: Letterer; Reist & Albert: Cover
This issue starts off at the White House where we see President Obama talking to Amanda Waller about Green Lanterns. We get a rundown of the current Green Lanterns and the current situation where in their view, a suspected terrorist named Simon Baz is now in possession of a Green Lantern ring. The president listens to the play-by-play of those events and he asks Waller if the Justice League had been contact. Amanda Waller is about to tell the President that she wanted to take care of things herself, the President cuts her off and tells her to call them telling her that he knows what a Green Lantern ring can do and it’s more or less a job for them.
Speaking of Mr. Baz. We see him in the Florida Keys, still knocked out from whatever happened from the #0 issue. We see the ring searching memories from Simon and wee see him street racing his brother-in-law. Simon wakes up to see that his ring has a message for him and it’s actually a dual message from both Hal Jordan and Sinestro. We see the message is more or less to not trust the Guardians. To stop them and some other stuff before the message goes blooey. Simon wants to get out of where he is and the ring makes the costume again and flies him back to Michigan but not before two Florida State Troopers spot him and call in the sighting. Elsewhere we see a page with Frank Fed wanting to go home until Amanda calls him to get back on the case of the Simon Baz.
Back in Michigan, we see Simon’s sister talking to her father. They discuss Simon’s current situation and Sira (Simon’s sister) tries to calm her dad and wants her to tell her mom that everything will be okay. The father drives away feeling more optimistic but doesn’t see the look of concern on Sira’s face. When he enters her place of work, she is told that because of recent events, people aren’t so comfortable with her working there and is told to take some time off. As Sira walks out she begins to cry until Simon shows up in his costume. They talk about how Simon doesn’t come around his family that much anymore and his stealing cars and the incident with Sira’s brother. Before they decide to meet up in their secret spot, Sira tells Simon to hide his face which is where the mask comes from and it makes sense.
Elsewhere, we see a trucker and his hitchhiking passenger are on the road when they hear something about an explosion at a prison. It’s then that a member of the Third Army attacks them both and converts the two into members of the Third Army. The Third Army members detect Green Lantern energy and they are compelled to seek it out of the Guardians Again, elsewhere, we see Simon waiting for his sister when he gets knocked off the building he was waiting on and as he looks up, he sees the Justice League . Looks like he’s in trouble now.
So I liked this issue a lot. I am beginning to warm up to Simon Baz. I loved the characterization of his sister and I hope we get more her in future issues. Between Amanda Waller’s involvement, the Justice League showdown and whatever is going on with the Third Army, we’re going to see in future issues how and why Simon joins this new Justice League of America. One thing I found interesting is the fact that of all the human Green Lanterns, Amanda Waller feels that they can trust John Stewart the most. Geoff doesn’t write in throwaway lines and I hope that’s something that will play out in future stories. The Third Army element didn’t play all that much in this issue but I understand considering we’re still getting to know Simon Baz. I got a feeling that in the next issue, the Simon Baz/Justice League fight will be broken up by the interference of the Third Army. Can’t wait.
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