Tag Archives: Jessica Cruz

Jun 22 2018

Corruption Within the Corps in Green Lanterns 49

by Spencer Irwin

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Over the past few years, as police injustices have been brought more and more into the open and it’s become harder and harder to justify supporting them (or often even tolerating them) as an organization, it’s become harder for me to fully buy into the idea of the Green Lantern Corps as well. It’s not the characters that give me pause — I adore Jessica, Simon, Kyle, and Guy — but their space cop routine. I don’t know, maybe that’s the point — so many Green Lantern stories in the past decade have positioned the Corps’ own leadership as their greatest enemies — but it’s certainly a thought that ran through my mind in Green Lanterns 49, where the biggest threat to Jessica Cruz isn’t the crime-lord who helped frame her, but the leaders within the Corps who already had it out for her before that even happened. Continue reading →

Jun 12 2018

Compassion vs. Accountability in Green Lanterns 48

by Patrick Ehlers

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

One of my coworkers was really upset about Kanye West a couple weeks ago. No shit, right? Her problem wasn’t that West was tweeting racist things about slavery probably being a choice, or even his support of Trump (who she also loathes), but that the entire would was holding a mentally ill man on a psychotic break accountable for his actions. Her argument goes that someone in West’s condition isn’t being themselves — they are literally being their illness. I began to stammer back with some feeble counterargument, something about the illness being made manifest by that person, so while we can practice compassion, we do still have to hold them accountable. “So you think he… put his own spin on mental illness?” she exhaled back at me. Shit. No. What the hell point was I trying to make? All I can really say is that I want anyone who does something wrong to face consequences, but is a mentally ill person really the one “doing” it? We are bad at talking about, dealing with, and even understanding mental illness. Aaron Gillespie and Ronan Cliquet’s Green Lanterns 48 takes our capacity for compassion and places it squarely against law and order. Continue reading →

May 17 2018

Heroes We Can All Relate To in Green Lanterns 47

By Mark Mitchell

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

I really misjudged Green Lanterns 45. In my write up of that issue I figured Tim Seeley’s story to be primarily interested in teasing out the mystery surrounding the indentity of the murderers who killed Jessica Cruz’s friends, but in truth, the larger “Ghosts of the Past” arc has much more on its mind.

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Apr 23 2018

The Worst Hunting Trip in the World in Green Lanterns 45

By Mark Mitchell

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

With Green Lanterns 45, Tim Seeley and Ronan Cliquet begin to dive into Jessica Cruz’s past with the goal of explaining why The Ring of Volthoom was drawn to her trauma in the first place — the worst hunting trip in the world. Continue reading →

Mar 26 2018

The Faith and Fears of Green Lanterns 43

By Michael DeLaney

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Green Lanterns 43 concludes the “Inhuman Trafficking” arc. In the span of four issues this tale has explored a wide range of themes including faith, self identity and even Tinder. Continue reading →

Mar 8 2018

Space Cops, Faith and History in Green Lanterns 42

by Michael DeLaney

This article contains SPOILERS! If you haven’t read the issue, proceed at your own risk.

As much as I know about the DC Universe, it is a BIG place full of characters and worlds that have still not entered the pages of my brain encyclopedia. If you’re a fan of those Easter eggs and nods to DC lore, then Green Lanterns 42 is what you are looking for. Mentions of “Khundians,” “Durlans” or “Omega Men” appear throughout the issue in a way that is not distracting but simply supports the narrative. Continue reading →

Feb 22 2018

A Minor Retcon Changes the Tone of Green Lanterns 41

by Mark Mitchell


This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Mark: Comic book fans and, of course, readers of this site will be familiar with the idea of a “retcon” in comics — basically, a piece of new information that updates (often by contradicting) previous information. Usually retcons happen with shifts in creative teams, character relaunches, or when reaching back deep into a line’s history to incorporate some historical element that doesn’t quite fit in the modern landscape. Much more rare is the retcon-ing of information from a mere six issues in the past — an issue written by the same author, no less — but that’s the case in Tim Seeley, Barnaby Bagenda, and Tom Derenick’s Green Lanterns 41. The issue opens with a depiction of Simon Baz and Night Pilot’s date, the aftermath of which seeded the “Superhuman Trafficking” arc back in Green Lanterns 35.

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Feb 13 2018

Green Lanterns 40: Discussion

by Michael DeLaney and Mark Mitchell

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Michael: Tim Seeley’s Green Lanterns has the DC logo on the cover, but it feels like a very Marvel series, particularly The Amazing Spider-Man. In the heyday of the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko era, ASM had socially relevant messages, long-running narratives, and, of course, the down-on-his-luck protagonist. The modern Amazing Spider-Man tales try that same type of storytelling with an occasional social media flair — to varying success. With ties to prior issues and the constant personal problems of our heroes, and a superhero dating app, Green Lanterns 40 fits right in with that ASM mold. Continue reading →

Nov 16 2017

Relatable Moments Make For Great Fun in Green Lanterns 35

by Mark Mitchell

Green Lanterns 35

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

It’s great to see Tim Seeley having fun again in Green Lanterns 35 after spending so much time in the joy-deprived and muddled world of his Nightwing run, and introducing Bolphunga into the mix lets Seeley cut a little looser than he did in Green Lanterns 34.

Continue reading →

Nov 3 2017

Green Lanterns 34: Discussion

by Michael DeLaney and Mark Mitchell

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

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Michael: Sam Humphries has passed the Green Lanterns torch but the flame still burns strong. Green Lanterns 34 marks Tim Seeley’s second issue with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz and explores how hard it is to maintain a steady job while you’re on call to save the universe 24/7. More importantly, it highlights the ugly truth that no matter how heroic you are, if you’re brown in America you’re still seen as second-class citizens. Continue reading →