“I’m trapped in a terrible movie”
Green Lanterns #24 bring the three part “Lost in Space” story to an end, setting the series up for Volthoom’s big plans to take center stage. While the plot is pretty paint by numbers writer Sam Humphries does roll back the curtain on the second of the seven original Green Lanterns, a White Martian by the name of Z’kran Z’Rann.
The training of Baz and Cruz eat up much of the issue and the whole thing is very, very predictable. Of course Jessica once again realizes that her will was there all along, just like Kilowog said it was. This has become a bit of a trope for this series and twenty four issues in it’s unfortunate that we are not really any further along then we were a year ago. Humphries does the obvious thing and props up Simon and Jessica at the expense of Guy and Kyle, both who give in way too easy in order to give the characters their seal of approval.
I didn’t find the introduction of Z’Krann Z’Rann is not nearly as interesting as Alitha in the previous issue and I’m hoping we get a little bit more than what Humphries gives us here. The idea that Z’Krann became a Green Lantern ten billion years ago was cringe worthy – that’s more than twice as old as our sun is! Does Humprhies not know enough to do any research at all? He does nudge the Volthoom plot along significantly as the First Lantern keeps digging for information on where the original seven rings went. Of course one of them just happens to be the ring that Jessica is wearing – what are the odds!?
Twenty four issues in and frankly I’ve pretty much given up on this series. I don’t find Jessica nearly as interesting as she was as Power Ring, and Simon has devolved as a character in my opinion. I honestly find the writing of the villains far superior to the what Humphries is doing with the protagonists and that’s what I find myself clinging to. I really don’t like being negative about anything to do with the Green Lantern universe, but at the end of the day I honestly feel like this whole Rebirth direction for the franchise comes from poorly made decisions about where the Green Lantern universe needs to go in order to be anything close to the quality and popularity it had in recent years.
Artistically the book looks fine, with Carlo Barberi doing to a good job overall. It’s nothing spectacular, but it gets the job done.
Green Lanterns #24 limps to the finish line with an ending which props up the lead characters by giving them the “thumbs up” from the established Earth Lanterns. Five out of ten lanterns.
Hey Myron, I was just wondering if you have been reading Justice League at all, and if you are, if you have found the depictions of Jessica and Simon any more compelling in that book.
Hi Daniel – I haven’t been reading Justice League since the Rebirth relaunch. I wasn’t really a fan of Hitch’s writing on the JLA book and between that and my fundamental disagreement about adding more Earth Lanterns it was enough reason not to pick it up. Hearing that Hitch had Jessica and Barry flirting made me glad that I didn’t invest in it.