Saturday, September 8, 2012

Green Lantern #0

Don't be fooled by the number on the cover - this isn't issue #0 of Green Lantern.

It's actually issue #13, disguised as a zero issue.

The zero issues are supposed to take us back into the days before the first issue in the "New 52" series, but this issue does not give us a look at Hal Jordan's early days.

Instead, it follows up the events of GL #12, as Hal Jordan and Sinestro's Green Lantern rings are strangely merged and searching for a new host.

No doubt writer Geoff Johns would argue that this is an issue #0 for the new Green Lantern, an Arab-American named Simon Baz. He struggles with the day-to-day hatred for Arabs in the U.S. in the wake of the events of 9/11.

But he'd be wrong - this is an origin for a new Green Lantern, nothing more - and with Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner and 3597 other GLs, do we really need a new one?

I know, ask a silly question...

My nit-picking aside, there are certainly positives for having an Arab-American hero, as this story illustrates (though the whole terrorism angle seems heavy-handed).

The art is by the excellent Doug Mahnke, again paired with a trio of inkers (I have no idea why a single inker can't cover his work). He does strong work here, although there's not a lot of action to go around - it's almost all talking heads.

It's a decent issue, and might be a collectible (depending on whether or not GL Baz catches on), but I still say it should have the number 13 on the cover.

Grade: B+

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2 comments:

Robby Reed said...

Baz will not catch on. No superhero created to please a demographic has ever caught on. For example, Wolverine was not created to appeal to Canadians. He was created to be a good and interesting character. It's so stupid when the companies try to manufacture heroes based on demographics, or worse, to get attention in the media. It never works out.

Chuck said...

Robby, I agree - if a manufactured hero ever succeeded, I can't remember him or her or it.