Green Lanterns #40 – Tim Seeley, Writer; Barnaby Bagenda, Penciller; Mick Gray, Inker; Ulises Arreola, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Corrina: Love the Concept
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: Tim Seeley’s first arc of Green Lanterns was a bit up and down, but now that the heroes are back on Earth for a bit, the title hits its groove in Green Lanterns #40– setting up a twist-filled story with surprising callbacks to not one but two excellent runs from the pre-Rebirth era. The issue shows up with a great segment showing Simon and Jessica assisting with disaster relief after a massive storm, and there’s a lot of nice little details here. But in the aftermath, Simon is approached by obscure hero Bulleteer, whose friend Night Pilot went missing. Night Pilot would be Simon’s former casual hookup, and she disappeared shortly after their last date. This turns the focus to Caper, the superhero dating app that Simon’s been using. It’s kind of a brilliant concept – a secret-identity conscious app for superheroes. This kind of realistic take on what it would really be like to be a superhero is something we need much more of.
The scene where Jessica signs up for Caper (while Simon and Cyborg are meeting to discuss the case) is the best of the issue, and not only ship-teases her and Simon a bit more but potentially sets up that she’s another new bisexual hero in the DCU. Dare I hope? No reason to include that line if so. The entire concept of Caper is so much fun that I really hope it makes its way to other books, but the end of the issue shows that it may be a front for something much more sinister. The employees working on the startup may just be patsies, but they’ve been infiltrated, and there’s technology right out of Grayson in the mix. But the reveal at the end of the issue is one of the most surprising twists I’ve seen in a while, bringing back a character I genuinely never expected to see again and making this issue’s choice of artist fit perfectly. Over both runs, Green Lanterns has shown a lot of ambition and a huge scope. Highly excited to see where it goes next.
Corrina: The concept of Caper is fun as a background to this world but even back when Simon first used it, I had questions. Such as, why would costumed people give their information to any service that might be able to track their location? Why would they give them notes about their personalities/powers? A hero doesn’t have to be as paranoid as Batman to not want to go anywhere near Caper and Simon, given how he was once existing at the fringes of the law, should definitely have been wary about this. (Jess tends to be more trusting.)
So while Caper has potential, it’s a hard sell for me to believe all these heroes just gave out their information. I like the fact it bites them back, to the point where they’re kidnapped, and that sets up a cool plotline but….again, I’m having trouble with my suspension of disbelief. However, if the rescue of the captured heroes turns out to be a lot of fun, well, I’ll just shrug and go with it.
Jess and Simon? One thing I enjoyed about the previous run is that it worked hard to establish a relationship between Simon and Jess that wasn’t romantic. I’m okay with it turning romantic, though I’d need to see some more setup for it than Jess thinking about the ‘ship because Caper told her Simon was a match. What’s suddenly changing that these two see each other with lust, not friendship?
As for Jess being potentially bisexual, that’s cool, but I hope it’s not just mentioned as a tease and then dropped.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
