Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Doug Mahnke

It’s DC’s Zero Month people! I’ve been following all the excitement on Twitter and let me tell you, a lot of fans are jumping in head first. Me included. The Zero line is meant to give us a glimpse into these characters right before the launch of the New 52. In this case it gives us a back story to Simon Baz, the new Green Lantern.

While the other issues take us back in time, this issue continues the story of Green Lantern Annual. Simon Baz is a low level criminal who grew up in a post 9/11 atmosphere which saw him bullied due to the fear and hated generated towards Arabs after the attack. This no doubt plays into shaping the hardened man Baz has grown into.

Set up for a an act of terrorism he didn’t commit, he is found by a ring after fighting off his captors in mid torture. We also get an epilogue that sort of covers the whereabouts of Sinestro and Jordan.

While this was a good issue with a good story, it was missing one glaring thing. Green Lantern butt kicking! I was really hoping to see our new hero in action, but the whole issue is taken up by his backstory. In fact the only green here was the ring finding Baz. Though there is some action here, it’s not the type I buy Green Lantern for. I understand that he hasn’t trained on how to use the ring, but I think this issue would’ve been better served if he was kicking butt while explaining the backstory through flashback along the way.

We also still have no idea why he sports the gun on the cover. That bit has me super confused since he is already sporting the most powerful weapon in the universe. One thing I did enjoy is the inclusion of a few other key DC characters and the potential for where that could take the story.

As far as the art goes, it’s as sharp and crisp as any other issue of Green Lantern which is another reason why I really like the series. There were a few hiccups here and there as far as facial expressions and the depictions of a few other characters, but those were minor in comparison to how sharp everything else is.

While this book didn’t get me excited to see more Baz, I am still curious to see how he develops into a Green Lantern. The epilogue also has piqued my interest as well since I am a huge Hal Jordan fan. This entire run as made me a big fan of Sinestro back in green so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Suspiciously absent from this issue were the Guardians. I always like to see what’s going on with them from time to time. Overall it was a good story, but lacked a little bit in the Green Lantern department for me. I’m hoping #13 will toss us headlong into the fray.

3 nerds out 5

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