REVIEW: Green Lanterns #45: The Green Light Glows Bright

I have been a Green Lantern fan since I was a little kid. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner are my favorites (and they trade-off the number one spot) and of course Killowog and Guy Gardner are pretty high up on the list. John Stewart has always been hit or miss with me depending on who“s writing him. With four Earth born Green Lanterns already, I did not see the need to add two more as it seemed like over-saturation. Over time I read the adventures of new Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz in the pages ofÂ Justice League and started to see the value in both characters. They were not simply two more Lanterns from Earth, but very unique characters who brought a fresh feel to the Green Lantern Corps.

Green Lanterns #45 continues theÂ Ghosts of the Past arc with part 2:Â The Last Hunt. The story finds Jessica Cruz trapped in a realm of damnation attempting to get answers about a traumatic event from her past. Tim Seeley shows the depth of the bond between the new Lanterns, whose abilities are tied to each other, as Simon is the only one who is able to enter the other realm and attempt to rescue her. Unable to take his ring, Simon still does not hesitate to journey into unknown dangers to save his partner. Great use of John Constantine, who was called in to help, a character who seems to be getting some much deserved recognition thanks to his television counterpart played by Matt Ryan.

Jessica Cruz seems defined by moments of extreme fear and the ability to overcome such intense fear is what makes her such a successful Lantern. In this arc she is attempting to get answers about one such traumatic moment. Years earlier she and her 3 best friends went on a hunting trip, but turned out to be the ones being hunted. After stumbling upon criminals disposing of a body in the woods Jessica“s friends are killed in front of her, but she manages to flee. She is unable to remember the faces of her friend“s killers and hopes her deal with the evil Singularity Jain will change that. She finds herself reliving the memory and will hopefully be able to fill in the gaps in her memory.

Ronan Cliquet gives us some great renditions of the Justice League, who were on the scene attempting to help their teammate. Cliquet“s woodland scenes are beautifully drawn and are enhanced by the colors of Hi-Fi, who takes a book with the word ”˜green“ in the title and makes that color work overtime quite successfully. The variation in the shades of Green used, not only in the Lanterns, but the scenery also, especiallyÂ in the woodland scenes, is impressive and breathes real life into the environment.

The book comes wrapped in a beautiful cover by Nelson Blake II and Hi-Fi with a really cool variant cover by Brandon Peterson that has Superman flying around with Simon and Jessica.

I went from disinterest in these characters at their inception to adding their title to my reading list. I recommend anyone who is skeptical about 2 more Lanterns read Green LanternsÂ and you“ll see why they are needed. I for one am looking forward to issue #46 and the next part of Ghosts of the Past.

Story: Â 3.5
Art: Â 3
Overall Rating: 3.25

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(W) Tim Seeley (A) Ronan Cliquet (CA) Nelson Blake Ii