Previously in Superman Smashes the Klan, The Klan of the Fiery Cross had set the top of the Daily Planet building on fire and kidnapped Lois Lane, Perry White, and Inspector Henderson with the intent to kill them. Naturally, Superman saves the day, but it is the arc of his character in this book that allows him to be the hero he needs to win in the end.
Tim Seely’s run on the title has been fairly even. Dealing with two main protagonists can lead to balance problems in making sure each character is properly served. While the prior volume was more focused on Green Lantern Simon Baz, this volume puts Green Lantern Jessica Cruz front and center.
When last we left Superman and Roberta Lee, they were on their way to rescue her brother from certain doom at the hands of the Klan of the Fiery Cross. While that is the hook that starts this book off, the focus lands squarely on the issue of duality and what it means to be torn in different directions. We see Superman struggle with the very notion that he is an alien and, at this moment in his career, his unknown heritage. Roberta Lee is trying to fit in with other kids to make friends, at the cost of being her more authentic self.
Kelly Sue DeConnick marks her return to DC Comics with the start of her run on Aquaman. She is accompanied by the art team of Robson Rocha on pencils, Daniel Henriques on inks, and Sunny Cho on colors. Her run begins after the events of Justice League: Drowned Earth, where Aquaman has suffered amnesia.
The follow up to the smash hit DCeased, DCeased: Unkillables takes a look at what happens to others during the same timeframe as the original series. Mainly, what do the villains and other anti-heroes do during the apocalypse? The two leads of the book so far seem to be Deathstroke and Red Hood. While they are on separate tracks at the beginning, they eventually have to meet up.
Naomi is a new character co-created by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, and Jamal Campbell under the Wonder Comics imprint for DC Comics. Wonder Comics is Bendis’s curated imprint. The events that happen in Wonder Comics are in continuity with the rest of the DC Universe. The tone of these books is lighter than the mainstream DCU books, but the events that happen are no less important. The titular character, Naomi, is an adopted girl who lives in a quiet Pacific Northwestern town where not much happens, until a chance moment where Superman appears briefly mid-fight with Mongul.
Tim Seeley’s second trade for Green Lanterns is a quick read. This trade consists of four issues and an annual written by Andy Diggle. While it is quick, Seeley does a nice job tackling issues efficiently. The title of the trade tips its hand on some of the issues covered. What is interesting is the dovetail that Seeley writes that intersects the human trafficking with religious zealotry: superheroes kidnapped and enslaved to do work to benefit a religious cult.
Tim Seeley comes aboard as the new writer of Green Lanterns, taking over from Sam Humphries. Humphries launched the title and created a great foundation to build on. Seeley doesn’t waste any time and accomplishes quite a bit in this first trade. First and foremost, the relationship between Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz doesn’t skip a beat. It feels like Seeley has a good handle on how these two characters work individually and he understands the dynamic between them. This allows a wide range of subject matter to be covered in this trade.
Stranded ten billion years in the past, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz have to find a way back home, and along the way team up with the first seven Green Lanterns. What happens when two of the newest Green Lanterns added to the Corps have to train the first Green Lanterns ever? Here is where Sam Humphries excels in writing fun characters who have a believable reliance and relationship with each other. It was quite a nice touch to have the last issue primarily dedicated to Jessica and Simon back on Earth dealing with real issues in Simon’s family.
This is a nice bite-sized trade that Sam Humphries and the team have put together. The Green Lanterns title gives new readers an easy entry point to come into the Green Lantern universe with the two newer GL recruits, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. The heavier legacy Green Lantern mythos is left to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. We get the buddy cop adventure between Jessica and Simon whilst building on the Green Lantern story.
