By Cat Wyatt

Our Green Lanterns have been busy – busier than usual actually. Clearly something is going on, the question is, what? A tropical storm is the most recent event requiring multiple heroes to step up and help to save the day (man, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have heroes during natural disasters?). Several notable heroes are in the backgrounds of these scenes, such as Powergirl and Supergirl, as well as some less known heroes like Bulleteer (yes, you read that right).

As it turns out Bulleteer is actually looking for some Green Lantern assistance, specifically she wants Simon’s help. Remember that hero, Night Pilot, that Simon had a date (we’ll call it that) with a few issues ago? Well she hasn’t been seen since she left for a different date (so at least Simon isn’t the suspect here, that’s something, right?). Now a lot of guys would be still feeling the sting from getting turned down so bluntly from a girl like Night Pilot, but at least Simon doesn’t let those emotions get in the way of doing his job. A superhero is missing, and that means they need to look into it asap.

On a funny note; this whole mess forces Simon to fess up to Jess about his attempts at dating, including the use of the dating app Caper. Apparently it’s basically Tinder for superheroes (with a very clever name to boot). Okay, it’s probably supposed to be more similar to OKCupid, but so far we haven’t actually seen any committed relationships come from it, so I’m not convinced of that one. Regardless, I’m sure you could have guessed that Jess immediately signed up upon finding out about it (even though they’re you know…on a case). Her account name, you ask? It’s Pancake Princess. Green Lantern has been taken…now who could that possibly be? I wonder… (Please note the sarcasm). The whole thing adds a little bit of lightness and humor to the missing person’s case, which is appreciated.

A couple of cool things about the dating app are worth noting, such as the rules against sharing names or any personal information (though I’m sure you would be allowed to in person, if you so choose) and the fact that it’s exclusively for superheroes (though I’m not sure what vetting process this would require. Maybe newspaper clippings proving they save lives? I don’t know).

The downside to the app? All of the missing superheroes (because of course it isn’t just Night Pilot that’s gone missing) have an account with it. There’s no way that could be a coincidence, right? Most of the heroes seem to be on the B or C lister scale, which makes sense. If somebody like Superman or Wonder Woman went missing, it would be noticed and investigated a hell of a lot faster (sorry to those missing heroes…nothing personal). The funny thing is they only realized that the Caper app was the connection thanks to Jess signing up and swiping through all of the heroes (apparently she was interesting in seeing both genders? That’s some pretty interesting information. You go girl).

The tech company that runs Caper is less than impressive, describe the credentials they promise. Maybe that’s just my bias, but I’d be really concerned about the safety of any information that runs through somebody’s garage. Doubly so if that information involves superheroes. It just isn’t worth the risk. I’m not saying I immediately assumed that they were involved somehow – more likely they were being used by the person kidnapping the superheroes - either by hacking their system or some other methods, which of course will be revealed over the course of the investigation.

My feelings of generosity towards these techies start to dissipate rapidly at their lack of concern for the missing persons. Maybe it’s just me, but I would be going all sorts of out of my way to help the Green Lanterns, especially if there was any chance I was involved in the case they were working on. But no, it’s totally cool to just try and pass the liability off by saying these guys die and disappear all the time. That’s totally ethical (again, note my sarcasm).

Of course things aren’t what they seem and Simon and Jess are quickly on to a chase that may help break the case. It’ll be interesting to see how they resolve this one, considering who is involved. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good fight (okay, that isn’t even remotely true, but I still want another fight) so here’s hoping it ends up being one big jail break soon.

Interesting concept for this plot, and having it sprinkled liberally with humor and a little ship bait certainly doesn’t hurt either. I actually find the Caper idea pretty hilarious, though I’ll confess I can see some practicality to the whole thing (just maybe next time have somebody with better tech skills run it? I doubt they could talk Batman into it but…).

The artwork was decent for this issue, though at points it felt like it was lacking in detail; especially around their faces. Though the simplicity really works for the backdrops, which I adore, so that’s something. A couple of the close-ups for Simon and Jess were really striking – their eyes in particular were so wonderfully drawn and colored. They really struck me. More of this please!

Score: 4/5

Green Lanterns #40
DC Comics