By Cat Wyatt

The Green Lanterns are still dealing with the repercussions from that Caper dating app. Who would have thought one little app could cause so much trouble? To recap, thanks to this app Simon had his heart (and his ego) broken, Jessica had no idea it existed (until the other day), and at least one villain was using the app to capture and kidnap heroes (preferably the ones that wouldn’t be missed right away). So in other words, it’s a huge mess.

Before this issue, I probably would have said that Simon had simply been a little wounded by Night Pilot’s rejection, but the flashback made it pretty clear he was looking for a lot more than a one night stand. It’s clear she checked off everything on his ‘ideal girlfriend’ list (superhero, lives two different lives, flies, and is a Muslim) and that he was hoping for so much more out of their meeting - as he said, he was hoping to ‘never have to use [Caper] again’ (and yes, he did make the mistake of actually telling her that on their first date).  So now I just feel bad for Simon. He’s trying so hard to get his life on track, and it never seems to work out for him.

Meanwhile, Jessica is still torturing herself over ideal match on Caper (if you don’t remember who it is I’m sure you can guess – who would cause her the most drama right now?). I don’t think they’re going to go anywhere with this teaser, but hey, you never know.

The sector they’re heading to (after they got an unwilling tip from their teddy chewing prisoner) used to have a green lantern, but never had him replaced after he died. That’s odd, and also concerning. While there’s a chance that they just don’t have the manpower anymore (especially considering how many lanterns have died in more recent times), I don’t think this is the case here.

This concern is only proven right when we learn that Garnet is a Type I Civilization, and yet nobody is pinging them to see if they’re allowed in the area. That heavily indicates that this is a criminal planet, a fact that’s basically confirmed from their prisoner (she may have implied that they’re suicidal by being green lanterns and heading into that bit of space).

Speaking of, apparently the specific ermm..town? they want to go to is literally called Hellhole. Sounds super welcoming, doesn’t it? With a name (and reputation) like that I don’t really blame Simon for coming up with the idea of wearing disguises. I am concerned about the strain this will put on Jess (we haven’t seen her use too many long term complicated constructs).

I know we’re not supposed to overlook any seemingly minor part in a comic (who knows how it’ll end up being relevant in the end), but it really was tempting to not think much about the Order of the Steed.  It’s odd that their religion calls for them to behave as beggars, but then again I’ve probably seen weirder things and never questioned it, so there’s that. I’m sure that we’ll be seeing them again, if nothing else because of how much ‘screen time’ they got.

Scrapps fulfilled her promise of bringing Simon and Jess to meet her higher ups (who themselves probably don’t know everything that’s going on, but it’s a start), which naturally meant things were going to start going downhill. I’ll admit I was surprised it wasn’t Scrapps that betrayed them, but the Caper app (again, I know). Talk about a case of bad timing.

I will say I love Jess when she’s ticked off – she’s definitely at her scariest during those moments (not to mention her most competent). I’m sure Hellhole has seen a lot of things in its time, but a massive glowing green pig? I doubt they’ve seen that one before. And in the end it resulted with another lead for our heroes. I’ll be honest, I’m really curious to see where this whole thing is going to lead. They’re setting something up for Night Pilot, that much is clear, but what? Whatever it is, I have a feeling it’s going to end up hurting Simon all over again.

This was a pretty great issue on the whole, it was more buildup than actual plot, but it had some fight scenes and plenty of humorous points, so I’m happy with it. I love that I can’t predict where they’re leading with this plot, though I have some vague ideas (mostly involving Night Pilot). The pace was well balanced on the whole, with only a couple of blips as it went.

As per usual, I love the artwork for this series. Hellhole didn’t look as dirty and rundown as I would have guessed, but otherwise everything else was spot on. My favorite, unsurprisingly, had to be the giant pig (more like boar) construct Jess summoned. Despite its massive scale it had plenty of detail to it, while not overpowering the rest of the image (mainly the residents running out of the way).

Score: 4/5

Green Lanterns #41
DC Comics