By Cat Wyatt

With all of the major plot arcs from recent issues wrapped up, Green Lanterns #44 is free to take a bit of a break; not that they’re going to, of course. This issue brings the return of Singularity Jain – finally! I’ve been wondering what the heck she’s been up to since we last saw her, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s been curious and concerned (let’s be honest here; there’s no way it’s a good idea to have that woman running off unsupervised throughout the galaxy).

This issue starts off with a bit of a monologue from Jess. She’s going on about a saying her mother used to use; ‘you have the memory of a mosquito’ and how she always thought the phrase was silly, especially when one actually takes the time to consider how dangerous mosquitoes can be (with the diseases they carry and all).

But her therapist isn’t buying it (smart lady). It’s clear that Jess doesn’t want to talk about the trauma of her past; about that disastrous camping trip she and her friends went on. Which is instead the reason she’s focusing on the mosquitoes. I’m sure we can all feel for Jess here; she is a superhero who can’t bring justice to her friends’ killers. It’s hard to hunt down and capture enemies when you can’t remember anything about them.

On the flip side, I do wonder if letting a psychologist help her would have eventually helped to unlock those memories. The mind is wonderfully impressive in its ability to protect itself, including burying harmful memories so deep sometimes you don’t even know they’re there.

Simon’s call for backup is perfectly timed as far as Jess is concerned; now she has the excuse to flee her therapist and avoid the hard questions for another day. It may not be the healthiest approach, but it does occasionally work.

The reason Simon was calling? Apparently there’s be a tip off about the one and only Singularity Jain. Considering how slippery that woman can be (I mean, how long have they been looking for her now, three, four, months?) it’s probably seemed prudent for them to rush out there and grab her (no matter the potential risks that accompany this mission). On the bright side, I do believe the Jess learned quite a lot from the last time she fought with Jain, so with any luck and a little bit of will Jess won’t get pulled into the same trip for a second time.

Apparently Singularity Jain can change her appearance - this makes sense, but I also had no idea she could do this. She’s currently in a robot/cyborg body on Petrol Bay (inside the Free Machine System), conning a divorced father into owing her a favor in exchange for winning child custody (my heart absolutely broke for this man, upon hearing his side of things. I love how human they can make their non-humans in this series). Of course she’s also going by a different name as well (not much point in changing your looks if you’re going to keep a name that can easily lead your pursuers straight to you); she is currently going by Shema Oh (which sounds like some sort of exclamation, if you ask me).

We all know the types of victims Jain seems to prefer; people with a dark or hurt past, people with weaknesses she can exploit. She feeds on suffering and pain, after all. Unfortunately I think this makes both Simon and Jess slightly more at risk for being used by her. Jess for the reasons mentioned above, and Simon for his past (being assumed a terrorist, imprisoned, and still treated poorly for who he is). For this reason I don’t think they should have made an agreement beforehand to not leave the other alone with Jain.

Of course we all know that means that’s exactly what will happen. Simon was forced to leave Jess and Jain behind in order to get the rampaging father-bot under control (again, I can’t express how sad his story is). Out of the two I actually think Jess was the worst one to leave behind. Sure, she knows how to avoid Jain’s black hole now, but won’t that theoretically make her a little overconfident? Jain isn’t the type of person one should allow to talk…it just seems risky to me.

So naturally Jain does what she does best; she talks to her potential next victim. She gets into Jess’ head, the whole nine yards. She knows the worst secrets of Jess already, thanks to the last encounter; she knows what Jess wants and fears the most. And naturally she knows how to use all of that information for her own gain.

This was a bit of a nail biter, as far as issues go. There wasn’t a lot of fighting, but there’s plenty of buildup going on. Jain’s already an established character, so they didn’t have to wait anytime introducing her; instead they got right into the meat of the story; Jess’ vulnerability and how easily that could be manipulated by somebody like Jain. I don’t know where it’s going to lead next, but I’ll confess I’m more than a little bit worried.

The art for this issue was bright, like I’ve come to expect with the Green Lanterns series. I love the way they drew the cyborgs and the Free Machine System (which in itself is a cool concept). I was surprised by the somewhat sudden change in style and color for the black hole on the last panel, but that just make its appearance even more shocking (which was appropriate).

Score: 4/5

Green Lanterns #44
DC Comics