A fine sendoff for Ms. Cruz

Green Lanterns Vol. 9: Evil’s Might
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins, Marco Santucci, Scott Hanna, Hi-Fi, Andy Troy, Pete Pantazis, David Sharpe and Wil Quintana
Release date: June 2019

I guess you could say that I’m a Jessica Cruz fan.

My first exposure to the character was her debut in the pages of Justice League (The New 52 version) No. 31 during the “Forever Evil” event. She was created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Now, for the purists among you, I know her true first appearance was in The New 52 Green Lantern series, issue No. 20, a few months earlier. But that was just a closeup on her hand, and I didn’t read that issue. So, I was first exposed to Jessica Cruz in Justice League when she appeared in full view both on the cover and the interior.

Jessica stood out among Earth’s many Green Lanterns for a number of reasons. She had issues before taking possession of a power ring; she was introduced as someone so very agoraphobic that she could no longer leave her apartment. Her natural anxiety was only increased when an alien ring from an alternate universe tried to assume control of her life. That’s right, Jessica’s first ring was from the Crime Syndicate’s Power Ring. The Latina heroine was at first terrified of the power the ring gave her and the control of her life it sought in return.

I continued to follow the character in the pages of Justice League. She gained confidence alongside the other heroes of the League while also briefly dating the Flash. She was a fine addition to the team at that time. When the “Rebirth” era came along after The New 52, Jessica and the other newbie GL, Simon Baz, both became stars of their own title, Green Lanterns, with an “s,” and Jessica was also one of the stars to headline the new title Justice League Odyssey following the “No Justice” story arc. As much as I liked the character, though, neither of these titles held my attention for long.

Enter Dan Jurgens, a writer and artist whose work I very much enjoy. Jurgens was the writer of Green Lanterns when that title recently ended. I’d been curious to try the title again when Jurgens took over the writing chores, but “Evil’s Might” was the first arc to really grab my attention. This storyline featured not only Jurgens’ writing, Mike Perkins’ fine art style and Jessica Cruz as one of the lead characters, but it also promised a story featuring the return of Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, a character created by Jurgens way back in 1990 in Adventures of Superman No. 465.

I’m not really giving away spoilers about the big bad of the story since he appears on the cover of this trade. Cyborg Superman is one of those villains I love to hate. He’s right down there with Black Manta, Solomon Grundy and Gentleman Ghost as one of my “favorite” villains. And he’s a great choice for a villain to face off against the entire GL Corps and the Guardians with his ability to access and manipulate any kind of technology. Cyborg Superman, imprisoned in the Arctic Fortress of Solitude, manages to gain access to the Guardians’ central power battery on Mogo and through it, nearly all of the thousands of GLs across the universe.

This trade did not disappoint. The story features not just Jessica, but the entire GL Corps, in a gripping story that held my attention and kept me turning the pages. Perkins’ art was gorgeous to look at. But the real attention grabber is how this volume ends, nicely showcasing Jessica’s growth since “Forever Evil.” At the end of this story, she announces that she feels she has grown enough and is confident enough to leave Earth and seek other adventures and discoveries among the stars.

Perhaps this was meant to explain how she is alone out in space at the beginning of Justice League Odyssey. I prefer to think of her boldly exploring, overcoming the fears that once held her captive back when she was stuck in her apartment. I wish her Godspeed on her explorations and hope this is not the last we see of this fine character.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 1-5 (2004)
CrossGen Entertainment
Tony Bedard, writer
Mike Perkins and Andrew Hennessy, artists

CrossGen is where I first became aware of Tony Bedard. He had some writing and art credits on comics before then; but it was while he worked at CrossGen that I learned his name and knew that I liked what he wrote. First it was through his work on the excellent — albeit short-lived, as most CrossGen titles ended up being — work on Negation. And then later with his writing on this 1960s super-spy title.

The majority of the CrossGen titles took place on other worlds that often shared characteristics of various Earth time periods, but it is never explained within the pages of this title if it takes place on Earth in the 1960s or simply another CrossGen universe planet whereon life closely imitates the British Empire in the 1960s. The agents in this series do, however, work for MI6, lending credibility to the idea that this is, in fact, Earth.

Wherever Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is set, the top agent at this MI6 is Charles Basildon; however, Basildon is a fictitious name assigned to whichever agent happens to be the agency's top operative at the time. Should that agent be killed in action, another moves up and assumes the name and rank, making use of the ongoing reputation.

At the outset of the series, the current Basildon is a highly accomplished and skilled agent, but one with a very narcissistic personality. He accomplishes his missions but has a penchant for getting his partners killed on a disturbingly regular basis. Stephanie Shelley, a very capable young field agent just coming up in the ranks, is to be Basildon's latest partner and possibly the first female agent to assume the Basildon identity, if she lives long enough.

The art by Mike Perkins is perfectly suited to such a story. His figures and settings look realistic enough to feel like you're watching an afternoon action movie. He is quite adept at having his characters convey their emotions through various facial expressions, adding to the context of the writing. And he draws some incredible larger-than-life explosions when the action turns more heavily to the "bang bang" part of the title.

In these early issues, Basildon and Shelley are assigned to track down a mysterious figure named Lazarus Bale, someone about whom little is truly known but who seems to often be at the center of criminal goings-on. Bale turns out to be an albino with ties to an ancient civilization and has a penchant for underlings who appear to be clones of various world dictators from the past.

As bizarre as all that sounds, these issues offer some great action mixed with equal parts humor and mayhem. It's too bad this series was cut short by the demise of CrossGen, as it would have been interesting to see where Bedard and company would have taken this series.