A quick resolution but the bigger issues still exist.
Creative Staff:
Story: Aaron Gillespie
Art: Roge Antonio
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
“REBEL RUN” part two! Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz hide from Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps on the planet Hellhole. While the two butt heads over what to do next, they find an ancient threat that has been slumbering within the core of this crime-infested world. It has been feeding, and it is ready to wake and strike!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I was glad to kind of randomly start in on an arc with the previous issue of this series when it showed up on the DC Universe service since it was focused on Jessica. I liked her from what I’ve seen in the animated side of the works and was glad to see more of her comics side. Aaron Gillespie keeps things moving well here and works through some standard material without running into some of the usual traps that extend it, such as fights among friends. This installment brought in Roge Antonio to illustrate it and he does a solid job here, especially since we’ve got mostly de-powered Lanterns operating so it doesn’t have to deal with outlandish acts through their rings.
Simon’s arrival was the last thing that Jessica actually wanted even though they’re partners because she doesn’t want him caught up in this or to have to fight against him – especially de-powered. But Simon’s more upset that she didn’t trust him considering how she helped him before – which is natural. The two do hash things out quickly and he’s on board to help out, though he has to hide what’s going on from Hal through the spectrum and that means not using his abilities since that would just alert Hal. What we do get is the pair going back after Accampo who himself is looking to get out of the area as quickly as possible after all that’s gone down and how he’s managed to avoid Jessica so far. That doesn’t go quite as well this time thanks to Simon and they’re able to shake out more of what he has, files on a powerful criminal that owns a resort planet, and how to try and help so that it’ll clear Jessica’s name.
None of this is original or surprising and the piece on the resort world is fun but familiar as they’re not able to trick the big boss into revealing his plans. It all comes down to Jordan showing up since he finally realizes that sending Jessica’s partner after him was the worst idea – one that even he says he wouldn’t betray in regards to Kilowog. Where this actually does work for me is that we continue to get simple and basic authoritarian Hal going after Jessica but she pushes back against him to be in the moment and think things through, especially as he has problems in his own past that played out exactly like this. That’s the most problematic part for me in that he should have been just as much on her side as Simon was once he found her because he’s been there, done that.
In Summary:
I’ll admit, this feels like my younger days when I would just randomly start reading a book mid-run, luck out in that it was the start of an arc, and get interested enough to continue on. Timing keeps me from going back to read earlier installments but I’m hopeful there’s more Jessica as it goes on as I like her as a character. This storyline was pretty short overall, going into a 50th issue that means it’s no surprise, and I like what they do here in establishing Simon and Jessica’s dynamic and giving her a chance to stand firm against Hal in the right way. Gillespie keeps things moving just right while Roge Antonio has a pretty standard book to work with, just with aliens, as it’s very light on ring usage. I’m looking forward to reading more of this book on the service.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via DC Universe
Release Date: June 20th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
