Comic Books

Green Lanterns #32 Review

Series writer Sam Humphries bids this series farewell in a good issue.

October 4, 2017

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I’ve reviewed nearly every issue of Green Lanterns and have loved Sam Humphries’ run from beginning to end. He’s taken two characters I barely knew and made me enjoy their company. They’ve also grown a lot over these 32 issues, which you can’t say for most superhero books these days. Enter his last issue, which makes its peace with some things, but also reminds us why Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz are so awesome together!

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So what’s it about?

The official summary reads:

“HOUSE PARTY”! Their trip through space and time complete, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz find themselves back home on Earth, but new family strife makes the duo wonder if the threats of the cosmos were less taxing than dealing with your siblings.

Why does this matter?

Scott Godlewski draws this final issue, which means we’re in good hands when it comes to character expressions and acting. Just check out The Dark & Bloody. Readers who are jumping on board now will also get a good sense of who these characters are and that includes Simon’s family.

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Of course!

Humphries keeps bringing up pancakes and by Jove we get them in this issue. The characters have come a long way from wanting to kill each other (more or less) to respecting each other on multiple levels. They’ve been through a lot and Humphries reminds us of this in a key scene where John Stewart points out they are supposed to be protecting an entire sector of space and not just Earth. This reminds readers they’ve grown a lot because we trust they can do it, but also allows us to reflect on how the troubles they had were when they weren’t even protecting an entire swath of space!

Superhero story wise this issue has it all too. We get some tight action with an asteroid threat, some intimate moments between characters, and a nice reminder that these two characters are stronger together. Humphries might be departing the series, but he’s left a mark on the characters.

Godlewski draws a great issue and the action scene in particular is nice. A good amount of attention is spent on the background with police cars and a fire truck peppering the scenery. The monster itself is pretty cool looking and it’s a reminder of how good Godlewski is at drawing monsters. There’s a lot of scenes without the suits on during a party and Godlewski nails the expressions and acting in the scenes. Simon’s sister, in particular, is great, from angry big sister behavior to stuffing her face with donuts. She acts as a mediator and a bit of comic relief. Good stuff.

Party!

It can’t be perfect can it?

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Newer readers will be lost with this one, particularly the character dynamics between Simon and his brother. Over half the book is devoted to their fighting while Jessica hangs with Simon’s sister, which is all well and good, but does read like filler sort of storytelling. It’s nice to see characters interacting and the character drama side of things, but to have it taking up most of the issue does seem a bit much. Especially when donuts and a silly picture when Simon was younger make up much of the drama! That said, it’s still well done.

Is It Good?

A fine farewell to Sam Humphries who did a stellar job developing these characters and making them more interesting. This issue serves as a nice goodbye as minor character drama is wrapped up and a new direction for the heroes is teased.