[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Eduardo Pansica
Inkers: Julio Ferreira and Blond
Summary
The Scarecrow has a yellow fear ring. He is on the loose in Gotham. Bruce has called for help from Jess and Simon. Alfred has Simon’s gun and he has it pointed at Simon’s head. Yikes. Maybe Bruce was right about that whole “guns are bad” thing. Simon has a crisis of conscious which is normally Jessica’s thing.
Positives
Simon Baz, this is still your party. What Humphries has done so brilliantly with this run on Green Lanterns is that he worries mostly about the character development here. He gives these characters souls that make you love them or hate them or root for them (like I do for Jessica). In this book, Baz gets his time in the dark murky shadow of the Batcave and Gotham City. Sun? Really? Batman is in this story. Come on.
Humphries has an excellent grasp on Batman as well. He is seen through the lens of Simon Baz, but he is just what I want him to be. Brilliant, tough, a jerk, and honest. He says to Simon,”I don’t like Green Lanterns, traditionally speaking. Hal is a glory hound. Unpredictable. Guy is…an idiot. You, I can work with you.”
As always, the art team is wonderful. I love what Panscia does with Batman and the Scarecrow. He ramps up the fear in a way that we really need. All the characters deal in fear here and the creep factor is high. Well done.
Negatives
The Scarecrow gets some face time here. In fact, we get to see him speak. I hate to say this because I am such a Sam Humphries fan boy, but this does not work. I love the use of Scarecrow with a fear ring, but I did not think his voice rang true here. It felt uncomfortable and awkward. It could be that in general, we do not hear from Doctor Crane, but it was a weak part of this story.
Verdict
As Jim Gordon says, “Good work Lanterns, get the hell out of Gotham.” I totally agree. I liked this story. It was a good development for Simon, but this story was just not what I want out of the this book. It is time to head back to Dearborn and deal with that whole Volthoom/Rami thing. I am all about that.
